Wormhole emerged from the underground this year with Almost Human, their first album for Season of Mist.
"Straight up, 'Almost Human' is a contender for Album of the Year for me", wrote Michael Centrone for New Noise.
The Baltimore space invaders are taking their signature tech-slam combo out on the road next year with Gorod, the French gods of tech-death. They'll be writhing their way down the East Coast, with an early pit stop in their hometown nesting chamber, before sliming all across the American Southwest. Joining the party are New Jersey's blackened death metal progressives Hath, as well as the all-seeing Exist, who will be playing their first shows since 2020.
"We are humbled and excited to be joining Gorod on tour this January", says Wormhole. "Their influence on us and death metal is profound and we cannot wait to play with and watch them every night".
Get tickets: https://redirect.season-of-mist.com/Wrmhle-tix
2024 US Tour Dates
January 12 - Philadelphia, PA @ Milkboy [TICKETS]
January 13 - Baltimore, MD @ The Crown [TICKETS]
January 14 - Charlotte, NC @ The Milestone [TICKETS]
January 15 - Knoxville, TN @ Brickyard
January 16 - Nashville, TN @ The End [TICKETS]
January 18 - Dallas, TX @ Haltom Theater [TICKETS]
January 20 - Phoenix, AZ @ Pub Rock Live [TICKETS]
January 21 - San Diego, CA @ Brick By Brick [TICKETS]
January 22 - Los Angeles, CA @ 1720 [TICKETS]
January 23 - Las Vegas, LV @ The Usual Place [TICKETS]
January 25 - Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad [TICKETS]
January 26 - El Paso, TX @ Rockhouse [TICKETS]
January 27 - San Antonio, TX @ Vibe's Underground [TICKETS]
January 28 - Houston, TX @ White Oak [TICKETS]
When they're not dusting kids at Nintendo or throwing on the odd Saturday morning cartoon, Wormhole are out honing their signature combo of brutal, technical death metal. Or, as they call it, tech slam. Since 2016, the band have been oozing up from Baltimore's underground. Now, with Almost Human, they've broken through to the next level.
Lead single "System Erase" zips the whole tech-slam experience into one tightly clenched polygon fist as drummer Matt Tillett and bassist Basil Chiasson rip through two or three different time shifts before the breakdown comes and swallows you up with the slow, crushing force of a black hole. Brothers Sanil and Sanjay Kumar shoot off pixelated pangs of dissonance on "Elysiism". Meanwhile, Julian Kersey's death growl is so fierce and rotten on "Spine Shatter High-Velocity Impact" , you can practically smell the stench wafting through your speakers.
"Wormhole delivered a record that holds the power to redefine how brutal tech death and slam-oriented artists write future materials", declared Angry Metal Guy. "Only time will tell if those artists actually listen, but you definitely should".
Order: https://redirect.season-of-mist.com/AlmostHuman
Stream: https://orcd.co/almosthumanpresave
When you invent your own genre, you can make the rules, and in space, no one can correct your math. If Wormhole’s excellent The Weakest Among Us was 50% tech death and 50% slamming brutal death metal, their Season of Mist debut is a veritable leveling up of the Baltimore-based act’s trademark “tech slam.” It’s the kind of record that can scramble your brain and give your neck a nice chiropractic workout; Almost Human feels like the future of extreme metal, dropped down from either outer space or delivered by Nintendo cartridge (more on that later).
So, what the hell exactly is “tech slam?” Well, the gleefully amorphous and unholy term comes from an ethos that guitarists Sanil “Noni” Kumar and Sanjay Kumar discovered and perfected over (probably) thousands of hours of Metroid and Doom games, as well as, you know, actual musical mastery. Almost Human, out September 22, 2023, is more powerful, more agile, and more confounding for pie-chart-enthusiasts than anything else that came before it. The sequel is always bigger, darker, and in this case, covered in much more pixelated space horror viscera. My Wormholio calculator puts their sound at 91% tech and 89% slam, with an increase in awesome stats somewhere in the 420% range. There’s also a clear emphasis on amplifying their dissonant death influence, the kind of eerie melodies that feel like being stomped on by Samus.
There’s a clear balance to everything on Almost Human: the songs are more adventurous while also being instantly memorable. No two songs sound alike, and that diversity in songcraft (level design?) sees Wormhole pushing and pulling along their tech and slam dials to figure out what’s best for the song; spoiler, it’s always riffs. What also becomes evident after repeated listens is how carefully the Kumar brothers understand a sense of place, humor, and a consistent vibe. This is still the same band that’s known for throwing on Saturday morning cartoons, and Almost Human continues to hammer home that Wormhole the musical entity is deadly serious, but the guys that make tech slam are not stoic creatures. There’s a warmth and sense of joy when chatting with them that only gets brighter when you ask their favorite Metroid game (that’s a question for a live show). So, what is this vibe they are chasing? Sanjay shares:
“The tech slam imagery is based on Metroid lore, Doom lore, and we haven't written a song about it yet, but Alien as well. Those three things are brutal sci-fi universes, so we're trying to embody that sound. The slam riffs, you can connect the brutal killing of stuff with the brutal chunky riffs; that's been a match that's existed since the nineties. So that's the slam part, and then the tech part was harder to fit that vibe, so we kind of do it differently. I lean into very dissonance-vibe stuff, like Artificial Brain and Dysrhythmia. I think disso-death and heavy, they aren't usually paired together, even though they should be.”
“And then as far as chasing the vibe,” Noni adds, “I kind of go about it two ways. With the Metroid soundtrack or universe, that vibe, there's some dark and gloomy atmosphere, but there's a lot of pretty imagery as well. We wanted to find a way to match that very pretty, kind of out-there sound cohesively in songs with a very aggressive and guttural approach.”
Like another famous sci-fi horror masterpiece of a different media, Wormhole’s shifting, amorphous style is perfectly suited to blend in and amaze just about any fan of heavy music. That’s The Thing: they can pull off whatever they want, but it’s always boiled down to that tech slam vibe. Do you like tech, melody, breakdowns, atmosphere, or dissonance? Tech slam can fill whatever void you seek.
If previous albums were early generation, lower-resolution visions of tech slam, Almost Human is the 4K reboot, where you can see every pixel of terror and awe. Wormhole are absolutely ready for their closeup. Prepare your worms and your holes, tech slam is here to stay.
Line-up
Julian Kersey: vocals
Sanil Kumar: guitar
Sanjay Kumar: guitar
Bass: Basil Chiasson
Drums: Matt Tillett
Recording studio: Guitars and vocals were recorded at Wormhole HQ. Drums were recorded at AJ Viana Productions.
Producer & engineering: 'Almost Human' was produced and engineered by Wormhole and AJ Viana. Bass parts were produced and engineered by Alex Weber.
Mixing: AJ Viana at AJ Viana Productions
Mastering: Alan Douches
Artwork: Adam Burke at Nightjar Illustration
Photos: Eric DeCarlo
Biography: Nick Senior
Pre-order: https://redirect.season-of-mist.com/AlmostHuman
Pre-save:https://orcd.co/almosthumanpresave
Available formats
CD Digipack
Digital Download
Vinyl (Black)
Vinyl (Grey)
Vinyl (Orange)
Vinyl (Green)
Links
https://wormholemetal.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/wormholemetal/
https://www.instagram.com/wormholetechslam/?hl=en
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2foAanYCza7knczRDB8DFt?si=hxz_IV21RzuSeLcibU2tkQ&nd=1
