Review by Michael on October 16, 2023.

Two years after having reached Mount Carcass the guys from Hamburg, Germany are back to start the Global Worming. On the album the quintet lays their salty fingers lyrically into some wounds that are pretty actual like in 'Violence Is Golden' or 'Hell Is Here'. Let's take 'Violence Is Golden' as a good example:

“No remorse and no regret
We want to kill, we won't forgive
Suffering the price you have to pay […]
Words are silver, violence is gold
When all is said but nothing's done
Violence unfolds”

Sounds pretty current these days, doesn't it?

But apart from the smart lyrics and the nice pun in the album title, what do the Germans deliver with their fourth output? Well, I would state that they still have the typical Swedish HM-2 sound like Dismember and old Entombed did in perfection on their first two albums but they also got some more groovy parts in their songs this time. Listening to 'C.B.V.' or 'Hanging Gardens' which starts with a slight casual “Wolverine Blues”-riff are good examples how they incorporate some more death n'roll elements into the music though it still sounds pretty much old school. According to these elements, the vocals sometimes sound pretty much like Johan Lindstrand from The Crown. Lenny has varied his vocals this time around and got a wider range than on the previous albums and did a very cool job with this and the same goes to the whole production of Global Worming. It became very powerful and it's punchy to the point.

'Our Only Life' is one of the fastest songs they ever did and it is a wild ride between some punk influenced sounds and brutal death metal. It's a really brutal neckbreaker with some great double bass moments and with about three minutes it is also the shortest song on the album. The title track which is also the opener is a brutal, old school death metal song in the vein of the old aforementioned Swedish models. It has a very catchy chorus with some very dramatic guitar riffs and a very hectic drum part in the middle of it where you literally can see the worms popping out of the maltreated Mother Earth. 'Wheel Of Torture' goes into the same direction, but before the catchy part with some sawing guitars starts, we have to suffer some slow torture riffs and painful screams. I guess the song doesn't get the title from out of nowhere. Closing the worming with 'Nemesis' Endseeker have quite an interesting surprise. It is a very atmospheric song which reminds a little bit of Hypocrisy (everything that came out after "Osculum Obscenum"). It starts with a very gloomy mysterious atmosphere and some church bell ringing and the song structure is quite similar to the deeds of Peter Tägtgren. Even the driving guitars in the middle of it are pretty close to that.

Now that the Global Worming is done, we only can hope that all the worms are scorched from the Earth so we all can find peace again. At least listening to the album gives me some peace of mind and this is good.

Rating: 9 out of 10 dead worms

Review by Carl on May 10, 2025.

In all honesty, I'm not that big on Denouncement Pyre, and this is really for no special reason. It's just those very few times that I've heard them, it didn't click with me. The reason why I have this split LP on my shelf is, and you've probably guessed it, the Diocletian part. Of course, tastes evolve, so I decided to give this one another spin, and then pour my findings into a blathering review of sorts. Yes, that sounds like a plan, alright.

So here we are, and so is Denouncement Pyre. Listening to this, I immediately realize why the music didn't click with me, and that is because their take on the black/death metal style is more focused on streamlined execution and a warped sense of melody, in place of balls-out dementia and frothing at the mouth aggression. Does that make it bad? No, not in the slightest. The band does put in a varied effort that combines a rolling sense of midtempo pacing with faster parts, with the whole being firmly rooted in the 90s Scandinavian sound, with a death metal twist added. They have me somewhat thinking of what bands such as Forest of Impaled, early Belphegor, In Aeternum and late 90's/early 00's Gehenna (NOR) did. It's a well-executed blend of tremolo-picked riffing, blasting velocity, scraping dissonance and a ferociously growling vocal delivery, brought with an energetic flow that also betrays a subtle thrash metal influence. This melange is being held together by a decent production that does not overdo it on the modern trickery, thankfully, but could've used more fleshing out when it came to the guitar sound. Despite this little slip-up, the music manages to maintain enough grit and subtle flowing force to strike out in a convincing manner, which honestly suits me well enough.

Well then, on with the part I bought this for, the mighty Diocletian, who do what they always do, and that is to batter the listener senseless with brute force. This is a total war metal 101, alright. Guitars like belt sanders are roaring on with relentless force, underpinned by a battering full speed ahead assault of blastbeats artillery, while a croaking madman is spewing forth blasphemous intonations with vomitous force. Throughout, there are screeching dive-bomb guitar leads strewn about, with only some occasional slower pounding sections allowing some breathing space in between. With a production that follows suit in all of this with a firm focus on blunt force, Diocletian mostly does what you've come to expect from them, which is letting loose with reckless abandon. It's nothing you're not familiar with; there are plenty of parallels to be made with like-minded spirits such as Necroholocaust, Black Witchery, and Nuclear Desecration, but Diocletian can follow in their trail with ease, exuding the same lunatic power and demented aggression as their brethren.

As a split, this is a varied twosome for sure. Where the A side has the streamlined variation of Denouncement Pyre on offer, the B side fulfills the raging noise quota with ease, with both establishing a different sort of aggression, while still exuding the same vibe. For those who like their black/death metal in a broader sense, this is recommended stuff.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Michael on October 16, 2023.

Two years after having reached Mount Carcass the guys from Hamburg, Germany are back to start the Global Worming. On the album the quintet lays their salty fingers lyrically into some wounds that are pretty actual like in 'Violence Is Golden' or 'Hell Is Here'. Let's take 'Violence Is Golden' as a good example:

“No remorse and no regret
We want to kill, we won't forgive
Suffering the price you have to pay […]
Words are silver, violence is gold
When all is said but nothing's done
Violence unfolds”

Sounds pretty current these days, doesn't it?

But apart from the smart lyrics and the nice pun in the album title, what do the Germans deliver with their fourth output? Well, I would state that they still have the typical Swedish HM-2 sound like Dismember and old Entombed did in perfection on their first two albums but they also got some more groovy parts in their songs this time. Listening to 'C.B.V.' or 'Hanging Gardens' which starts with a slight casual “Wolverine Blues”-riff are good examples how they incorporate some more death n'roll elements into the music though it still sounds pretty much old school. According to these elements, the vocals sometimes sound pretty much like Johan Lindstrand from The Crown. Lenny has varied his vocals this time around and got a wider range than on the previous albums and did a very cool job with this and the same goes to the whole production of Global Worming. It became very powerful and it's punchy to the point.

'Our Only Life' is one of the fastest songs they ever did and it is a wild ride between some punk influenced sounds and brutal death metal. It's a really brutal neckbreaker with some great double bass moments and with about three minutes it is also the shortest song on the album. The title track which is also the opener is a brutal, old school death metal song in the vein of the old aforementioned Swedish models. It has a very catchy chorus with some very dramatic guitar riffs and a very hectic drum part in the middle of it where you literally can see the worms popping out of the maltreated Mother Earth. 'Wheel Of Torture' goes into the same direction, but before the catchy part with some sawing guitars starts, we have to suffer some slow torture riffs and painful screams. I guess the song doesn't get the title from out of nowhere. Closing the worming with 'Nemesis' Endseeker have quite an interesting surprise. It is a very atmospheric song which reminds a little bit of Hypocrisy (everything that came out after "Osculum Obscenum"). It starts with a very gloomy mysterious atmosphere and some church bell ringing and the song structure is quite similar to the deeds of Peter Tägtgren. Even the driving guitars in the middle of it are pretty close to that.

Now that the Global Worming is done, we only can hope that all the worms are scorched from the Earth so we all can find peace again. At least listening to the album gives me some peace of mind and this is good.

Rating: 9 out of 10 dead worms