I often feel as if Wormed carved themselves a bit of a niche at their inception. Certainly for myself I know that Planisphærium was one of the first Technical Brutal Death Metal albums I ever heard. Their heaviness seemed unrivaled in the Tech scene at the time and each and every release which has followed has only served this point further. Even ten years after the debut Exodromus once again smashed expectations. Now we come to the band’s fourth full length Omegon, can Wormed continue to live up to their hype with this new release from Season Of Mist?
A brief Sci-fi sample aptly introduces Automation Virtulague before we’re thrust into Wormed’s exceptional brand of Tech based, Slam tinged Brutal Death wizardry. I always admire Wormed and any similar style of Tech because it isn’t too overbearing. I mean don’t get me wrong I adore absolute Free Jazz influenced maniacal messing about but I feel like if you just appreciate aggressive music then you’ll dig Wormed without feeling like you’re having a guitar lesson or brain aneurysm. I mean it’s still utterly ridiculous but it’s somehow different. Pareidolia Robotica follows on with some healthy groove, showing off some stupidly good drumming, not to mention the rest of the instrumentation, and indeed the vocals shouldn’t be put down either, guttural and nasty albeit not necessarily the star of the show. I always feel a bit sorry for vocalists in bands such as Wormed because what they’re bringing to the table pales in comparison to the mental musicianship. However, in this case much like Archspire they bring a level of brutality that amps up the tone of the music in general. Next up is Protogod, adding more space age flare to the already relentless mix of groovy Slam-like Tech. Coming up next is Pleoverse Omninertia and by this point I feel like I have all the bases covered when it comes to the general sound, the odd Sci-fi sound here, the insane drum patterns, guttural vocals, wild guitars and viscous grooves. It’s actually quite hard to summarize without just using the old cop out of ‘go listen for yourself’ but truly I don’t feel like there is any other way to describe Wormed.
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I’m thankful for Malignant Nexus, a predictably placed yet welcome song with some spoken word that allows the listener to just breathe and take in all the carnage and get ready for round two, the song still has a touch of barbarity to it but it’s nothing like what has come before. Virtual Teratogenesis naturally throws us back into the mix of what came before, with some very cheeky pinch harmonics thrown in for good measure. If you thought the song titles were ridiculous so far then prepare yourself for Aetheric Transdimensionalization, yeah that’s wild. Now by this point it could be noted that despite the albums non-stop Tech some could see the album as a touch one-note. Which I could see, but then again it kind of comes with the territory of Extreme Metal in general I would say, it does what it says on the tin. I’m left with little to say save for the fact that the albums closer ticks that box of ‘longer song’, in fact it’s the longest song Wormed have produced and I’m surprised the band don’t lean more into it, it makes me hopeful for a more Prog based album at some point, it would certainly be an interesting concept given the themes from this album and the closer especially.
All in all Omegon is another jewel in the crown of Wormed, if you’re new to Technical Death Metal then I can’t think of a better place to start, well I can, maybe Planisphærium but I’m viewing that with nostalgia goggles. This album is as good as anything else the band has put out before, and quite frankly it’s just nice to have some new Wormed material. I can’t say it wipes me off my feet because I kind of knew what to expect but for newcomers you’ll be astounded by the sheer heavy nature of this record mixed with beard stroking wonderment. Open up that astral gate and give it a listen.
(8/10 George Caley)
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