Most of us have been anticipating this new album Wormed has been teasing us with over the past few months. The Spain based band has developed quite the following even while staggering their releases over a sustained period of time. After all this dispute over what we (the fans) "think" the band should do, I'm glad Wormed can still exist and continue to set a high standard for their scalding, mind-bending music. Krighsu is the Wormed we hoped for.
If you struggle with math, you'll have a hard time adding up the technical nonsense that is Wormed's new album, Krighsu. I guess you'll also need a language major to understand the name of the album as well. Soon you'll be asking yourself how much academy you need in order to enjoy this album. For those weak of mind, fear not, there is metal for you as well. Just pop in some Emmure. On a more serious note, be warned, this is a technical album not for the faint of heart or mind. If I tried sticking this CD in my late 90's Diskmen, I'm positive Krighsu would annihilate it.
What is so insane about Krighsu? A more suitable question is, will Krighsu make me go insane? Yes. Get some medical insurance, cotton balls for all your moistly little body cavities, and allow the brutality to drain your brain. The sci-fi technical extraterrestrial complexity will have you laughing at all and any (I love this cheesy new subgenre) "AlienCore".
What sticks out to me on Krighsu is the drumming. The fast blast beats constantly changing tempo, the raw snare sound, and the smooth transitions that are made at such high speeds. There are off beat fills, and creative blast beats which I have never heard. There are even some high speed breakdowns that leave you wondering, was that a killer slam, or a breakdown that sounded superb? Another highlight is the deep, brutal death metal like vocals. Powerful gutturals with a few squeal-like accents at minimal intervals, excellently balanced and executed. The guitars are good too, but given my music background, I get lost all too often in drums and vocals.
Now you can have a terrific album and all, but that doesn't mean it hits on all ends. The guitars are only good. Maybe I holding them at too high of a standard, but I feel the writing could have been a little closer in aptitude with the drumming. Also, there were some really great segments of songs that I felt were not given enough time to develop. Sure, this is the nature of fast-paced technical death metal, but I feel if certain portions were given more time, this would be an unforgettable release.
Over all, this is a great album for the subgenre that it's in. I'm always glad to experience some good talent and energy from a sub genre flooded with horrendous counterfeits. 7/10.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKCDMobDhrY[/youtube]
