Friday 3 May 2013

Wormed - Exodromos (Album Review)



Album Type : Full Length
Date Released : 26/3/2013
Label : Willowtip Records

Exodromos, album track listing:
01: Nucleon
02: The Nonlocality Trilemma
03: Tautochrone
04: Solar Neutrinos
05: Multivectorial Reionization
06: Spacetime Ekleipsis Vorticity
07: Darkflow Quadrivium
08: Stellar Depopulation
09: Techkinox Wormhole
10: Xenoverse Discharger

Bio
Wormed is probably one of the most respected death metal bands from Spain, a band with an undeniable worldwide projection who changed the way of understanding Death Metal itself, making their personal revolution when their debut album ‘Planisphaerium’ was released in 2003.

The new album was recorded at Sadman Studios in Madrid, Spain and mastered by Mika Jussila (Amorphis, Impaled Nazarene, Children of Bodom, Nightwish) at the famous Finnvox Studios, Helsinki, Finland.

Undoubtedly, this is one of the most innovative recordings ever written by Wormed. Ten tracks with an intense brutality, traveling at breakneck speeds, charged with dissonant dynamic riffing and tremendously overwhelming heaviness. The overall sound is sophisticated, sharp and more compact than the previous recordings. Every detail is perfectly calculated, and it’s by far more technical than ever.

“Exodromos” is a prequel of “Planisphaerium”; the story tells about futuristic science concepts and chaotic visions of the last human left in cosmos, Krighsu. These are particularly in relation to the awakening of the “Chrym” once the last humans of the year 8K, called the Terrax, disappeared, and the known universe was absorbed by a quantum wormhole in a inverted multi-vectorial reionization. Krighsu, will travel through xenoverses to found a new world with the human seed. The paradox: Krighsu is not the habitual human you all know

Review
I was politely minding my own business, surfing the net, laughing at various fail videos and attention-seeking Facebook statuses when, suddenly, I was teleported to a place far beyond the concepts of time and space.  Here, in this dark and forbidding new region was a sound: a bubbling, hissing drone that erupted into an explosion of guitars and drums.  Then this voice hit me: a voice so low, it hit me in the back of my brain, whisking the Occipital lobe into so much raw sushi with its sonic power.  What was left of my reasoning cried out what is this great and powerful new noise?! 

And I awoke, and found that I had passed out while listening to Wormed’s latest album, ‘Exodromos’. 

I checked my ears and nose for any signs of blood, and then a smile creased my lips.  I wanted more.  It was time to put the headphones back on and get transported back to that galaxy of noise. 

The Spanish quintet’s album is a prequel to their first release, ‘Planisphaerium’, and as such details the trials of their protagonist Krighsu, the last human, and his journeys through dangerous galaxies and against terrifying alien foes.  It’s a very detailed sci-fi concept these guys have made, and the music is an angry, vibrant medium upon which the tales are told. 

Opener ‘Nucleon’ is a heavyweight track that lunges and bounds at you with its brass-knuckle guitars and hammer drums.  As I found out, if you don’t pay attention to this musical animal its sheer ferocity will knock you out.  ‘The Nonlocality Trilemma’ kicks in straight after this and could probably liquefy bone at twenty feet, it’s that powerful.  Strange timescales, blast beats and inhuman vocals dominate this song: its little wonder these guys are so well-respected in the metal fraternity. 

When ‘Tautochrone’ grinds in like a broken glass-covered steamroller, I am taken aback by just how low singer Phlegeton’s voice is: if there’s a vocalist out there who can outmatch this guy’s abilities, I would seriously love to hear them too.  ‘Tautchrone’ sounds like a neutron star imploding; it truly is that dark, dense and deep.  It’s must-hear stuff. 

‘Solar Neutrinos’ is a strange, poetic affair which details the loss of humanity and terror Krighsu must be feeling as he travels the forbidding unknown realms of unexplored galaxies.  It’s a trippy, pseudo-Hawkwind kind of tune; again dark and full of tension… tension which bursts upon the listener as ‘Mulivectorial Reionization’ rips through the depths.  It’s a clamouring, shrieking terror from the far reaches of space that demands you listen to its message.  You’ll be glad – and a little bit terrified – that you did. 

The star-shattering ‘Spacetime Ekleipsis Vorticity’ almost crushes you with its unrelenting brutality: the twin guitars of Migueloud and J. Oliver simply blast you into orbit with their intensity, and bassist Guillemoth pounds away at your ears like a meteor.  When ‘Darkflow Quadrivium’ hits, it’s as though all out galactic warfare has broken out and we’re caught in the crossfire.  It’s intense, visceral and breakneck stuff, never allowing you to truly let down your guard for a moment. 

The final three songs on ‘Exodromos’ are a burst of defiant, gravity-defying monoliths of sound: ‘Stellar Depopulation’ is a galloping, growling monster that hurtles at you with almost murderous intent.  Techiknox Wormhole’ sucks you down into its depths with some beautifully ripping riffs and some mental drumming by Riky.  The song finishes with bursts of sound and chaos, fading out to static.  Then a reverb-laden lick washes out, and closer ‘Xenoverse Discharger’ grabs you like a face-hugger.  This song is a winding, atmospheric epic that really epitomises Wormed’s prowess with both music and lyrics: Phlegeton repeats the words ‘I am the involution controller’ over and over like some kind of daemonic mantra. 

As I finish writing this review, the sky’s darkened and the stars are out.  Wormed are sci-fi death metal masters, and their music is a dark suggestion of what it would be like to roam the darkness beyond our atmosphere.  It’s time for you to join Krighsu in his quest, and listen to the alien majesty that is ‘Exodromos’. 

Words by: Chris Markwell


As ever, show your support to the band by checking them out at the various links and buying their merch. This record is available now here. Thanks Hammerheart records