Groovers in the heart of the 90’s, well that strikes as a pretty good descriptive line to sum up this lot from the Pyrenees Mountain region of France. Just to clarify they play groove metal and it sounds very much like a lot of the bands you used to listen to in the 90’s. I suspect though, that like me that is something style wise that you have very much moved on from and listening to this now could be like dipping your toes in the past and possibly thinking you are glad you are not there anymore and must look up some of those old discs gathering dust on the shelves and possibly have a clear out. Let’s not sell Worselder too short though before giving them a fair blast on the stereo and as it has proven the quintet have no shortage of ideas and are far from one dimensional.
Starting at the beginning with 1st number ‘Infighting’ we get a big ballast of squealing guitar work bridging the gaps from everyone from Pantera to Prong and vocals that are both growly and clean. The guitar section keeps things flowing and get into the groove and there’s quite a soulful feeling going on with the melodicism. The band express themselves in the English language and it’s not always in a deep and meaningful way, I certainly cringed at “yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, whoa, whoa Motherfucker” and the band do like to get a bit sweary at times, which I admit I find a tad immature. The song somewhat surprisingly gets mellow toward the end and goes into some acoustic fretwork and vocals that wouldn’t sound out of place on a System Of A Down record. I did find my feet moving and toes tapping to the majority of the album which is never a bad sign and the album’s title track hits the mark with some frantic riffing signatures amidst a mid-paced beat, some pretty mean roars and rasps and those expressive clean tones. As the album progresses Guillaume Granier who provides the bulk of the vocals really does sound like he is enjoying himself and his larynx gymnastics rubs off as his infectious tones hit the high end of things. At times especially on ‘The Sickening’ I’m reminded of Pist On too, which is no bad thing.
Things also kind of get funky in places, snappy choruses, bass grooves and we border on to dreaded snips of rap metal but these parts are never thankfully overstated. The band have a modern metal edge but never forget where they are coming from, sometimes that can be a bit of a surprise and a near reggae line and quick burst into Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick In The Wall’ is one of many cheeky things here that keeps the listener on their toes. At other times I can’t help thinking that the band are sitting around and waiting desperately for someone like The Red Hot Chilli Peppers to hit town so they can thrust their arms up in the air and shout out that they are destined to be the local support act. Fair play too, as I think they would go down very well given that opportunity. Apparently they have done their thing with a wide array of bands from Dagoba, Firewind and Huntress so guess they are well on their way there.
At 54 minutes though I did find my dip back into this kinda thing a little bit too much for comfort but the fact dem feet didn’t stop and tapping proved that Worselder are hitting the right notes and will no doubt go down brilliantly targeted at a better audience.
(6.5/10 Pete Woods)
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