Wormed — Metaportal EP
Unlike many current death metal bands, which follow a Gorguts-esque style of dissonant melancholy, this band is focused on sheer power and speed, and bears no hint of classical influence. Though their songs are not particularly short, I would refer to this band as 'deathgrind' for their emphasis on speed and the chugging, blatant atonality of their riffs. Really, they remind me of something from the original heydey of technical death metal (roughly 1995-2005), specifically sounding like Origin, or the heaviest Cephalic Carnage songs. Prior to the existence of those bands, this sound can of course be traced back to Suffocation, Immolation and Brutal Truth.
This band brings the kind of meaty, downtuned thickness Immolation was known for. The sludgy lower octave guitar tone perhaps impedes the clarity of the mix slightly, but adds that unmistakable grim, frenzied energy as well. The vocalist engages in a classic gutteral pig squeal. This is four songs of of uninterrupted power; there are no slow sections or songs. They never shy from a blastbeat, an opportunity for tremolo or general density. Some of the most sonically pleasurable moments of the recording are the crushing double kick rolls.
In terms of musicianship, the band is fantastic, and truthfully would stand out more if not for the amazingly high standard of playing in the extreme metal idiom today. There's quite a bit of rhythmic cleverness in the evolving permutations, and though it changes too frequently to easily nod along, one can feel that the band knows their music fluently and feels the pulse of their angular compositions perfectly. Nailing down tight, controlled unisons and bursting with frenetic energy are their strong suits.
The band claims to follow a sci-fi theme in their music, but I don't really find anything about the compositions indicative of this, aside from perhaps the dark ambient outro of "Cryptoubiquity", which is arguably unrelated to the rest of the song/album. The lyrics apparently tell a science fiction tale, but they are not discernable by just listening. The only lyric I can hear is the repetition of the word "BIODEGRADING..." towards the end of "Bionic Relic", which I do enjoy.
There is slightly more melodic guitar work on this EP than the previous album "Krighsu", mostly concentrated in the closer "E-Xystem://CE". It is generally used to create a paranoid, fearful tone rather than illustrate sadness, capturing a little of the dystopian imagery of Meshuggah. This song seems to be an attempt at something more visionary and creative, and I appreciate that. I would like to see the band exploring the wider dynamic range hinted at by this song.
Though all four songs on the EP are solid from a songwriting and musicianship standpoint, I would criticize the awkward fade outs at the end of opener "Remote Void" and the third track "Bionic Relic". In both cases, the song, not even four minutes long, fades out in the middle of a riff/progression that does not seem ready to end yet. What is the reasoning behind this? It's quite disruptive to the continuity.
I also greatly dislike the ending of the EP, in which the mix fades louder and louder until it overloads and clips with harsh distortion, a clumsy electronic effect. Can't the band achieve an intense, dramatic ending by playing their instruments? Why use such a production effect only at a single point in the recording? To do so is quite jarring. In fairness, though, many classic 90's metal albums have similarly awkward production choices, and I'm not going to judge this release too harshly on a couple of moments like this.
Ultimately, I consider this an impeccably competent example of the brutal death metal style, but something less than essential or innovative. I find myself struggling to discern the band's individual identity even after hearing two of their releases repeatedy. That said, I'm sure they summon a hellish firestorm of energy live. If powerful death metal is what you need, this will give you your fix.