Review: Goreworm - The Path to Oblivion EP

Goreworm - The Path to Oblivion EP

Label - CDN Records

Runtime: 18 minutes

Release Date: March 23rd, 2018

At the ripe old age of 36, I may not be hip to the 'slams' that metal kids these days listen to on their shitty earbuds while I shoo them off my lawn with a grandpa guitar, hurling Slayer LPs in a frothing rage of tr00 kvlt righteous fury, but every so often I stumble down the rabbit-hole and something dank tenaciously sticks to my shoe, refusing to be ignored. Sure I'll walk around pretending like it isn't there, but eventually people start asking about the smell, and by then it's too late. I have a serious Goreworm infection, and as any metal-head worth their salt knows, the only cure for a bad case of the br00tal-deaths is to lance and purge the boils in the form of verbal or written diarrhea. This is the latter. I'm sorry.

Hailing from the middle of ass-fuck nowhere (Brantford, Ontario), Goreworm allegedly started as a project by Brent Moerschfelder and Jordan Elgersman, intending only to write a couple of songs "just for the fun of it." According to their press release, when they noticed that every track was better than the last one, they decided to go whole-hog and make an actual band out of it, proving once and for all that anything can be made better by chucking a few more Canadians at it. The malformed motley crew was then picked up by local legends CDN music and catapulted into the stratosphere of obscurity where I found them floating in the aforementioned rabbit-hole alongside an old Thy Flesh Consumed promo and Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. Initially mistaking it for a copy of Abysmal Dawn's 'Obsolescence', I picked it up and joyfully skipped home, not realizing that Goreworm had used me as a vector to spread dankness to the uninfected multitudes who read this blog (all four of them.)

Undercover Spotlight: Godslave - Reborn Again

Godslave - Reborn Again

Label: Green Zone Music

Runtime: 46 minutes

Released: March 9th, 2018

Oh man, where to begin with this one? It's thrash metal from Germany, and if that's got you thinking of Kreator, well, you're not too far off, but Godslave is far from a one-trick-pony. Influences here range from the obvious (Kreator) to early Metallica, Overkill, Iron Maiden, Exodus, and a host of other wide-ranging sounds. We start with excellent straight-forward riff-centric thrash, and slowly go off the rails the further the album goes all the way to the swaggering cock-rock meets thrash of 'Rock on, man', the brilliant speed-metal banjo in 'Instrumental Illness', and a surprising addition of female vocals on album closer 'No Complaint'.

Reborn Again could very easily have felt like a mess, but somehow it all comes together into an extremely entertaining album showcasing killer song-writing and flashy guitar, wrapped up in a punchy production. Check it out! The album is available for streaming on Spotify and to purchase on Amazon and Itunes. Unfortunately, they don't plan to distribute on Bandcamp, although you can check out a few songs there for free. Check out this awesome 360 degree video below.

Review: Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name

Label: Metal Blade

Runtime: 56 Minutes

Released: March 16th, 2018

“Where Owls Know My Name” is the third in a series of albums representing the four seasons, with the summer of ‘Monarchy’ falling to the inevitable decay of Autumn. Themes of longing, change, and regret permeate the album from the lyrics to the band’s experimental take on the classic ‘Rivers’ formula. New elements have been added to form an unlikely mix: Mellotron, Moog synths, trumpet, saxophone, and clean vocals are all very present, added to Rivers of Nihil’s already proggy take on technical death metal. One would think that this would result in a heaping mess of clashing ideas and vibes, but somehow it all pulls together into one cohesive whole that, while not without flaw, is much greater than merely the sum of its parts.

My first sit-down with the album came in the wake of learning about the death of an old friend. Not just any friend—the friend who exposed me to extreme underground metal. Without him I wouldn’t be writing this blog, listening to this album, or have had some of the most transcendental experiences of my life. I sat alone in a dark room, turned up the speakers, and let the album wash over me, and like experiences that now seem so long ago I felt myself transported, soaking up the ascendancy of something pure, neither good nor evil, organic or spiritual, simply BEING. And for that moment in time, it was enough. “Where Owls Know My Name” is that kind of record. If you let it in.