Verminous – Curse of the Antichrist 7″
Why is it that, when a band is confined to doing just one or two songs on a 7”, that song (or songs) can – albeit rarely – blow away a group’s most recent full-length? Could it be that, when the reality of a brief time constraint murmurs at the back of a musician’s mind, he is subconsciously compelled to bring forth his best? I believe this might have been the case with Verminous’ Curse of the Antichrist. Though for whatever reason their LP Unholy Communion (released back in April) did not grab me, Curse of the Antichrist‘s one new (and title) track embodies everything that a great OSDM song should be – catchy vocal rhythyms delivered via a purely demonic but can-be-understood throat, pugilistic musical arrangement that remains interesting throughout its four perfectly-timed minutes, drums played tightly with brilliant fill-work, but not so flashy that headbanging is rendered impossible (note: you can maniacally tap your foot all the way through the varying tempos like a good ol’ timey Thrash tune), and a fat bass tone that pops through every riff as if to declare, “fuck off six-string, I am just as important as you are”. All this and its nice, Slayer-ish half-timer (appearing mid-song) and you’ll be geared for an Araya-like grin. Trust me, your neck will be off to the races (sadly, Tom’s titanium-filled one will not 😉 Perfectly serviceable covers follow: first up, the all-time Nuclear Assault classic ‘Hang The Pope’ grinds in and grinds out, and then (highly appropriate in this context) Nihilist’s “Revel In Flesh”. Both celebrate Verminous’ obvious influences, but each appear draped in these Swedes’ own bits of color.
From band’s own single, ashen offering to their choice of redos, a very palpable sense of humor permeates the entirety of this small slab of vinyl, as if Verminous wish to say: “Whatever your Metal taste, we challenge you to resist yelling along with our rousing chorus: ‘Praise be thy name, Lucifer … Curse of the Antichrist!’ Note: you may feel refreshingly ridiculous and badass, all at once.” Which is why this 7” fucking works. Gotta go now, I need to revisit that aforementioned Unholy Communion full-length. Obviously I missed something. -Jim
Blood Harvest
Worm Gear 
“fuck off six-string, I am just as important as you are” hehehe… Well said. Another very amusing review, well done. Off to check out Unholy Communion as well. I remember reading praise for that one a while ago somewhere in the playlists of a certain Wormgear reader…
Highly entertaining review. I need to check out this record.