Description
Here on Worm Ritual, the power-trio largely leave behind the juvenilia of their early work for real-world evil, upping the nastiness of their patented punk metal and reinventing it in a most respectable way. Naturally, NEKROFILTH’s foundational influences of Slaughter (Canada), NME, and Repulsion remain, but with a more overtly muscular aspect – and, most definitely, a more overtly METAL one – Worm Ritual bristles with a punch-in-the-face intensity backed up by enviously compact songwriting, nodding often to the likes of Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Possessed, and even a bit of Autopsy. One after another, the 15 songs comprising the half-hour Worm Ritual state their case swiftly and simply, each one a mini-anthem in itself: rarely has “saying more with less” been this vicious and violent. Fitting for these stronger songs, the album is wrapped in a righteously ’80s-style production, warm yet over-the-top, with prominent reverb and delay underlining where NEKROFILTH’s allegiances lay. The secret? Analog tape, just like their forebears used to do. And Venom, one of those forebears, receive a rough ‘n’ rowdy cover of “Poison” here.
