I am but a moth to the flame when it comes to any new release from Willowtip. If you like your death metal brutal, tech’d out, or grinding, you already know there are few labels this consistent – Spain’s Wormed being yet another perfect example of a Willowtip band burning brighter than the competition. Their latest, ‘Exodromos’, surpasses any and all of the most lofty expectations built over the ten years spent between the original release of ‘Planisphaerium’, and since their last single in 2010, ‘Quasineutrality’. Their technical prowess falls within the measured and dynamic paradigm bands like Cryptopsy established rather then the relentless shred-fest most under the header ‘brutal death’ stick to these days. Let’s not forget they’ve actually got a really cool sci-fi concept to go with it all. Separating themselves with ingenuity and all-round quality song writing, ‘Exodromos’ is easily one of the best records so far this year and firmly establishes Wormed as a leader of the pack. If you’re thick (or poor) enough to miss them at this year’s OEF, you can catch them all around the UK in November- Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Oxford and London are all booked. Guitarist Migueloud checks in from sunny Spain.
ZT: It’s been nearly 10 years since the last record, and the band is 15 years and only two albums in. What has been the hold up? What is it about Wormed’s circumstances that slow things down? Were there any problems particular to ‘Exodromos’?
M: I´ll try to explain this question the best I can because I am not a former member of Wormed. Some months after Planisphaerium’s release J.Oliver had to leave the band so we had to find another guitarist to play all the concerts Wormed had, so Charly joined the band and they prepared all the songs with him. The problem was that Charly used to live in another city, 350 km far, so it was very difficult to join all the band to rehearsal. At the same time Andy (ex-drummer) left the band so Wormed had to stop. At that time Phlegeton and Guillemoth (vocals and bass) joined Human Mincer and recorded a cd (“Degradation Paradox”) with them. We (because I’m the guitar player in Human Mincer too) made a lot of concerts with them and the new HM members realised that they wanted to follow with Wormed. They were talking to J.Oliver and he came back to Wormed, he was the only one able to do that. Then, Wormed recruited Migueloud and few later we recorded an EP called “Quasineutrality” with Phlegeton doing the drums. We wanted to play again and we needed a new drummer so we decided to find a new one. We had many offers but we were searching for a special one, and that one was Riky. With the line-up fixed, we started the composition process of the new album and it just took us one year and a half, so “Exodromos” wasn’t the cause of the delay.
ZT: What were you thinking going into the writing and recording process in terms of moving forward? How did you want to expand upon Wormed’s sound?
M: We just wanted to make an album in which you can appreciate an evolution in Wormed’s career, as much as the compositions and the overall sound and production are concerned. We worked hard trying to create a more complex, atmospheric and technical songs than in our previous works and also we didn’t close our minds when introducing other musical elements maybe different from the ‘brutal death metal’ sound. We all like more styles of music so we wanted this to be reflected in the new album.
ZT: What do you think is the most important lesson you’ve learned about the writing and recording process along the way? Is it a very structured affair or do you let it kind of flow and progress naturally?
M: I always rediscover myself in the writing process with each of the albums that I have done. I mean, every musician has his own way to work, to create music, but the more complex you want to make the cd, as all bands want to with their new album, the more you have to work and think new ways to structure the compositions and songs. When you achieve this it’s comforting! But personally I think that working with the whole band is the best way to improve and learn new skills with your instruments, and of course it’s the best way to make the sound of the band move a step up.
ZT: You’ve created this elaborate story around your music which is something a lot of bands just can’t be bothered to do. Why is this important to Wormed as a musical project? Who/what are you major sci-fi influences and why?
M: Wormed was thought as a whole concept created by the mixture of a sci-fi components and the music that aims at making the listeners feel like they were living in the same world that the lyrics build. It’s impossible for us to separate the music from the lyrics just because each part of Wormed (music and story) makes the other exist. The music is the soundtrack for the story that Phlegeton (Wormed´s concept creator) elaborates. I mean, the music actually reflects the concept, and also Phlege chooses what lyrics fit best in each song depending on the passages or structures of each track.
We are fans of films like Alien, 2001 Space Odyssey, Tron and tons of films and books that revolutionized that subject. Phlegeton has been always interested in these things, he reads a lot about Sci Fi, Astronomy and Quantum Physics. Actually we talked about the Hadron Collider in a song years ago before it was noticed!
ZT: A lot, if not most, sci-fi has a social messages or themes its meant to convey in the story – is this the case with Wormed’s lyrics or is it really just story telling?
M: There are some aspects of our songs that are real, but just the vocabulary which is taken from technical terms. All Krighsu’s story is invented but all things related are based in real theories. Of course you can take some moral messages if you want to, I mean, wasted and depopulated planets? Maybe it isn’t as far as the reality can be in the near future…
ZT: How has the reception been to ‘Exodromos’?
M: It couldn’t be better! We are receiving tons of positive reviews from each place of the planet so we are very happy with it. Thanks to the great promotion that Willowtip Records (USA) and Hammerheart Records (The Netherlands) are doing over the world, the new album is getting to bigger zines, webs and radios and this help Wormed to reach more people.
ZT: Who are you looking forward to seeing at OEF and what have you heard about the festival?
M: Being part of one of the most extreme fests in Europe is enough for us! There are a lot of great bands in the line up and I’m sure that we will have good time at the mighty OEF. I remember that Fernando (the singer of Haemorrhage, who is a very good friend) told us that there are crazy vomit contests and things like that so I can’t wait to take part in one!
ZT: What are your plans for the rest of the year?
M: We have started to write the third album but the priority for this year is to present the new album wherever we can! We will be playing at the Obscene Extreme Fest in Czech Republic on July the 6th and DeathFeast in Germany on September the 7th. We will also be headlining a 6 dates tour in United Kingdom (from November the 12th to 17th) with Spawned from Hate and Cancerous Womb and a 12 days touring around Europe in October. If you want to stay tuned about Wormed news check out our nets:
