In celebration of the release of their new album Necropalace, the Florida based death-doom metal band Worm embarked on a US tour to perform it and subsequently stopped in Los Angeles. While I am not the most well versed in the genre, I found their music to be amazing and very meticulously composed. The entire venue was filled with metal-heads with a sea of battle jackets and black clothing as well as immense excitement and joy at seeing Worm play. Led by Phantom Slaughter and Wroth Septentrium, the duo joined by a touring band led a theatrical night of doom and gloom as they played the majority of the album in full for this tour. As they set foot on stage, I immediately felt like I wasn’t going to watch an average run of the mill metal show, but rather I was going to see something special, something that I’ve never seen before, and overall something that I am going to take home and remember. The band’s presence felt like something out of a Victorian era play with demonic elements as they appear both menacing but entrancing as well. Phantom Slaughter’s way with the microphone was truly something out of a play and both Wroth and the rest of the band matched his theatrical approach to performing and left me hypnotized for their entire set. While chilling and scary looking, I found great comfort in their approach to performing as if I were meant to be here and broaden my horizons with this beautiful and avant garde style of death metal, I genuinely felt like I was right at home as I tend to feel at hardcore shows.
Given that the majority of the set-list consisted of songs from the new album, I felt like I was truly witnessing something that I’m only going to see once. Towards the end of the night, the band closed out with “Sea of Sorrow” marking it as their only track from outside of Necropalace and fans showed as much joy and excitement for this tune as the rest. As the night concluded, I was very grateful for the chance to have seen Worm perform and watch an artist that was far from my comfort zone yet also aligned with my artistic preferences. They were amazing to see and hear and my only regret was not listening to them any sooner! For more from the band make sure to follow Worm on social media @WormGloom for more music and to see what they do next!
Article & Photos By Hector Mendoza (@mendoza_photos)
