WORM OUROBOROS – Worm Ouroboros

Nonetheless, the Worm Ouroboros debut is probably the closest thing we’ll ever hear to a follow up to The Gault’s incredible album “Even As All Before Us”, the only album they ever put out, mainly because Worm Ouroboros bassist/vocalist Lorraine Rath was one of the main songwriters responsible for The Gault right alongside her former songwriting partner, namely John Gossard of WEAKLING and ASUNDER fame (and we all know of Gossard’s musical pedigree and genius). Hence it would be natural that Rath’s songwriting foundation, ever so evident in The Gault, slithers its way with ease into the immaculate sound picture that Worm Ouroboros conjure. It is also noteworthy that Lorraine Rath was one of the main composers that took part in Amber Asylum’s “Still Point” masterwork, and the soothing dark sounds that encapsulated said release also find their way into the dreamy and brooding soundscapes of Worm Ouroboros.

The review from Decibel magazine tells it like it is:

WORM OUROBOROS – Worm Ouroboros (8/10) By Adrien Begrand

“We don’t have to tell you about just how male-dominated metal music has been over the last 40-odd years, but while the presence of women in the genre continues to grow these days, the question of whether or not clean female vocals on a metal album can yield results that remain true to everything the music is about remains a contentious issue. No matter how capable the singer, if it’s too delicate, too operatic, too damned melodic, for every fan, there’ll be two or three skeptics waiting to lampoon it. It’s a tricky line for a female metal singer to walk, but Lorraine Rath does so brilliantly on this debut, looking past the usual metal influences and drawing from some of the more avant-garde sounds of the past quarter century. Musically, the San Francisco trio evokes the best qualities of doom, drone and dark ambient, drawing heavily from Rath’s legendary former band the Gault; but it’s when Rath enters the fray with her understated vocals that the album takes on a tone rarely heard in extreme music. It’s like Kate Bush sitting in with Asunder, Alison Goldfrapp fronting Atavist, murky, disturbing guitar and bass offset by tender singing that somehow feels more unsettling than your usual growling dude. As a result, this stunning record leaves an instant impression, whether it’s the mellow mood piece “Goldeneye,” the dreamy “A Birth a Death” or the imperial riffing of “Riverbed.” Sure, its feminine quality is more than apparent, but it packs a unique wallop that no testosterone-fueled dummies can ever match.”

Dreamy, doomy, martial, delicate, and powerfully ambient and atmospheric, where the bridge between such genres as doom metal and dark chamber rock becomes penetrated, the tracklisting for “Worm Ouroboros” goes as follows:

1. Through Glass
2. A Birth A Death
3. Winter
4. Goldeneye
5. Failing Moon
6. Riverbed
7. Brittle Heart
8. Pearls
9. A Death A Birth

Worm Ouroboros are:
Lorraine Rath – bass/vocals/flute
Jessica Way – guitar/vocals
Aesop Dekker – drums