Alright, Wormed should form part of our n00b crowd at the RMR office tower. A list of established metal acts that – to this day – somehow didn’t make it on our roster yet. The band emerged from the vile depths of space in 1998 and produced all of – four full-length albums over all these years. But even with a scarce density like that, this band has exerted considerable influence on Brutal and Technical Death Metal over time.
RMR is no good with ‘established’ bands of the alleged metal mainstream. So, it’s no surprise that this band somehow sailed under our radar ever since. Besides, this zine isn’t really known for its resounding love for DM’s brutal undercurrents.
The band’s knack for grimy Extreme Metal and tech death in a Sci-Fi setting saddled them with an entrenched fan club that no adverse opinion can possibly dislodge. Loudwire even named Wormed Spain’s best metal band in 2022. And that elicited a torrent of darkly evil chuckles and snarky comments over here.1 But then, the latter also considered Metallica to be the best metal act of the US because size matters or something. But I digress. Omegon awaits permission to hit warp drive, Captain. And we ought to grant it.
Metal life is sometimes rough for a band. The first listen of the piece elicited no reaction over here. None, nada, zilch. Stony faces on the chiseled countenances of the old geezers manning the Review Desk. It’s Brutal Death Metal alright with a fair share of tech death – no contest there. The relentless and frantic gurgles, snarls, and croaks won’t leave you for a minute. And I just hope the band didn’t waste too much time to deliver flowery lyrics, there’s just nothing to understand here.2 The highly technical and very dense riffing indeed has some propensity to dazzle, though. But then, the damned snare drum St Anger-ed us all over again. You just can’t escape the damn Metallica thing after all.
Yet, after the 3rd or 4th spin, Omegon finally shows some silver lining in that ocean of Neanderthal grime that would sit well with acts like Enragement or Dying Fetus. And don’t I hate records that one has to listen to a felt fifty times to extract an inkling of meaning? Either by osmosis or the Stockholm Syndrome, whatever comes first. But fear naught, after all that effort, Omegon finally coughs up small hidden gems. Sci-fi colored sampling, some limited groove appearing in a sea of down-in-the-pit vile putrescence. Monologues seemingly from some AI on steroids, super-short ambient passages with spacey sounds. If that is a thing at all because there are no sounds in space (Virtual Teratogenesis, for instance).
Oh, and I beg to differ with the shiny-faced fanbois and girls promising metal rapture heading your way once you fire up Wormed. Whilst excellent moments of technical geekery appear (Aetheric Transdimensionalization), Omegon won’t reside in the coveted Valhalla of Technical Death Metal of this crew. There is a ton of other acts more astute than these Spaniards. Of course – and as I said above – that statement won’t dislodge the set opinions of the many die-hard fans this band was able to garner over the years.
So, you guessed it. The RMR crew wasn’t overly impressed with Omegon. To the old geezers of the review desk, the record sports sturdy and extremely well-developed Brutal Death Metal – but nothing more. The space-related overarching theme leads to a few snazzy vacuum-infested interludes that will lighten the skull breakers relentlessly hammering your ears. Thus, the band tried to offer some extra spice into this primordial metal soup of theirs. And that is all good and great. But in a way, this attempt to lift quality to more lofty heights remains too little too late and won’t allow the record to ascend to the levels of greatness others purported this band to be on.
And yet, Omegon isn’t without tracks that slightly stand out from the rest of the crowd. Pareidolia Robotica, Protogod, Malignant Nexus, or the aforementioned Aetheric Transdimensionalization all show a lot of promise. Interestingly, methinks that the second half of the record gained in oomph and slam quality. So, looking at this record without regard to what came before, we found a special, well-constructed, yet despite its undeniably proficient technical prowess, pretty unremarkable Extreme Metal record. One that will survive for a few spins over at the office. But also one that will soon disappear out of sight once the RMR spacecruiser enters new galaxies with snazzier metal delights. See ya all next time in a different dimension, I guess.
Ed’s note: The band made it onto our 2024 list of lamestream n00bs. Click on the link to find out what we had to say!
Record Rating: 5/10 | Label: Season of Mist | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 5 July 2024