Formed by the normal sounding Tedd back in 2007, Wyrms are we are informed, part of the Francophile medieval scene along with the likes of Véhémence, Griffon, Sühnopfer and Darkenhöld. Being a sucker for this sort of stuff mainly thanks to French label LADLO, naturally I was keen to get my claws into this, the band’s fourth album. Although we are certainly dropped into times of plague and pestilence it is the themes and presumably the narrative of these 6 lengthy songs that embraces the medieval age rather than the use of traditional instrumentation. For the most part this is epic, melodic black metal and those looking for inclusion of lyres, harps etc are best to search elsewhere.
That’s not particularly a problem and indeed for some it may be considered a relief as there is little in the way of faffing around here as the first of these tracks ‘La messe de l’épée’ swirls in and proceeds to put us to the sword. Once the drums clatter in there is plenty of burgeoning spirit here and along with a whirlwind of strummed guitar and guttural vocals we are in the midst of a pitched battle. Old Tedd has a pretty venomous rasp and spits out his parts formidably, growls, heaves and retches keep us on toes and the speedy pace of things is augmented by some bouncy and jaunty melodies between the whirlwind flurries. There is no problem closing eyes and placing yourself in the midst of a melee here attacking the castle walls. The blood rage induces madness and during the melodic thrust of ‘Fort blanc et bêtes noires’ the vocalist even has a bit of a cackle as he no doubt cuts head from shoulders and gets coated in blood. However, its not all smiles as a sombre melody emerges, perhaps the plague has got into camp and along with mass casualties of war our heroes could have a quite the fight their hands.
Hostility is never far away and now we are apparently on translation caught ‘Between Beggars And Rats,’ running headlong between vagrants and vermin by the sound of it. We do get a small traditional passage of medievalism at the start of ‘Trouble mort,’ it’s subtle almost as if the group are proving they can do this style before battering away into blackened cleaving fury once more. There’s also some clean chanting here adding a bit more variety vocally. Scorching and vitriolic, well one way to deal with plague is to put it to the flames and that’s just what ‘L’envoyé des flammes’ suggests, a funeral pyre lighting up an otherwise dark sky but at what cost? Having blazed away formidably the last, near 10-minute number ‘Dans l’hiver et dans la nuit Sarkhral’ is a morbid requiem compared to the rest of the album and one where it is evident winter is going to bring more death and disease.
I do enjoy an album that tells a good story and right or wrong in the one that has formed in my head listening to it, this does just that. Wyrms might well be new to me but they stand proudly amidst the forementioned artists and have certainly delivered a good battle here. I’ll be looking out for the next time they put up a fight.
(8/10 Pete Woods)
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