Review by Alex on June 1, 2019.

Released in 2018 through Base Record Production, MurderWorker set foot down a depraved path of intolerance for human existence. Twelve crushing tracks oversee the anguish administered by this Spanish death metal quartet. At first, I thought it would be some overproduced modern snooze-fest of triggered drumming that commercial death metal is, but I was forced to retract my notions. Though a fairly clear production is evident on Where Screams Become Silence, one of the main contributors to enjoyment of these 12 tales of torture is the record sounds like a mix of death metal just a few years out of its infancy and a bit of that late 90's Swedish death metal tone. Vocals are decent, and the drumming has an intensity loosely reverberated by the bass. Though Where Screams Become Silence is not ‘groundbreaking’ by any means, it has an interesting motion sensitively toggling between thrash and groove metal. 

I find the first half of Where Screams Become Silence to be a bit more enjoyable given the mid-paced drumming and riffing; while progression though the 2nd half carry with it a very thrashy sort of death metal. For instance, “Killing Rotting Eating” reaches for the gritty old death metal sound while still fetching a punch bass. However, the music on the latter portion appears to be defeated, meaning the 2nd half is not as enjoyable as the former. Even though that’s the case, I think MurderWorker have done a decent job here in preventing repetition, just think that there could have been more added to the guitar soloing department. After hearing the short but effective guitar solo passages on ‘Eternal Hate”, “Killing Rotting Eating” and “Death By Asphyxia”, I was both pleased and let down, as I thought had those solos been introduced more often and extended rather than seem like teases and had they been given the green-light to play more of a role in the makeup of the tunes, Where Screams Become Silence would have been higher in my rankings as it would have added a lasting cogent complexion of that early death metal era. However, the guitar leads do compensate a little for the lack thereof despite the constant chugging chords heard. Plus, the vocal mix of growls and throaty, stifled creaks of sort construct contrasting surfaces that does help the music. 

Still the potential of a better effort looms in the distance; given the song-writing is competent but displays room for improvement that if implemented would see the band shoulder the weight of a more thoughtful endeavor. The appeal of Where Screams Become Silence is still high enough to attract the average death metal listener, however it also shows that MurderWorker is capable of removing from their comfort-zone with the intention of creating something that could push the band to new heights.

Rating: 6.8 out of 10