Worm: Necropalace

"Perhaps that sense of scenery is why it's proven so irresistible to Worm. While the Florida project has always had a malleable aesthetic, the constants have been a love of gloomy atmospherics and a penchant for crafting decrepit worlds out of their swampy death-doom. Initially the solo project of one Phantom Slaughter (real name Nicholas Radelat), Worm has massively shifted gears since 2022 when they were joined up by Wroth Septentrion (real name Philippe Tougas)."

"Wroth's resume includes a smattering of boundary-pushing projects, from the alien tech-death of Chthe'ilist to the ornate funeral doom of Atramentus, and along with Radelat he's rebuilt Worm anew as a shrieking symphonic black metal act. After dipping their toes in with a handful of EPs, Necropalace launches this new direction in earnest, leveling up to a bigger label with Century Media and presenting the band's most extravagant, vampiric suite yet."

Symphonic black metal emphasizes theatricality and camp, using orchestral keyboards, choirs, and gothic decoration to evoke ghosts and gothic scenery. The style crystallized in the early 1990s as a melodramatic counterpoint to gory death metal and extreme Norwegian scenes. Worm evolved from a swampy Florida death-doom project into a symphonic black metal act after Wroth Septentrion joined Phantom Slaughter in 2022. Wroth brought experience from projects like Chthe'ilist and Atramentus. Necropalace marks a full embrace of the new direction, released on Century Media and presenting an ornate, vampiric suite that leans into deliberate artificiality.

Read at Pitchfork