Wormrot

Dirge

BY Greg PrattPublished Apr 26, 2011

Singapore's Wormrot are one of the best straight-up grind bands of today, and they are certainly one of Earache's shining stars. On Dirge, the band's second full-length, they actually keep things shorter than on their first album, with these 25 songs clocking in at a wonderfully brief total of 18 minutes. The trio have no bassist, but damned if anyone would ever guess, with this album having no shortage of low-end heaviness propelling its crusted over grind onslaught. With a real early Napalm Death punk edge to things, Dirge isn't a whole lot different from Abuse (the band's first album), adding in more tossed-off punk rock energy, creating an album that definitely tips the horns towards crust, but stays firm in its metallic roots, a home on Earache being a totally appropriate place for a band that sound as '90s UK grind as Wormrot do. It's a sound they nail to perfection on this excellent album, which has as its only downfall the monotony that, if history has taught us anything, we know that all classic grind carries with it.

Dirge is a great example of pure and simple grind. Is that something you aspire to?
Guitarist Rasyid: Many bands claim they play grindcore because it makes them looks like they know what they're doing when they actually don't. I don't want the term "grindcore" to be degraded, so we, as grindcore fans, want to prove that the term should not be taken lightly.

What do you feel makes the album different from Abuse?
This is the first time I'll actually talk about the album; we refused to talk about it until it was out. Dirge is much more punk and noise, in terms of production, sound of the band and composition. It's faster than Abuse, and I'm not talking about BPMs; it's unfriendly, less accessible. There's less death metal riffage and more punk chords.

I don't find the albums to be that different. Is that an inherent problem with grind? How do you keep things fresh and exciting?
I don't have a formula on how to make grindcore exciting. Grindcore is a very flexible genre to play in, open to many ideas and styles. Some people grow out of it when everything sounds generic and slowly blurs and fades away. It's a problem, especially when songs are short and people fail to "get it."
(Earache)

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