ALBUM REVIEW: Omegon – Wormed
The incomprehensible scope and scale of the universe and its vastness is a truly terrifying thought and one that accompanies death metal perfectly. There has been no shortage of death metal bands exploring the horrors of the cosmos but perhaps no one does it better than WORMED. Since 1998, the Madrid-based technical death metal band have crafted their own stories exploring the vast vacuum of space, with equally mind-bending compositions to boot. Now, eight years after their last record, 2016’s Krighsu, and three years after 2021’s stopgap EP Metaportal, the wormhole has opened once more and it has spawned Omegon.
Those who have followed WORMED over the course of their three-decade career will know that the band’s accompanying narrative to their musical brutality is just as deep and complex. Krighsu explored the titular character aiming to avoid humanity’s impending doom from an entity striving to replacing all organic life in the universe with technology, and now Omegon, the continues the same character’s story as he battles his way to unlock the mysteries of Omegon, a mysterious cosmic substance holding ultimate power.
It’s an intriguing concept and its rich and dense lore can be difficult to follow, especially given Phlegeton‘s tendency to dispatch bout after bout of guttural blasts and unintelligible filth. As intriguing as the narrative is, and one that could be explored further with supporting graphic novels, where WORMED truly shine is in their complex compositions and Omegon sees arguably the band’s most frenzied and mind-bending work to date.
Album opener Automaton Virtulague is quite honestly, ludicrously heavy. A cacophony of dizzying riffs, sustained beatings from drummer V-Kazar and a monstrous vocal display from Phlegeton kicks Omegon with the biggest of bangs. From there, WORMED continue to detonate an aural atomic bomb of heaviness as the record continues to strike with bludgeoning ferocity. Protogod boasts dense slams that hit like a freight train and dizzying amounts of technicality in the riffs that keep you on your toes; the title track twists and turns like a deranged contortionist; and Pleoverse Omninertia is a clever beast that plays on its time signatures to deliver jazzy leads before curb-stomping you with a sound that is just disgustingly heavy.
Elsewhere, Virtual Teratogenesis allows the band’s technicality to reign supreme as the elaborate riffs bend and twist to soar above the frenetic chaos below, Gravitational Servo Matrix has a stomp that could level a building whilst also boasting some of the most frenzied leads on the entire record, and the title track sees WORMED fuse their brutality with hauntingly wicked atmospherics that expertly nail their sci-fi lore.
Twisted and dizzying musicianship, heaviness to eclipse the weight of a collapsing neutron star, and fiercely frightening, with Omegon, WORMED capture the cold, black darkness of space and offer an aural insight into this existential horror, delivering a fitting soundtrack to the horrors of this dark, enormous and terrifying void.
Rating: 8/10
Omegon is out now via Season Of Mist.
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