Review Summary: Portal to quantum brutality
Extreme metal has been the most interesting and relevant musical genre of the last decades, being responsible for some of the most progressive and adventurous incursions of modern music. The Spanish Wormed belong to a restricted group of bands that managed to stand out from the pack. Their distinctive sound and attractive sci-fi concept caught the attention of the metal community, who saw the Spaniards as one of the greatest exponents of contemporary brutality.
Since the considerable hiatus after
Planisphaerium, the band has released a single and two full-length, well-received by fans and critics, who have surrendered to the challenging creativity of these Spanish astronauts. The band's latest works are among the best releases the genre has offered this decade, in which I would highlight
Krighsu, one of my favorite albums of 2016 and, for many, Wormed's creative peak.
On 9 March 2018, drummer Guillermo Calero died at the age of 27. A tragic event for the band and fans who, like me, found his performance in
Krighsu, absolutely overwhelming. It's sad not knowing how Wormed's new release would sound with Guillermo behind the kit, but show must go on...
...and it goes on with 16-minute EP
Metaportal, which continues the story of Krighsu, the last post-human being in a vast robotised galaxy. In a brave attempt to save the galaxy, Krighsu will have to access the immense Metaportal to win the nano-technological war.
As expected, "Remote Void", the first chapter of this quantum odyssey, is massive. While maintaining similarities with
Krighsu, the sound is now bolder and the vocals slightly more perceptible in some parts. The band's formula remains unchanged, but we're not listening to the same song, a bit like the similarity between "Prowler" and "Wrathchild", we recognize Maiden's DNA perfectly, but we feel something has changed. This fresher approach remains in "Cryptoubiquity" and "Bionic Relic" which are among the most accessible songs (within genre standards) the band has ever recorded. At this point, we realize the band has evolved into a more orthodox dimension, which doesn't necessarily imply that the music has become predictable and uninteresting, on the contrary, it means the band is alive and still looking for new cosmic textures. This galactic research finds its most progressive form in "E-Xystem://CE", which is clearly the album's most contrasting song, exploring unusual time signatures and different vocal approaches. This last song closes the EP, without truly closing it, leaving a suspenseful nebula behind, which leads me to believe Krighsu's story may not be over yet...
Metaportal is a quantum portal to a galactic battle of catastrophic proportions. No one knows who will win the nano-technological war, but if it left such devastation in just 16 minutes, I can't wait for the next chapter.
