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Background Check:
Not so metal three piece, veterans of the San Francisco
scene. Two ladies and one gentleman. Members have been
part of Amber Asylum, World Eater and The Gault; the
latter is a band that’s hyped as one of the most
legendary the Bay Area ever gave birth. Mental note; must
check The Gault. Second mental note (more like an
existential question); ‘Why am I always disappointed?
Maybe I should stop believing what others hype.’
How About the
Cover?
Yeah, I am loving the artwork. I know it doesn’t feature a
dolphin, but I just saw The Cove and every time I see a maritime
motif I get pissed. There is energy and movement in the cover.
The colors are living but soft. The creature is diving and
existing, the waters get dark at the bottom. I am loving the
wings and the air bubbles. The logo is gorgeous and the way the
artist integrates it with the arrangements on the edge of the
frame is pretty bright. Artwork was created by
bassist/vocalist/flutist Lorrain Rath.
What’s It Like?
Profound Lore Records continues to break schemes with this
recording. They are not exactly a metal label, but they put out
some of the most touching extreme (and by extreme I mean ‘both’
extremes) music this side of the millennium. Label boss keeps on
stretching definitions and bending minds with these finds.
Worm
Ouroboros work in all the soft ways, that’s not to say their
music doesn’t rock. In fact it does, softly yeah, but this
self-titled sounds like a gothic wet dream with dark and enigmatic
twists. Substract the fromage.
The band
states ‘We set out to create music which explores the lines
between fragility and strength, darkness and light, harmony and
discord’. I buy it. Give me some of that. The songs are gentle
and dark, soft and gorgeous. Especially nice and fragile are the
vocals, at times ghostly and always haunting, they sprinkle the
timidity of the music and are the connection to Cocteau Twins
that the label points out.
Profound
Lore defines Worm Ouroboros as ‘ambient dark rock / doom’'. All
these tags fit nicely. The atmosphere is doom-laden. There is
nothing directly positive about it, but enchanting it is. Dark?
That too. There are counted moments of distortion and heaviness.
It is all under control with the melodies moving subliminally
and in an inviting sublime mode.
How Much is it
Worth?
As much as you want. This is a great album. Though only open
minded metal heads may dig it, the sounds are expansive and
appealing enough to gather followers from the indie, shoegaze,
psychedelic, etc, etc communities. People familiar with the
Profound Lore tendencies usually are the type that can withstand
the stretch. The law of Profound Lore dictates that no album
associated with this record label could ever be bad. Worm
Ouroboros is far from being bad. You can even play this to your
parents. If they are cool with that.
MySpace
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