Sinister, discordant guitars slither. Gregorian chants intone solemnly in the background. Drums tattoo a martial beat as the introduction builds. Yep, so far, so Deathspell Omega. Given that this US-based three-piece finish their latest record with a cover of ‘Malign Paradigm’ (taken from DsO’s 2003 classic ‘Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice’) and list the genre-forwarding Frenchmen as a prime inspiration, they are certainly making no bones as to where their influences lie. And as far as influences go, you could do a lot worse – OK, so that whole diatonic dissonance riffing thing is very ‘on-trend’ now but it doesn’t take away from how effective it can be.
Wormreich to their credit aren’t just doing a straight-up cut ‘n’ paste of the familiar ‘Voivod-Gorguts-Deathspell Omega’ styled fretboard abuse. There’s a little more of a nod to the traditional school of blackened aggression on ‘Wormcult Revelations’, some more straight ahead moments of savagery which actually throws the more discordant sections into effective relief. Introductory piece ‘Revelation I – Vox in Rama’ builds nicely (if predictably) as described earlier, setting the scene for ‘Revelation II – Serpents of Choronzon’, a seven-minute epic laced with frantic double-kick drums and an infectious, spidery central refrain.
It goes without saying the Wormreich aren’t quite as dense or tight as DsO. The percussion in particular seems more frantic, lacking the precision to propel the material with the frightening intensity demonstrated by the very best in the genre. Nor are they quite as capable of weaving compelling hooks. ‘Revelation III – Devotion’s Final War’ feels cobbled together, the riffs piling up but not doing a lot to draw the listener in. It’s only the closing minutes where things slow down a bit and we get some space that a crepuscular atmosphere begins to build. ‘Revelation IV – Enim Satanas Meum Sanguinem’ suffers a similar fate, the guitar lines sawing away with intent but failing to hit home. And it’s all a bit messy, frankly.
Nonetheless, Wormreich certainly have their strengths – some impressive vocals courtesy of main man Vulk deliver Satanic dedications with aplomb, throaty and laced with menace. Instrumental ‘Codex Lucifervm’ deploys considered synth atmospherics that are actually very effective – relatively subtle and carefully considered, it’s a welcome break from the blasphemic din. The synths also underpin chosen sections with some subtle but effective sinister ambience. At points, one is reminded of a slightly less-OTT version of Lunar Aurora’s ‘Weltenganger’.
The problem is that when we hit the album closer (the aforementioned cover of ‘Malign Paradigm’) we are immediately struck with some hooks and character that are noticeably lacking from material elsewhere on the record. A bold move for sure – paying homage to one’s influences is fine, certainly, but one must be careful it doesn’t overshadow original material. In this case, whilst ‘Wormcult Revelations’ is a solid, powerful album, it fails to hit the compelling heights that discordant, orthodox Black Metal is capable of reaching.
(6.5/10 Frank Allain)
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