Vermiculatus

Previous material from Scald shows a transformation from early proto-grind to a much more progressive outfit resulting in this single track instrumental voyage by the title of “Vermiculatus”. Scald has a fixation with the concept of worms and worm-like formations and movements to such an extent that the band have tried to produce the aural equivalent of the process. With the single track spanning over 47 minutes gave me some degree of apprehension. Though this is not the first album to feature a single song only with Edge of Sanity’s “Crimson”, Green Carnation’s “Light of Day” and Meshuggah’s “I”, all partaking in this field with considerable success.

This album takes you on a vivid auditory experience by trying to encapsulate the listener in a series of soundscapes that progress from simplistic and melodic interludes to skull crushing and truly terrifying assaults on your senses. The instrumental composition is divided into 2 sections, the first part comprising about 25 minutes of unique non-duplicated material followed by a remaining ambient section. Influences are not really relevant as Scald is peerless, but for those needing reference points, there are various traits taken from the likes of Voivod, Godflesh and the old industrial act Head of David and indeed the harmonious aspects do remind of Green Carnation. The album starts off very serenely before the huge, crushing guitar sound envelops you. As the music progresses no part is underdone or overstays its welcome as the musicians interweave their instruments with synth and sound effects as no single instrument has a dominant edge, but Michael’s guitar work is particularly awesome throughout. The metal section closes cleverly as the instruments trail off one by one until you’re left with a basic drum beat that eventually ceases as the synths and sound effects muscle their way in. From here on the listener is taken on a twisting and coiling journey of “ambient reconstruction of the performance part” as the band put it.

To fully appreciate the album, especially the ambient phase headphones are definitely essential as they amplify the feeling of claustrophobia and density tenfold. At times the sound completely encases your head to such an extent that there’s almost a suffocating feeling. Various sounds and effects materialise in different areas with headphones on and make this much more engaging. To finish the whole experience off, there is a three minute animation which is essentially the third and final phase of the concept. What you get is a disturbing rapid fire set of flashing wire frame images of humans and worms as they mutate from one form to another. The transposition of worm and human features is done on an interchanging base and set against a backdrop of creeping sound effects and noises that really get under your skin. It almost looks like the images are tormenting each other as they intermingle. I gave this album multiple listens at various times, even putting the animated sequence on repeat whilst listening to whole thing in the dark. This is definitely an album to listen to on your own using headphones to fully absorb the atmosphere the band have created or played at a massive volume on a decent stereo.