It took Spain's Wormed a whole decade to write another chapter in the band's novella of a discography, which, up to "Exodromos," only had included a handful of minor releases and one full-length album. "Planisphærium," the debut record authorized by these denizens of ultra-brutal technical death metal, became the cat's ass (perhaps the xenomorph's blade-tipped tail better fits the context) upon its release, receiving positive reviews, a sturdy following, and the word-of-mouth feedback that instilled quite the cult for Wormed. "Exodromos," Wormed's sophomore effort, used many moons (a whole decade's worth) coming out of the astral womb, but the thirty-three minutes of projected terror and psychosis retching from its intergalactic wormhole are still totally nuts and destructive; a seismic blast of technical death metal from its prince in the shadows.
So, I suppose in the field of space-themed technical death metal akin to Obscura or Spawn of Possession, Wormed stands as its most animalistic enterprise. "Exodromos" is, on the one hand, a staple example of what to expect from technical death metal. The Spaniards send multitudes of tempos and structures à la Cryptopsy or Defeated Sanity constantly crashing into waves of harsh riffs, brutal breakdowns, blasting madness, and other fierce rhetoric. In essence, it's a brutal technical death metal record; if you've any experience with the sub-genre's philosophies, you should have a general idea of what to expect. On the other hand, there's a general balance between algorithmic lunacy and throwing in mathematical parts for the sole purpose of appearing perplexing or complex.
In essence, many parts of "Exodromos" will be retained by the listener, and at times vibes of Immolation et al. vibrate from the cosmic ruins of Wormed's travels, more so than, say, Malignancy or a similar brother sharing algebraic blood. It's a rather nice quality to have, because "Exodromos" never relents its mincing violence yet there's a lot more going on than just overloading the auditory space with measureless nonsense. The vocals don't do much for me, however; the standard puking, indecipherable, mega-guttural bellows applied by many of this niche. The narrative passages throughout the haunting "Solar Neutrinos" and a handful of others spice things up a bit, fitting well into the group's folklore and comprehensive atmosphere.
Every song stands on its own, but I prefer "Xenoverse Discharger" over the rest; it's a creepy, alien ritual of boiling guitar parts and sinister atmosphere, yet filled with blast beats and traditional qualities of Wormed all interwoven into its core. "Exodromos" is a proper continuation of the extraterrestrial violence found throughout "Planisphærium," although Wormed took their sweet time making the record. However, if they continue forging albums like "Exodromos," they can take as much time as they need. That said, technical death metal addicts will find their fix within the corridors of Wormed's intergalactic prophecies of doom. "Exodromos" deserves your attention, this coming from a dude often repelled by ultra-brutal death metal.