The Surprise That Doesn’t Let Up
Every so often a record you had never heard of a week ago grabs you by the throat and refuses to let go. Miasmic Solitude did exactly that.
Goreworm popped up on my radar during Friday Five research last week, and I went in completely cold. This is the second album from the Ontario group, and it slaps. Technical death metal with black metal in its blood, and it does not let up for a second. This might end up on the list of best death metal albums released this year. These guys have mastered the trick of being technical, melodic, and brutal as all hell at the same time. The riffs are insanely catchy, and the drums are miked in a way that feels organic, not buried under trigger software and the sterile over-production that plagues so much modern death metal. The cover rules too. Arachnophobia, anyone? There are stretches with real Black Dahlia Murder in them, which I mean as the highest compliment, because most modern tech and melodic death has lost that raw edge. The vocals especially.
“The Enthralling Grave” is the one that hooked me. The opening riff drops you straight into the chaos that follows, and the riffs that really get me are the ones landing on the “and” beats, shoving everything relentlessly forward. Music nerds, rejoice.
“Orbweaver” has incredible soloing and guitar scrapes that add an extra punch to a song that was already unrelenting. What makes it special is that Goreworm knows when to let things breathe and let the atmospheric moments take over. They break exactly when it is right, then come back in and hit you.
“No Reprieve” is another string of killer riffs front to back. These guys seriously know how to play.
The title track opens with a thrash guitar and bass lick that snaps you right back to attention for the home stretch. I usually want the title track closer to the front of an album, but I respect what they did here, because the keyboard atmospherics make it land. The last minute is something special. My biggest complaint with most albums is that they rarely leave you wanting to keep listening or start over from the top. Not the case here. They go airy and technical in the best way, with an almost symphonic ending that had me thinking, I need to hear this live.
If you like death metal in any form, dig this one up. They nailed it.
Score: 8.4/10