Oakland, California's solo project Palace of Worms has returned with a new recording which shows the music going for more of a progressive and avant garde mixture of black, doom and death metal with some touches of deathrock, electronica and folk music and this is a review of his album "Cabal" which will be released in 2023 by Acephale Winter Productions.
Field recordings and acoustic guitars start off the album which also adds in touches of folk music. Avant garde style synths are also utilized quite a bit through the recording while deathrock influences and melodies can also be heard in some of the guitar riffing and the vocals are a mixture of black metal screams and death metal growls.
Elements of doom metal can also be heard in the slower sections of the songs while all of the musical instruments also have a very powerful sound to them. When guitar solos and leads are utilized they are also done in a very dark yet melodic style along with the music also having its progressive moments.
When the music speeds up a decent amount of blast beats can also be heard along with the songs also adding in a decent mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts. Spoken word parts can also be heard briefly as well as a small amount of clear vocals also being added into certain sections of the recording. Some of the songs are also very long and epic in length and saxophones can also be heard briefly, when programmed beats are utilized they also add in touches of electronica. The production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover subterranean carnival netherworlds.
In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Palace Of Worms and if you are a fan of avant garde and progressive black, doom and death metal, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Telepathic Crucifixion" "Cabal" and "Winterbird". 8 out of 10.
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