Two UK bands combine to produce a record to reflect the bleak realities of the modern world. A record that evokes the dark, miserable and disorienting experience of watching humanity destroy itself.
The This Ends Here side of this intriguing split is 18 minutes that claim to be five songs but could be anything from one to a dozen depend on who’s counting, proving the potential for modern crust to incorporate a challenging variety of musical genres. It opens with Seeds, a continuation of the sound on the 2014 Afterwards 7“ - anthemic d-beat breaking into heavy riffage – before careening through a chaotic collection of styles including punk, doom and post-rock and finally descending into a bleak, atmospheric outro. Lyrically, the themes of environmental and social collapse run throughout these songs, with a haunting sample from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, whilst musically evoking emotions such as anger, despair and even hope that accompany these dark themes.
Conqueror Worm are a three piece bass and drums deathgrind band that combine the viciousness of bands like 324 and Fear of God with the atmosphere of Gorguts and the barbarism of Celtic Frost. This release sees them exploring dungeon-crawling grind that is equal parts cavernous and ear-splitting. A roughly hewn collection of very nasty tunes, the tracks lyrically and thematically mirror the This Ends Here side- songs about the eradication of nature are paired with reflective sci-fi themed blasts and a fizzing, noise-laden production. Drawing from doom and noise influences the bass runs through as many amps and distortion pedals as possible creating a truely monolithic cloud of noise, occasionally penetrated by swarming blast beats and tortuous, wailed vocals in the vein of Khanates Alan Dubin.
