Wormrot - Voices

Voices is the really, really, reaaalllly long-awaited return of Malaysian grindcore machine, Wormrot. When you think that the last thing we heard from these guys was the Noise EP, that is surely a crime against extreme music in itself. This hiatus has spanned for longer than most grindcore band's careers, but nevertheless, they are finally back, and most people would probably agree that it has been worth the wait.

Voices marks a massive departure from the usual Wormrot sound. Gone is the rough-around-the-edges production, and gone (literally!) is the original drummer, who has been replaced by who can only be described as the human equivalent of a gale-force wind, playing a technical yet thoroughly "grindcore" style that reminds me of Mick Harris circa 1990 and Pig Destroyer / Misery Index blastmaster Adam Jarvis.

Eagle-eared listeners and long time fans will also note the totally unexpected creepings of melody working its way into a few tracks. A specific example of this would have to be the phenomenally excellent "Compassion Is Dead", which reeks potently of 2000s era Nasum; the chorus riff literally weeps and it is absolutely incredible.

Fingers crossed for catching the band live this year!

Wormrot - Noise

I'm not touching that fucking Scion debate shit with a fucking barge pole. I covered it briefly on my Magrudergrind Crusher post, and I'll leave it at that. This EP, whoever fucking released it, is absolutely sick as fuck, and is easily probably some of the best grindcore on the entire planet. 5 tracks in 5 minutes is a decent pace to keep to, and it suits Wormrot's riffs-then-smash-shit-up approach perfectly. I never noticed how fucking brutal Arif's lows were before!

I've seen Wormrot live more times than I can remember, and recently spinning this EP has made me realise just how much I miss those fuckers. Easily one of the best grindcore bands in the world, and Noise is probably the best place to start with modern grindcore, in my opinion. "Perpetual Extinction" has a weird widdly guitar part but other than that this is straight up, unrelenting grindcore brutality done in the best possible way. 5/5. 10/10. Whatever. Perfect!

Wormrot / I Abhor - Split 7"

I Abhor are a weird mixture of sounds. Slow, dissonant riffs lead into unbelievably fast blasting grind; the drumming really is something you must all hear! The vocals are distorted and hellish a la the sound used on earlier Pig Destroyer records, only not as high; the singer utilizes mainly lows in his delivery. I Abhor are kinda similar to Wormrot in a way; they both peddle the same grinding mix of excellent riffing and flat out blasting.

 

Wormrot on side B contribute 8 (yes!) tracks to the 7". Opener "Twelve" is bloody hilarious, before "Critical Human Stupidity" blows your fucking head off like it was nobody's business. The production here betrays to me that these songs are from the same sessions as the Abuse album, or at least that's what it sounds like to me! 

 

For a grindcore band, Wormrot haven't really done that many splits, which is odd (but great for me as I have literally everything they have released, barring the odd demo tape or two). Anyways this 7" was put out by Fat Ass Records in Poland and is truly excellent as fuck. I recommend!

Wormrot - Abuse

This is the TVG Global Thrashcore Dealer pressing of Abuse, which I picked up before it was re-released by Earache a short while later. I got this off Shane Embury's FETO stall in Deathfest 2010 (or were Wormrot selling this next to Shane Embury's stall? That would make much more sense, surely? I don't know!) back when Wormrot were very much unknown in the UK. They have come a long way since, and two full UK tours later I feel they have now (rightly) cemented themselves as a leading name in the international world of grind. I had never heard Wormrot before thier show at Deathfest apart from maybe in the car on the way to the festival, but that never counts. I was blown away and headed straight to the merch stall afterwards to snatch this record.

For those who do not know, this band is a three piece, but certainly does not lack any punch for it. This is flat out blasting grind at its best, stopping or slowing only to fall into some of sort of d-beat or pit-widening riff. "Fuck...I'm Drunk" is one of the best song titles ever, and it proves that the band have quite the sense of humour (as does the inclusion of a Yeah Yeah Yeah's cover song). I'm not sure how hard it is to pick up this version of Abuse, what with the Earache presses saturating the market. I know that the CD version contains a metric fuckton of bonus material that this record doesn't possess, but it's gotta be wax-over-digitrax any day!