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WORMPOST #509
A BURST OF BLACKENED THRASH FROM SARCOPTES! THERON MOORE has a brief but pointed chat with Ohio's new black/thrash fiends SARCOPTES, who have turned heads with their album "Plague Hymns". We find out how they came together, the influence of gaming on their music and the slow, steady march of band mastermind SEAN ZIMMERMAN from "regular" rock music to the raging darkness that is SARCOPTES! Get your asbestos suit on and find out more HERE! My upcoming Philm Phreaks article on the bizarre flick "Winterbeast" is becoming monumental. I am considering breaking it in two parts so brains don't become overloaded by the sheer craziness of this cult classic. You'll find out soon what's going on. Also coming up: interviews with HOLY MOTHER and India's metal upstarts AGAINST EVIL, as well as vampiric JAMES RIVERA from HELSTAR! Speaking of HELSTAR, their latest is reviewed in the new Torture Chamber, along with other neat stuff... BLUE OX "Holy Vore" SPECTRAL LORE "Ετερόφωτος" SPIRITS BURNING & MICHAEL MOORCOCK "The Hollow Lands" HELSTAR "Clad In Black" EP SWAMPBEAST "Seven Evils Spawned of Seven Heads" CANCERVO "1" |
WORMPOST #508
 FALL BENEATH THE WHEEL OF DOOM! One of the most exciting records to be released in 2021 is "Preserved In Time" by German doom-mongers WHEEL. This is a perfect slice of epic doom metal in the style of masters such as CANDLEMASS and SOLITUDE AETURNUS...crushingly heavy yet beautifully melodic. Such an effort deserves further investigation. I made contact with longtime drummer CARSTEN JERCKE to find out more about WHEEL's path to doom and the ideas behind "Preserved In Time". Anyone who admires this genre of metal needs to check out both the album and the interview, the latter of which you can find HERE! This week brings an extra-sized edition of the Torture Chamber, full of underground goodness and surprises... WITHERFALL "The Curse of Autumn" SUFFERING HOUR "The Cyclic Reckoning" AXEWITCH "Out of the Ashes, Into the Fire" HERZEL "Le Dernier Rempart" SONUS UMBRA "A Sky Full of Ghosts" HECATOMB "Horrid Invocations" BONES OF THE EARTH "II: Eternal Meditations of a Deathless Crown" DISTANT PAST "The Final Stage" |
WORMPOST #507
 BURN IN THE BLACK FLAME OF FUOCO FATUO! LORD RANDALL travels to the crypts of Italy this week to hobnob with GIOVANNI PIAZZA of the foreboding funeral doom cult FUOCO FATUO. This is a band that crafts their odes of despair very carefully and craftily and doesn't squirt out a release every 10 months like so many do. But right now they've released a new monolith called "Obsidian Katabasis". Randall tries to find out the secrets of this black slice of doom, which are revealed HERE... Some more exciting new to report! I've managed to interview heavy metal's #1 vampire, JAMES RIVERA of the legendary HELSTAR and many other bands! I kept my cross and garlic close as I conducted this one. Coming up soon! Also, I took a side trip to India, to speak to their fast rising metal tigers AGAINST EVIL! So those are two new Worm-events you can look forward to! This week's Torture Chamber ranges from street level hardcore to witchy ritual music to blistering black thrash! NEKROMANTHEON "Visions of Trismegistos" WHEEL "Preserved In Time" CULTED "Nous" GOD'S HATE "God's Hate" SATARAY/ZANIA MORGAN "Argypoeia" CARNAL SAVAGERY "Fiendish" |
WORPOST #506
 EXPLORE THE MIND OF ALBERT WITCHFINDER OF OPIUM WARLORDS! We certainly have our share of unusual interviews here at WC, but there are some that stand out even in this strange crop. Well, here's one. OCTOPI MILLS, a rather eccentric fellow himself, has an extremely in-depth discussion with Mr. SAMI HYNINNEN, better known as ALBERT WITCHFINDER of the legendary Finnish doom act REVEREND BIZARRE. REVEREND BIZARRE is no more, but Mr. Witchfinder carries on with the peculiar doom/drone project OPIUM WARLORDS. In this chat, he speaks frankly about his own mental state, his theories of creativity, his amazing slate of upcoming releases and an exhaustive list of films, books and band that inspire him. It's a truly revealing interview and you can experience it HERE. Upcoming, I can tell you that I ventured to the heart of India to speak to one of the fastest rising metal bands there, AGAINST EVIL! Plus I'm working on another major interview I hope to reveal to you soon. It will be a busy and transformative year here at Wormwood Laboratories...I will keep you up to date. We also have an extended trip into the slimy depths of the Torture Chamber for you this time around, including a review from the returning GREAT SUN JESTER! STONE MAMMOTH "Stone Mammoth" NIXIL "All Knots Untied" JARHEAD FERTILIZER "Product of My Environment" PLAGUE WEAVER "Ascendant Blasphemy" CRYSTAL VIPER "The Cult" TIMO ELLIS "Death Is Everywhere" EP THRONE "Pestilent Dawn" THE SUN AND THE MIRROR "Dissolution to Salt and Bone" BURIED "Oculus Rot" |
WORMPOST #505
 WAKE THE DEAD WITH SUMMONING THE LICH! Saint Louis, Missouri, is an unlikely location for necromancy and other wizardly pursuits, but don't tell that to SUMMONING THE LICH! This new death metal band is inspired by unearthly creatures, magical beings and the roll of a polyhedral die. Yes, they are heavily influenced by Dungeons & Dragons on their debut album "United in Chaos" and aren't afraid to admit it. That makes THERON MOORE the perfect guy to interview them, because he knows something about D&D himself. He speaks to DAVE BRUNO about the rise of this undead entity and the fantastic concepts behind the band. Strap on your sword and prepare to find out more HERE... Some good news to report. You already know that THRASH-HEAD is back in action after a long layoff. Now another prodigal son has returned to Wormwood...THE GREAT SUN JESTER! You can expect to see some new material from him soon! Welcome back to the fold... The wait is over! This week's edition of the Torture Chamber is up and running! NACHTIG "Die Stille Wald" AVALAND "Theater of Sorcery" COFFIN MULCH "Septic Funeral" BAND OF SPICE "By the Corner of Tomorrow" MISS LAVA "Doom Machine" KJELD "Ofstan" |
WORMPOST #504
 BLAST OFF INTO INFINITY WITH ORESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE! It's been many years since we left Earth orbit and rendezvoused with "Dr. Space", SCOTT HELLER of the space rock gods ORESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE. DARK STARR recently found time to check in with The Good Doctor (the other one) and see what's going on in his always busy musical world. Doc brings us up to speed on the mind-boggling amount of projects he's involved with. As usual for these days, he also lets us know how OSC is coping with the pandemic. It's always an interesting chat with Dr. Space, so make your landing HERE and find out what he has to say... After you've finished with that, fall into the black hole of the Torture Chamber for some new reviews... EVERGREY "Escape of the Phoenix" CRYPTS OF DESPAIR "All Light Swallowed" HATE FOREST "Hour of the Centaur" NOPES "Djork" HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY "Maere" SOCIOCLAST "Socioclast" |
WORMPOST #503
 THE QUILL WRITE A NEW CHAPTER AT WORMWOOD... This time around, I get to speak to one of my favorite European hard rock acts, THE QUILL. Why these guys are now better known in the States is a baffling mystery, but I want to do what I can to correct this injustice. I interviewed vocalist supreme MAGNUS EKWALL, guitarist CHRISTIAN CARLSSON and bassist ROGER NILSSON, who give us the lowdown on what The Quill's been up to as well as the story behind their great new album "Earthrise". Strap yourself in and prepare for a hard ride HERE... In addition to the news I dropped on you last time about changes coming to WC, this time I've got a ton of upcoming features to tell you about. I've got an interview with German doom metal band WHEEL, who have just released what I think is the best album of 2021 so far, "Preserved In Time". And I've also got a chat with one of America's most traveled metal vocalists, MIKE TIRELLI, who's belted it out for HOLY MOTHER, MESSIAH'S KISS and RIOT V, amongst others. He has quite an inspirational story to tell! Not to be outdone, THERON MOORE tells me he's grabbed interviews with D&D obsessed death metalers SUMMONING THE LICH and blackened thrash unit SARCOPTES! Wait, there's more! How about mysterious OCTOPI MILLS speaking to Finnish doom legend ALBERT WITCHFINDER about his new project OPIUM WARLORDS! Or esteemed LORD RANDALL hobnobbing with mysterious Italian death-doom outfit FUOCO FATUO? And I plan on doing a Philm Phreaks article about the batshit crazy early 90's video oddity "Winterbeast"! WHEW! Wormwood is alive and well! And just because I'm on a roll, here's an extra big edition of the Torture Chamber... WEREWOLVES "What A Time To Be Alive" PHILM "Time Burner" ANYONE "On The Ending Earth..." GRAVESEND "Methods of Human Disposal" HOLY MOTHER "Face This Burn" ALTERED DEAD "Returned To Life" SPORAE AUTEM YUGGOTH "Plague of the Aeons" OLDE "Pilgrimage" UNDER A SPELL "The Chosen One" |
WORMPOST #502
 AN INTERVIEW WITH LEGENDARY JON ANDERSON + IMPORTANT NEWS ON WORMWOOD CHANGES This week Wormwood is proud to present an interview with a living legend and one of the founders of progressive rock, JON ANDERSON. The long time singer of YES has been a solo artist of some note for quite a while now and has collaborated with musicians from all across the spectrum. DARK STARR was lucky enough to get a brief chat with Jon and we now present it HERE at Wormwood Chronicles. We last spoke to him more than 20 years ago, so a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then! Now I want to let all you Worm-fiends know about some big changes coming down the pike for the Chronicles. For over 10 years, we have hosted the site here on a classic Google Sites platform that's been easy for Ye Olde Doctor to update on a weekly basis. Later in 2021, this platform will be shut down and we will need to move to a new Google platform. This will result in a new look and some cool new bells and whistles, which is good. However, this old site has a MASSIVE amount of data on it...over 5000 Torture Chamber reviews and over 600 interviews!...and not all of it will make the transition. I'm dedicated to keeping ALL of Wormwood alive in some form, so a lot of the older material will be archived elsewhere. You'll be able to access all the past material through a link. The details on how this is done are still being worked out, mostly by our great friend and technical advisor, SCARY DAN, whose been with us since the beginning. I'll keep you update on what's happening. The site might actually be down for a small period of time while the changes are made, but it won't be too long. The site is way overdue for an overhaul, so this should all work out for the best. I will keep you all in the loop on it! And guess what? Here are some more reviews to add to that humongous Torture Chamber total! REAPER "The Atonality of Flesh" TRIBULATION "Where the Gloom Becomes Sound" ATTIKA "Metal Lands" THE QUILL "Earthrise" EINHERJER "North Star" WIZARD "Metal In My Head" |
WORMPOST #501
 OUR LOOK AT THE TOP TEN RELEASES OF 2020 IS HERE! Here is the return of an annual Wormwood tradition! Each writer compiles a list of what they thought the Top 10 releases of the past year was and we post them. This year the cursed year of 2020 has its turn. These lists are wide open, with no restrictions, so there are quite a few surprises in store. Below I will present the #1 of pick of each writer...you can find the rest HERE! DARK STARR BLUE OYSTER CULT "The Symbol Remains" THERON MOORE (tie) GLACIER & THRUST "The Passage of Time" "Helm of Awe" DR. ABNER MALITY HAVUKRUUNU "Uinuos Syomein Sota" COLONEL ANGUS (tie) ARMORED SAINT & FATES WARNING "Punching the Sky" "Long Day Good Night" THOR R.A. THE RUGGED MAN "All My Heroes Are Dead" LORD RANDALL ENSLAVED "Utgard" OCTOPI MILLS GELDRUM "Medieval Campfire Tales" ANATHEMA DECREE MAQUAHUITL "At the Altar of Mictlampa" Some more news for you! Busy THERON MOORE tells me he has grabbed interviews with 2 exciting underground bands....black/death horde SARCOPTES and the gaming obsessed death metallers SUMMONING THE LICH! Not to be outdone, LORD RANDALL has managed a chat with mysterious funeral doom unit FUOCO FATUO! Plus we've got my talk with THE QUILL and DARK STARR's interview with ORESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE on the way. Next I will also tell you about a major change coming to Wormwood later this year... And of course, we also have a new slate of Torture Chamber reviews for you to devour... SUMMONING THE LICH "United in Chaos" NERVOSA "Perpetual Chaos" CORONARY "Sinbad" FROZEN SOUL "Crypts of Ice" THE ADOLESCENTS "Russian Spider Dump" SAGENLAND "Oale Groond" AETHYRICK "Apotheosis" OREANMOS "Into the Night" SADISTIC DRIVE "Anthropophagy" |
WORMPOST #500
 FOR WORMPOST #500, WE DISSECT THE CREEPING FLESH! We have reached the 500th update to Wormwood's front page...an once unthinkable goal! Thanks to all who made it happen! On this occasion, we turn to the Philm Phreaks section for an in-depth analysis of the 1973 British horror shocker "THE CREEPING FLESH", made by Tigon Films and starring the immortal duo of PETER CUSHING and CHRISTOPHER LEE! This is a tale of madness, evil and a living skeleton on the prowl. But there's much more to it than that. Dr. Mality takes a close look at not only the film's action itself, but the ideas hidden within it. This should be of interest to all horror film fans! To get the full story, click HERE! Next week will bring the much anticipated TOP 10 OF 2020 lists, the first one we've done in a while. I'm also happy to tell you that you will soon see the return of a prodigal son to Wormwood as the one and only THRASH-HEAD returns to action. Plus there may soon be another name from the past returning to action... And now for the latest Torture Chamber updates, featuring the first new Thrash-head review in a long time... MORDKAUL "Dress Code: Blood" ACCEPT "Too Mean to Die" WIG WAM "Never Say Die" EVIL (JP) "Possessed By Evil" DOS COBROS "Synesthesia" WAMPYRIC RITES "The Eternal Melancholy of the Wampyre" |
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