Written by: Blackie Skulless
Worm are an outfit that I find extremely fascinating, for nothing more than the way they took the doom/death style that I often credit to having a one-to-two album shelf-life and breaking that precedent entirely. 2019’s Gloomlord was the album that put them “on the map” (and on my radar), but it wasn’t until Foreverglade that they became a force I felt worth reckoning with, and to this day I get little out of the first two records. When that record dropped, I could only surmise moving forward that maybe the North Americans had one more worthwhile disc in them, which then came in the form of Bluenothing, an EP that could pass for a full-length to some bands. Having established themselves as an oddball black/death/doom hybrid, I really couldn’t imagine what more could come. I say this not only because that’s a lot to swallow as is, but realizing the latest effort Necropalace crossed the hour long mark made me think even more that this would just be more of the same stuff but longer. But good lord man, here we are! I can’t in full honesty claim the “doom” aspect of this sound on album number four has gone away, as it’s packed with stomping crawls of fury, and “space between the space” caveman-isms that tend to define the doom/death world. Yet, I do think we’ve reached a point where that’s now simply a facet and no longer a base ingredient, and the death metal traces are more distant, other than in sheer feel.
It becomes pretty obvious that what replaces this is gothic tints via keyboards, wailing leads, and a surprising amount of melody, already getting comparisons made to Cradle Of Filth in terms of evolution, but I find that comparison to be incomplete. For one, much of this pairs with the even heavier reliance on black metal shrieks, drum pummels, and absolutely crushing rhythms, instead of replacing them. In the likes of “Halls Of Weeping,” one of the more doom-oriented tunes, these gothic tints serve as a gateway into the harsh and unforgiving vocal outbursts. Outside of that, the synths form more of a background to the backbreaking weight that the guitars still manage to carry themselves. Similarly, “Blackheart” packs in a bleak feeling with airy leads that wouldn’t feel out of place on an Unto Others album before completely crushing that under tremendous black metal riffs that carry the weight of death metal. Still, the almost pretty inklings hang above the now monstrous bottom throughout this tune, building a neat contrast.
That’s all well and good, but the question then arises of if the songwriting itself is anything noteworthy. Out of the gate, I can easily say Necropalace is one of the “biggest” sounding albums I’ve ever heard, in the way that the endless hues and textures feel like you’re in a musical stadium that’s slowly closing in around you. I’ll always dig something like that, but I think the fact that so much of it does indeed feel original and outstanding sends that into an even more impressive realm. Looking at “Blackheart” again, the parts that tap into melody also ring in a guitar tone that actually invokes a feeling of weeping, somehow merging a melancholic feel with one that’s monstrous and threatening. The closest comparison I could make falls more in line with Dissection than anything Cradle Of Filth could manage, but even this feels short of the truth due to the extreme attention to detail that Worm pays here. Unrelated side note, but did anybody else feel like its intro lick sounded like a minor-toned version of John Mellencamp’s "Ain't Even Done With The Night” intro? Just me? Okay. Really, that attention to detail is the only reason such a style can fully engage me for over an hour. I mean Christ, a fourteen minute closer in “Witchmoon: The Infernal Masquerade” in this style that manages to work Marty Friedman leads in obviously has something more than what meets the eye. Other tracks managed this idea in a shorter amount of time, and I’ll admit this closer is the only area that I think overstepped a bit, but not to an offensive degree. But hell, “The Night Has Fangs” achieved this feeling in literally half the time, caking on memorable solos between otherwise explosive black metal prowess that feels technical alone; that’s the shortest song of the six (minus the intro), still landing at a staggering seven and a half minutes. Work in the acoustic guitars and to bring back that melancholic feeling that adds beauty to misery, and you’ve basically got every ingredient that gives this album its muscle. Like, that fucking gallop and drum-blast here that connects all of those phases is just out of this world, despite seeming so simple. At the expense of basically rambling at this point, I guess that’s the best way to sum up Necropalace; otherworldly. The long, technical passages meeting extreme degrees of heaviness with soft breaks mixed in could bring this close to a comparison to Nile if they did black metal instead, but I don’t even think Karl Sanders could quite as easily transport me to an ancient world beyond my own. “Dragon Dreams” is the song in particular that drew this picture of an ancient world under a dark and unforgiving sky, but the “Gates To The Shadowzone” intro leading into the title track taps into this pretty heavily as well. Moreover, both of these tracks do not feel as long as they actually are (both surpassing ten minutes), as the epic proportions avoid over-repetition and almost act as songs within songs the way Dream Theater might, strictly from a structural point. I’ve heard a lot of bands that have mastered different aspects of this before; Spectral Voice, Carcinoid, Necrophobic, Nile, Dissection, Bathory, Unto Others, Crypt Sermon, and yes, Cradle Of Filth are some bands that came to mind. All of those acts have tackled one or several of the ingredients going on, but I don’t think any of them have boiled them all together into one gigantic melting pot. I won’t bullshit you and pretend that it’s an untouchable record, because the truth is you very much need to be in the right mood to enjoy this, and you’ll very much need to fancy an overbearing amount of stimulation. In fact, I won’t even say I necessarily prefer it to their prior full-length, and that closing tune that features Marty did not need to be as long as it is; but I would be remiss to not acknowledge not only how impressed I am with it as a concept, but the fact that it actually works wonderfully for the most part. It’s a bold move that didn’t promise a steady landing, yet one was achieved. Enter at your own discretion. Worm - Necropalace was released February 13, 2026 via Century Media Records. Find it here!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
WELCOME!We provide thoughtful reviews of the music that wakes us from slumber. Archives
March 2026
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed