The cutting room floor after a Worm brainstorming session must be quite the sight to see!

The two-piece death/black/doom metal band put a heavy emphasis on arrangements and coordination on their EP, Bluenothing (20 Buck Spin).  The opening title track alone could stand as an entire album. At over eleven minutes, the production is muffled and the vocals melancholic; grimey. It’s a blackened death track heavy on smooth, clean soloing with a bass that rearranges one’s innards. It teases a ritual taking place and is aided by sprawling atmospherics and organs. ‘Bluenothing’ has the capacity to be drawn out into its own full-length, as the storytelling is as complex and intricate as any other LP.

Phantom Slaughter and Wroth Septentrion shroud the mini-album in a haze of bleakness. Even with stringwork which might seem unbecoming of the genre(s), it instead acts as a balance to the malaise and tangible indecisiveness created. The last two tracks, especially, (‘Invoking The Dragonmoon,’ ‘Shadowside Kingdom’) feature a kaleidoscope of shredded soloing heard from many a Guitar Center showoff. That same axe-wielding mentality becomes emotive and conscious on ‘Centuries Of Ooze II.’

Phantom Slaughter, as the moniker suggests, is ethereal in their conquering screams. They appear to come from a being not of this realm or dimension. All that is known is the bite in which every vocal line offers. 

Bluenothing is a striking example of how a twenty-seven minute EP can feature hours and hours of tireless rearranging, substituting, polishing and reconfiguring. It’s made all the more admirable that it was all put together by two individuals. It’s a release that benefits greatly from opting not to fall back on the “speed is key” trope. It instead recruits airy symphonics, acoustic guitars and scintillating keyboards. 

What’s left on the other side is rugged, durable, extremophile metal. 

Buy  the EP here: https://www.20buckspin.com/collections/worm

7 / 10

MATT COOK