Do you like cavernous Death/Doom with dissonant harmonics?
Tomb Mold not enough for you? This may be what you are looking for. Worm, a 3-piece from the very-fitting Florida. The swampy-ness of Florida very much present in their latest offering, “Foreverglade.” Album was released October 22, 2021 via 20 Buck Spin.
With six tracks coming in at just under 45 minutes, “Foreverglade” does not overstay it’s welcome. Worm stick to the formula on previous releases “Gloomlord” and “Evocation Of The Black Marsh” – and it works for them. This is mid-paced, doom and gloom. Lot’s of reverb on distorted guitars interspersed with dissonant harmonics – the obligatory Disembowelment comparison. I like to think of it as a marriage between Evoken and Disembowelment.
The album starts off with the title track, Foreverglade. A few seconds of quiet ambience, then the reverb-heavy guitars begins and slowly pulls you into it’s oozy depths. “Foreverglade” is slow to mid-paced but not completely absent of it’s faster death metal roots. The tempo picks up by slowly ramping up, it doesn’t come unexpectedly and doesn’t beat you over the head. This is done very well on what is my favorite track, “Empire Of The Necromancers”.
Enjoy the ride
“Empire Of The Necromancers” is all about atmosphere, build-up and pay-off. The first 3 minutes of the song builds up from it’s slow and droning roots to mid-tempo double bass drums kicks then a thrash beat; then returns to the sludge with a slow, but deliberate dissonant guitar solo; a roller-coaster ride that offers a bit of everything.
The album ends with the track “Centuries of Ooze”, track title definitely fitting for Worm’s tone and style (the guitar solo in the final minutes are particularly note-worthy). The album ends with a slow fade out, ending how it began. Calm. I am left feeling content but not necessarily wanting, I’ve had my fill. The album does its job and does it well. It’s filthy and that’s a good thing.
Album art (to me) is just as important as the music itself and Brad Moore’s album art delivers, perfectly capturing the tone of the music with its fantastic imagery.
GO BUY IT (via the links below).
- Standout track – “Empire Of The Necromancers”
-Eric Reeder 11/16/21