Wormhole – Genesis

Wormhole
Genesis - 2016

While Lacerate Enemy Records deserve an entire article for themselves for releasing some of the best slam albums of the last decade, Wormhole's first full-length « Genesis » is worth a review on its own.

Released November 30^th 2016, I only came across it a couple of months ago. I clearly missed out, as it not only has the kind of riffs that tickle my eardrums just right, it's also got Duncan Bentley from Vulvodynia on vocals. If that isn't a selling point since Psychosadistic Design (Lacerated Enemy Records – 2016), I don't know what is.

Genesis starts out as an average 20XX slam album, reminiscent of Gluttonous Chunks (Inherited Suffering Records – 2016) era Coprocephalic, with memorable grooves and a fun introductory slam. Overall, the flow is controlled and intelligently written, with counterrythms and disorienting fills keeping you on your feet. It's the kind of band during which you'd see a crowd of uncoordinated heads bobbing to imaginary beats, each in different tempos.

The composition is good, but the actual riffs are stellar – Genesis is one of those rare albums that sounds like it's telling a story. After a couple of songs, you begin to feel the exertion of running from predators, hiding in the dark, or vaulting over obstacles while feeling death's breath on your neck. In the heat of the moment, you trip into a solo, sending you into a hellish roller coaster of screams and terror. Speaking of solos, some guitarists find themselves in that terrible spot wherein they write similar sections. This isn't the case for the Kumar brothers, both responsible for the melodies that accompany you through madness and despair. Part beautiful swan-songs, part terrific shred demonstrations, each solo has its personality. The fact that Sanil and Sanjay can write such good slams, tech-death riffs and solos almost makes it sound like three different bands wrote together.

The vocals might be the weaker point of the album, though I'd put that on the mix. They do the job when accompanied, but their tone is somewhat lacking when alone. I wouldn't want to sound like I didn't like them though – the second half of the album forgives a lot of what was missing during the first, with the ending of Gravity Manipulation Unit being an unholy chorus of diseased voices, or the trademark Duncan Bentley deep « spoken-word » death metal.

As a parting note, no matter what you think of the programmed drums trend, Wormhole did a great job making it sound believable and entertaining. Switching beats around and having fun with realistic fills make for a much better album.

Giuseppe Fitzsimmons

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