WORM – Necropalace
WORM – Necropalace
Century Media
Release Date: 13/02/2026
Review by Rory Bentley
9/10
Death/Black/Doom Metal spooky boys WORM have some acclaimed underground releases under their belt already with 2021’s 20 Buck Spin (Bentley bingo cards at the ready) release “Foreverglade” being a particular highlight. They have now made the leap into the big leagues on Century Media, and I’m not even going to fuck about- the results are stunning.
On “Necropalace” the band make this feel like the most natural transition possible, using their newfound platform and resources to deliver an album so overblown, ambitious and downright bonkers that you wonder how long they’ll remain an underground name. This is the kind of runaway ghost train nightmare that you’d expect from prime Cradle of Filth, but with a dedication to lead guitar that borders on the pornographic and the kind of pomposity they would make Dimmu Borgir to tell you to calm it down a bit.
‘Gates To The Shadowzone’ gets us rolling with some chef’s kiss dramatic intro work, with synths modelled on Emperor and some incredibly flamboyant guitar-monies and shredding leads before a big clap of thunder signals that shit is about to boot off big style. It’s about as subtle as a brick and as original as a smile I can’t be bothered to think of; but if it ain’t broke…
It takes us beautifully into the title track, which conjures the image of Dracula shredding on a harpsichord over some cartoonishly spooky riffs and soon descends into pure Black Metal chaos. What I love here is the beefy low end to the riffs and the full throated roaring vocals, which circumvent my qualm with a lot of Black Metal in the sense that it sounds thin and the vocals often sound like someone’s 50-a-day Nan croaking out their shopping list rather than someone that’s gonna sacrifice a goat or whatever.
As a big fan of Dungeon Synth, the intro to ‘Halls of Weeping’ is a delight, replete with midi monk chants, tolling bells and some dirty palm muted chugs. It’s all very 90s Satyricon (very good thing) and fans of the more Doomy style of previous WORM records will be very pleased with things here. Once again the lead guitars are absolutely unbelievable in their melding of technicality and supreme memorable melody, which adds so much grandeur to the album as a whole.
The pace picks up on ‘The Night Has Fangs’ where things go full Dimmu Borgir with more than a little bit of of “Human” era Death thrown in to add some brawn to the esotericisms along with more guitar squeals than Zakk Wylde in a tumble dryer. They still throw in an ominous Doom section before the end, but the most impressive aspect for me is the fact that the main hook is a light speed burst of arpeggios that has no right to sound like anything other than a Steve Vai warm up exercise, yet somehow burrows its way into your brain like it’s a Ghost chorus.
Honestly there are so many ideas, genre hops and compositional curve balls on the record that I could triple the length of this review, but nobody wants that. This is an album you need to experience for yourself and bask in its bonkers vampiric majesty. Heck, Marty Friedman turns up and rips out some solos on closer ‘Witchmoon: Infernal Masquerade’ and you’re just like ‘yeah okay sure, makes sense’, such is the shred-centric kitchen-sink-throwing fuckery of the glorious album.
So many bands I’m into adopt a less is more approach, from the multiple Hardcore heroes I wang on about to the economical pop simplicity of Ghost, but sometimes more is more, and I’m forced to salute and succumb to the all consuming excesses of the mighty WORM! Enter the Necropalace- it’s a blast in here!
Necropalace (Official Video)
TRACKLISTING:
01. Gates to the Shadowzone
02. Necropalace
03. Halls of Weeping
04. The Night Has Fangs
05. Dragon Dreams
06. Blackheart
07. Witchmoon: The Infernal Masquerade
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Rory Bentley and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
