WORMWITCH

A persistent, maverick menace amid a crowded black metal marketplace, WORMWITCH have been one of the most convincingly grim and violent bands of the last decade. All three of the Canadian band's albums to date ("Strike Mortal Soil", "Heaven that Dwells Within" and "Wolf Hex") deserved more attention than they received. But perhaps the common herd are uncomfortable with music this vicious and authentic. Powered by old-school metal fury, but adept at switching from the primitive to the grandiose, WORMWITCH are crusty, black-hearted warriors with proud, underground sensibilities. Newly relocated to the rightfully revered Profound Lore imprint, this Vancouver power trio have taken the opportunity to define themselves anew.

Haughtily self-titled, because why the hell not, "Wormwitch" follows hot on the scabby heels of the three face-removing new tracks featured on a recent split release with Atlanta's SADISTIC RITUAL. For those who like their black metal to leave grotesque scars and hallucinatory vapor trails, this fourth full-length foray will seem like a gift from the ancient gods.

WORMWITCH have always had a certain rock 'n' roll swagger, but the core of their sound has always been an out-and-out, heads-down attack, with blastbeats, frostbitten grooves and sinister riffs at the forefront. "Wormwitch" contains all of that, of course, but these songs are instantly notable for their enhanced levels of intensity and spite. Something has pissed WORMWITCH off, and they spend every one of these 42 minutes spewing acrid bile and reveling in destructive euphoria.

Opener "Fugitive Serpent" is an immediate knife to the eyeball: fast and ferocious, but thick with atmospheric dread, it may not deviate much from standard notions of black metal aggro, but the Canadians are channeling more than just past glories here. "Fugitive Serpent"seethes. Likewise, "Envenomed" wades deeper into melodic territory, but still teeters on the brink of dissonant, blasphemous chaos. When it slows down to a foul, death metal crawl, WORMWITCH do their very best to sustain the respite, but the song explodes again, and thrillingly so. You can almost hear frontman Robin Harris's eyes roll into the back of his head as he gargles broken glass from the eye of the storm.

That commitment to speed-obsessed annihilation continues on the merciless Panzer waves of "The Helm And The Blow", but WORMWITCH shift gears with great skill, and use mid-paced power with just as much conviction. On "Inner War", a beautiful acoustic intro hints at something more beatific, but the grim riffs and wild drumming soon erupt again, driving a stake into the heart of compromise. Elsewhere, "Godmaegen" pushes the extremity faders up into the bloody red, with an imperious flair reminiscent of IMMORTAL and sluggish doom parts that impact like cudgels to the back of the skull; interstitial, campfire jam "Salamander" is a wistful but still sinister moment of pause; and "Wormsblood Necromancy" is a fine piece of heavy metal songwriting: emboldened by WORMWITCH's warped spirit, it is as heady and disorientating as altitude sickness.

Ending with the brutal squall of "Bright And Poisonous" and the gloriously titled "Draconick Sorcerous Canadian Witchknights" (which may be the most righteously livid song here),"Wormwitch" is oddly accessible, in spite of its resolutely nefarious contents. This is black metal forged from passion and iron-clad self-belief: the sound of a great band becoming greater, but still not giving a fuck about anything beyond getting the evil job done.