Bursting onto the scene from Spain, Wormed released their full length debut in 2003. Combining the technicality and inhuman vocals of Cryptopsy and Demilich with their own warped science fiction concepts, Wormed create their own niche in the brutal death metal genre. "Planisphaerium" is a concept album about space and the future. The entire tripped out concept can be read on their website.
Wormed:
Phlegeton - Vocals
Guillemoth - Bass
Andy C. - Drums
Charly - Guitars
Wormed's debut is probably one of the best metal albums of 2003. With "Planisphaerium", Wormed create a new level of insanity and a clever lyrical concept, which will probably never be understood by anyone other than them. While they have a sound that is quite influenced by the New York sound (Suffocation and Immolation), they are obviously taking cues from Cryptopsy in quite a lot of their material (using a riff from "Graves Of The Fathers" in the song "Geodosic Dome" for example). When looking at the cover of "Planisphaerium", one almost knows what to expect. The album's artwork is beautifully made and the band's logo, instead of being dripping with blood is created with scientific and mathematical symbols. So it's safe to assume that this is going to be a technical album. As soon as you press play, you will be pummled with the album's brutal opener, "Tunnel Of Ions". With their tight grooves, the band acheive both technicality and the ability to nod along to the music. Phlegeton's vocals are some of the strangest and most brutal ever heard in death metal. With the occasional change in style, for the majority of the album he emits inhuman noises which sound more like burps or a croaking frog than anything else. Amazingly enough, the vocals are only the start of insanity.
Though the vocals are the most noticable part of Wormed's sound, the rest of the music is just as crazy. The drumming, while probably not on the level of Flo Mournier, is just everywhere and technical as hell. The guitar just belts out heavy as hell riffs throughout the whole album - no room for solos here. The bass has some great moments throughout the album and is well placed in the mix. The album's production has it's many advantages and disadvantages. While it makes the music sound that much more intense and crushing and also makes the snare drum sound incredible, it's really hard to hear a lot of things because it's just so thick, making it sound like a big mess on the first few listens. That said, it's not hard to hear a lot great things the band are doing. For one, they are incredibly tight, switching tempos as often as every few seconds. Then there's the way that songs like "Ylem" incorporate probably over 50 riffs into the one song. While there are few problems that plague "Planiphaerium", there is one big one. A simple lack of variety. This may be due to the fact that the production masks a lot of what is actually going on. But more likely, it's due to the fact that the album is an on aural assault. Admittedly, the album is only 25 minutes long, which may be a good or bad thing. On one hand, it stops the album from getting old fast. On the other, it's a measly 25 minutes and will certainly leave fans wanting more. There is probably less than 30 seconds on the whole album that isn't heavy. The clean parts are something that Wormed would do well to expand on. Being a science fiction themed band, the addition of some ambience (possibly even keyboards) as heard on the short interlude, "Fragments" would add to the band incredibly. All in all, "Planisphaerium" is a great debut from a very promising band.
Pros
- Nice tight grooves
- The science fiction theme
- The production
Cons
- The production
- There is so much that could have been worked further
- The length
Reccomended Tracks
Geodosic Dome
Ylem
Pulses In Rhobus Form
FINAL RATING: 3.5/5
