Review Summary: Well-written, intensely abrasive snail-paced doom for the seasoned listener and extreme doom freak only. This is my favourite doom metal album of the decade thus far.
Wormphlegm are a Finnish doom metal duo often described as funeral doom, although I think of them as just strange and original doom without any of that depressive/suicidal and moody junk (when a basic distinction doesn't quite fit, calling something "extreme doom metal" is good enough). "Tomb of the Ancient King" is their first album, which was long awaited after their highly praised "In an Excruciating Way..." demo in 2003. The album is certainly an improvement and a more realized and full effort, and perhaps the best doom metal album of the decade.
It should be mentioned up front that this is agonizingly sluggish and painfully abrasive doom and is only suitable for those who are familiar with the genre's most extreme bands, especially those fitting in with the "drone doom" subgenre (Moss, Otesanek, Khanate, Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine, etc). The album is three tracks and over an hour long, with the opening track clocking in at nearly a half hour in and of itself. For many this is a warning sign for tedious, boring and unimpressive doom that's not really worth the effort to listen. On the contrary, this album maintains its harshness and intensity for its complete duration.
Wormphlegm's style is comrpised of mega-sluggish, intensely heavy, harsh and dark riffs and chilling leads crawling underneath pretty much constantly. The tone of the guitar isn't particularly low end or full-sounding, but the slightly higher than usual and more grating tone adds to the overall harshness of the sound. The leads are slow moving eerie melodies that really accentuate the mammoth filthy riffs. They chillingly squeal and work excellently in the extremes of low and heavy and high and piercing. This same relationship is seen in the dual vocal performance, trading off between low death metal grunts and super high torture screams. The vocal performances are absolutely excellent. The grunts are just puked out with a vile harshness and intensity, followed by torturous screeches and working into the general theme of torture and pain employed by the group (that may seem corny, but you gotta listen to the stuff to know what I'm talkin' about). The drums plod and smash along and are played relatively well. Don't expect an amazing performance, but you gotta give the guy some credit for having to play for a half hour nonstop for one song (even if they did loop the drums in the recording, these guys have played live). As is typical with snail-paced doom, the main function of the drums is to bash something when a chord is first struck and add to the primitive violent sound. At times I'm reminded of 90s doom masters Esoteric (the chilling constant leads and overall oppressive and torturous atmosphere) and other 90s greats that laid the foundations for maniacs like these.
Another important aspect of Wormphlegm is the structure and composition of the songs. Unlike many of the bands associated with drone doom, they never resort to lengthy sections of chords just ringing out and semi-improvisational bits. Every minute of the music played properly, on time, and almost moving like movements within a much larger piece. They have been criticized by some for basically using the same structures, doing an opening riff, repeating it later with some alterations, and ultimately bringing back the first section to close the song. I think this circular way of composition actually adds to the atmosphere and feeling of the music. When that first riff in the opening track comes back again after almost 30 minutes, it just sounds all the more intense (although some people would just be relieved that they actually made it through a 30 minute song without falling asleep or diverting their attention for a great deal of it).
Wormphelgm are a filthy, disgusting and harsh doom metal band and certainly my favourite of the past 10 years. They lie on a polar extreme in the genre playing intensely slow abrasive *** and employing some of the most wretched riffs, vocals and overall composition I've ever encountered. Unless you're a total doom freak such as myself I doubt you'd have much interest in sitting through this hour long perverse monstrosity. For fans of the most sluggish and extreme doom, so slow it must at some point be deemed "drone" (played so slow they let a tone ring out for a really really long time), this is just what the doctor ordered. However, even among dedicated doom metal fans this kind of stuff isn't always appreciated. I'd describe it as a personal favourite for that reason, as it has most of the qualities I look for in modern doom and a lot of originality and bizarreness to boot, but it isn't everyone's cup of tea. Get it now if you're ready for a putrescent sluggish onslaught, or don't if you'd prefer something a little more listener friendly.
