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VERMIS

Ulcerate

Tech/Extreme Prog Metal


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Ulcerate Vermis album cover
3.93 | 17 ratings | 2 reviews | 24% 5 stars

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Studio Album, released in 2013

Songs / Tracks Listing


1. Odium (2:45)
2. Vermis (5:59)
3. Clutching Revulsion (7:04)
4. Weight of Emptiness (7:42)
5. Confronting Entropy (6:38)
6. Fall to Opprobrium (2:24)
7. The Imperious Weak (7:24)
8. Cessation (7:02)
9. Await Rescission (7:32)

Total Time 54:30

Line-up / Musicians


- Paul Kelland / Bass, Vocals
- Michael Hoggard / Guitar
- Jamie Saint Merat / Drums, Percussion

Releases information

Released by Relapse Records, September 17, 2013

Thanks to Prog Sothoth for the addition
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ULCERATE Vermis ratings distribution


3.93
(17 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(24%)
24%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(41%)
41%
Good, but non-essential (24%)
24%
Collectors/fans only (12%)
12%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

ULCERATE Vermis reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Prog Sothoth
COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars The capability to ulcerate someone would be an eclectic and unusual power to wield, with your very existence causing terrible tummy troubles upon others. To witness your presence is akin to devouring approximately ten enormous and alarmingly greasy cheeseburgers. Breaking through the stomach walls of conformity, Vermis is one hell of an interesting racket, with a monstrous and cavernous atmosphere, a crevice into a void.

After a foreboding sluggish start, the chaos ensues, with warped riffs slithering over odd-ball tempo shifts and, at times, completely demented though precise drumming. The chord progressions of the guitars are often quite abstract, with ringing notes chiming atonally over the maelstrom, like a guitar being tuned while a riff is being played. Blistering passages morph into quieter menacing sections at any given time, while growls roar somewhere within the tidal waves of unbridled calamity.

Yet there's lots of structure here, along with remarkable musicianship. Unlike their more spacious last offering, Vermis has a more concrete foundation, even if the bricks shift around a lot, and it's essentially more memorable as far as individual songs are concerned. Dark as hell, with an album cover that perfectly captures the essence of the music, this barrage of tracks are propulsive, but nowhere near predictable, except for the signature Ulcerate "sound" that's sort of established itself at this point. There's no mistaking one of this band's tunes.

I'd actually rank this right up there as possibly their finest recording, as it still sounds like metal music undergoing a violent seizure, but this time around it's a little more coherent with a darker and more ominous tone than its predecessors. Even the measured vocals have a little more character to them concerning their past couple of releases. Ulcerate have created one vicious tentacled aberration here...so enjoy the music or tear up your neighbors belly, it's all good.

Review by UMUR
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars "Vermis" is the 4th full-length studio album by New Zealand, Auckland based death metal act Ulcerate. The album was released through Relapse Records in September 2013. "Vermis" was engineered, mixed and mastered by the band's drummer Jamie Saint Merat, who is also responsible for the cover artwork. I guess living as far away from other civilizations as people from New Zealand do, teaches you a DIY way of thinking and acting.

In many ways Jamie Saint Merat is an incredibly gifted artist, which is certainly also true when it comes to his drumming, which is varied and skillfully executed. Ulcerate is a three- piece and the other two guys in the band, Paul Kelland (Bass, vocals) and Michael Hoggard (guitars), are equally talented. Together the three of them produce a dense, chaotic sounding, twisted, dissonant and complex type of death metal with post metal leanings (still with a very obvious Gorguts influence). That was also the case on the band's 3rd full-length studio album "The Destroyers of All (2011)". Stylistically the two albums are very much alike, but the more organic sound production on "Vermis" sets them apart. Other than that I don't hear much development of their sound, and that might be a minor issue, but when the music is delivered with fierce conviction as it is here and the tracks are generally intriguing throughout, there is ultimately little to complain about. The growling vocals could probably have been delivered a bit less monotone and maybe a bit more varied, but again it's a minor issue, and they ultimately get the job done.

The band excel in creating chaotic despair ridden atmospheres. Pictures of barren wastelands and post war urban decay are instantly created in my mind. This is not happy music to put it mildly. It's not fiercely aggressive either (although it's very energetic and busy) but rather monumental and gloomy. The balance between chaotic dissonance (played in ultra fast tempos, with split second breaks and time signature changes) and atmospheric (but never even close to being melodic) moments is effectful. Upon conclusion "Vermis" is another strong release by Ulcerate. I think I favour "The Destroyers of All (2011)" over this one, but a 4 star (80%) rating is still fully deserved.

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