Scald - Headworm
Vermitronic – VERMIS 001 - 2003
By Nathan Pearce
It is quite possibly a crime, punishable by severe torture and eventually death, that
Scald had to release
Headworm, their first “proper” album, on their own label. With some of the absolute CRAP labels are pumping out these days,
Scald should have the labels fighting over them. Anyway . . . enough with my anger toward the underground music scene. On to the music!
Scald hails from the island-of-neglected-and-underrated-metal-bands known as Ireland. However, their music is a departure from the island’s more popular sounds. In fact,
Scald is a departure from the norm no matter where the music comes from! Think of grind, meets psychedelic doom, meets black metal, meets progressive death metal. Even that meager description is not quite right.
Scald can transform a song from a start/stop technical-death experiment to a thrash fest to a black-metal-on-acid trip all within a few minutes.
The band consists of three individuals, and according to the press release only Pete Dempsey does vocals (he also plays a mean bass guitar). However, there are about three different vocal styles to be found. One is a deep roar found in most brutal death/grind bands, the second is a yell/snarl/shriek similar to 80’s blackened thrash, and the final is an inaudible high-pitched snarl that reminds me a little of the cartoon character The Tasmanian Devil. If I had to make one recommendation it would be to make The Tasmanian Devil’s vocals a little more decipherable. Other than that, the vocals are very well placed, and they fit the music perfectly. Guitarist Mick Tierney arranges riffs, melodies, and even acoustic interludes similar to fast-rising British extreme metalers
Akercocke. In fact, if
Akercocke had more grind influences and took some acid, they might sound a lot like
Scald.
Overall,
Scald is a band worthy of praise alongside such genre-defying bands as
Today is the Day,
Halo, and even
Neurosis. Although none of these bands have a sound similar to what can be heard on
Headworm, that same spirit of experimentation within extreme music is very much alive in everything
Scald does.
9/10
Scald’s Official Website
Vermitronic's Official Website
