The last time I gave Wormwitch a fair shake was five years ago upon the release of their sophomore album, Heaven That Dwells Within (2019). At the time, the blackened crust craze had reached a fever pitch, and Wormwitch were riding the wave like Jeff Spicoli in that Fast Times at Ridgemont High dream sequence. Like many bands of this niche, I neither loathed nor loved Wormwitch. I do recall their riffs and songs having more substance than most of their peers, which is likely why we’re still talking about them half a decade later as opposed to *checks notes* Oathbreaker or Young and in the Way (the less that’s said about them, the better).
Yet just as the metal underground collectively moved on from blackened crust, so did Wormwitch. While I didn’t immediately check out their last album, Wolf Hex (2021), upon its release, those in the know were surprised by its departure from their early blackened crust sound, opting instead for a more melodic black metal approach. So was I upon finally giving it a listen in the weeks leading up to their now fourth self titled affair, which is the musical beast that stands before us today: 9 songs and a little over 41 minutes of pure blackened chaos.
Whereas Wolf Hex blurred the lines between this new melo black approach and a dose of black ‘n’ roll akin to their early output, Wormwitch largely strips away the intricacies of its predecessor in exchange for a no frills black metal assault that’s as bestial as it is bleak. From the opening “Fugitive Serpent”, the stage is set with all instruments pushed forward in the mix, each hellish riff and blurring blast doing their absolute best to disorient the listener. Is it anything we haven’t heard before? No, but Wormwitch admittedly execute this formula with more proficiency than your run of the mill corpsepaint faced Bandcamp act (see “The Helm and the Bow” and “Wormsblood Necromancy”).
As my threshold for second wave black metal is low, it should come as no surprise that my favorite moments on this album are those that step away from these musical conventions. Cuts like “Envenomed” and “Dragonick Sorcerous Canadian Witchknights” (How’s that for a song title?) boast crusty undertones, particularly in the rhythms, reminiscent of the band’s salad days, but manages to retain their black metal identity. The second half of “Godmaegen” comes off as a blackened spin on Sabbath with its miserable crawl and moody Iommi-esque solo. As for my choice cut, “Bright and Poisonous”, what can I say? I wish every blackened thrasher I laid ears on was this unhinged and pissed off, as opposed to merely copy and pasting early Sodom (although in the words of Breaking Bad‘s Gus Fring, that too is “acceptable”).
While there is no new ground being broken on Wormwitch, that isn’t to say the band hasn’t crafted a truly diabolical and mostly enjoyable black metal album, the latter quality being the biggest shocker of them all. Yeah, I know all you “krieg” dorks are foaming at the mouth, ready to torch my house like it’s Norway circa 1992. Instead, how about you put this album on and surrender your eardrums to some icy northern sorcery. There’s more to life than Mayhem, you know!
7 out of 10
Label: Profound Lore Records
Genre: Black Metal
For fans of: Dissection, Watain, Vimur