Last august Vermin released their first single ‘Firetrap’ as a teaser for their upcoming album. On November 4th, the band played their album release show at the Kroepoekfabriek and now their album ‘The Cult of the cosmic Eye’ is released to the masses. So time for a review!
About Vermin
Vermin promotes themselves as a Doom Death Groove metal band, and honestly, when I first heard Firetrap I got absolutely zero of those influences. Luckily for the band, there is a lot more interesting stuff happening on their debut album, so my opinion of this band has changed for the better after hearing it. Not that Firetrap is a bad song; it’s a straightforward heavy track with some grooviness but non of the heavy weirdness they proclaim to bring. It even feels more like heavy rock, except for the angry growls that sound like they belong in a death metal band. I was actually surprised to learn this band breaks down stages and delivers a shit ton of noise because that’s not the vibe Firetrap gave me. And I was really surprised to learn the band also grunts in Dutch. Which is also quite unique.
The Cult of the Cosmic Eye
Judging even from the cover, I was hoping we were in for something heavier. I think the cover art has a really cool style (You should check out their merch too!). The cult of the Cosmic Eye is a weird piece of music, and a song such as Constraint or even better, Hemels Vuur, perfectly captures those three words we mentioned earlier. Doom, Death, Groove. Weird time signatures, constant changes between riffs, sometimes (or most often) in a place where you wouldn’t necessarily expect them. The band names Mastodon as one of their influences, and you can definitely hear that in their tracks.
I’m not sure who the target audience for this album is tough. Most of the tracks are predominantly doom-influenced, there are some death metal influences in some parts, but the weirdness makes it really interesting to listen to. Every track brings its own surprise. However, that makes it polarizing. True doom or death metal fans will probably find this a bit too weird, true progressive fans will maybe find it a bit too death-metally. Take for instance a track like Constraint. It starts off really slow, with some wind noise in the background and a rhythmic intro riff, that builds towards a groovy riff. All really nice and all, but then 1.30 min in, we jump straight into a death metal riff that chokes you out of nowhere, which lasts about 15 seconds, to jump back into the rhythmic part, now accompanied by clean vocals. It’s the weirdness that makes these tracks really, really interesting, but also very polarizing. I do get the ‘break down this stage’ part now that I’ve heard the aggressiveness in this track. And it also makes me wonder if these guys need some serious mental help🤣.
Final thoughts
In all honesty, this band really surprised me, and in a world where even the metal is put into boxes, I think that’s a good thing. As for a verdict on this Vermin, I’ll leave that to you. I also really don’t want to spoil the tracks any further, because I felt the surprises were what made this album so much more enjoyable. I will however recommend the track Eye in the in the Sky, which I think I enjoyed most.
Where to find Vermin?
You can check out the bands’ Facebook page or check their band page in our database.
