Wormrot 
Dirge
Earache
March 31
By Max Kyburz
Allow me to be the 1000th person to rant about mainstream metal.
Back in the late 1980’s, Earache Records provided the mantelpiece on which exalted bands like Carcass and Morbid Angel stood. They all got their start on the then little-known British metal label and every band to feature guttural vocals, spurting guitars and machine-gun drums to come since owes them homage.
Twenty-plus years later Earache has become a platform for “more marketable” bands, whether they be cookie-cutter 80’s thrash and Judas Priest rip-offs or teen bandwagon bands that put more work into funny song titles and t-shirt designs than song craftsmanship. Original, honest carnage seems much less important to major labels these days.
When they signed a promising Singaporean band named Wormrot, Earache seemed to dust off their roots. Though their relatively clean look suggests otherwise (no other band rocks sandals like them), they’re out to prove that metal is all about passion, not fashion. They already brought the heat in 2009 with their stellar full-length Abuse and again last year with a split CD with I Abhor. After relentless touring and countless blog posts generating more hype than Charlie Sheen’s next TV interview, could a buzz band possibly hit a third home run?
In this case, yes. Although Dirge isn’t a grand slam (as the previous two are), the boys have feathered quite a nest for themselves. Surprising considering how signing to a major label usually cripples a band’s sound. While they’ve expanded their sound to include hardcore punk tropes, they’ve made no effort to make themselves more accessible. In fact, the songs are even shorter than on Abuse, clocking in at a cool 18 minutes total (beating Abuse‘s ultra-long 24 minute set). The power-trio actually sounds tighter; Arif handles every throat-destroying vocal, Rasyid churns out enough killer hooks to fill up a dozen records and Fit hammers away on the skins until his arms break off.
While they’re serious about what they do, Wormrot finds time to be tongue-in-cheek. Song titles like “Semiconscious God-Size Dumbass” and “Butt Krieg is Showing” will produce chuckles as they share the floor with more sincere tracks like “You Suffer But Why Is It My Problem.” Overall, Wormrot has fun beating the crap out of your ears. Seeing how a lot of bands try to sound intense but end up sounding boring in the process, these dudes blow the competition out of the water with ease.
Though LP and CD formats won’t hit shelves until May, Wormrot realized that illegal pirating was inevitable. As a result, they’ve put up the whole album up on their website for free download. And you thought metalheads weren’t nice.
