As the wooden snap of yellowed bones shift under-foot and a thousand eyes wetly blink in the distance the sensorial forebode which greets any willing victim in approach of Portland, Maine-based death metal quartet WORM ALTAR‘s debut full-length album should be readily aware of their impending doom. Delivered as an ominous enveloping of the psyche in morbid ritual ‘Pillars of Eternal Dusk‘ saunters beyond the band’s formative days in meaningful pursuit if an ‘old school’ inspired lunge-and-blast through death/doom metal characteristic old and new. Brief as the tormented writhe-through is the band’s efforts speak to a remarkable ideal (and capability) herein, staying on task throughout this ~half-hourlong introduction to their warped, sludge-hurling realm.

Worm Altar formed as a solo project back in 2021 by way of guitarist/vocalist Scott M. who’d remain the sole member of the band per their debut demo tape (‘Demo‘, 2022) and EP (‘Astral Scourge‘, 2023). Inspired by atmospheric and doom-imbued death metal variants throughout the ages they’ve named everything from Phrenelith to Coffins and Disembowelment as inspiration for the sense of atmosphere, downtuned heft and monstrous gloom-riddled soul generated. The only additional emphasis I’d provide after perusing their discography is some manner of tutelage in sludge metal riffcraft and sound design appearing within their ouevre consistently, especially when calling for dissonant coloration of the riff or ear-clearing guitar feedback. This aspect of their sound was potentially more evident via ‘Promo 2025‘ (2025) last year, a preview of two key tracks from this new album in a live-in-studio setting, but even the first demo had Crowbar-esque moments a la the intro to “Torture Hammer”.

In the years between Worm Altar‘ve boosted their ranks up to a quartet with members of Come to Grief and Shabti joining, elevating their performance capabilities without drastically transforming the general character of the band. Rather than become a busier, more detailed affair their four-man formation begins to morph slightly towards creeping atmosphere of Incantation-esque canon a la Krypts throughout ‘Pillars of Eternal Dusk‘ while inserting increased lead guitar adornment and noise than prior. With only ~32 minutes to make their statement they’ve not left a ton of room to fuck around, generally sticking to one mode on the roar through while leaving pace and riffcraft to distinguish one piece from another.

The droning lurch of the tremolo-picked riffcraft that introduces opener/intro “Under the Shadow of Night…” bleeds in thread through the pieces which follow, lending a contiguous dread which is only occasionally interrupted by hammering down or pulling out a decent doom riff. I’m not sure I’d describe the rattling blasted turns taken on “Splaying the Offal” or “Watchers of the Gate” as Rippikoulu-esque outright but the balance of slowly scaling death/doom toward bursts of faster paced attack carry some of that core ‘old school’ underground death/doom dynamic in spirit. For my taste “Splaying the Offal” is a clear standout within what all blur together in mind and partially for the sake of it being one of the 2025 promo’s tracks now featuring a remarkable evolution in performance and render.

Much as I’d enjoyed Side A‘s slow-drilled tunnel and slap through ‘Pillars of Eternal Dusk‘ differentiates from familiar modern death/doom metal application slightly more on its second half. “Virescent Fire” in particular characterizes the Worm Altar experience beyond expectation with its screaming guitar feedback-tipped sludge riffs, almost recalling ‘Covenant‘ (or ‘Gateways to Annihilation‘ around ~2:19 minutes in) as much as they resemble the gluier side of something like earlier Mortiferum in passage. Closer “Dusk Eternal” does some heavy lifting beyond that point with a few whopping doom riffs and some of the more compelling drumming on the album but the value of this record generally begins to center moreso around the quality of their efforts and less the riff count or any sort of experimental notion.

The brevity of the ‘Pillars of Eternal Dusk‘ experience here means Worm Altar only just peaks within the immersive value of their work before checking out. While I wouldn’t dog on this polished, stylized and neatly writ debut for being short it’d definitely left me waiting for one more song on each pass. The conclusion of “Dusk Eternal” is fine as a bookend but offers little contrast or collapse to mark the band’s exit. This is all good if you’re the type to whip a record on repeat and embrace its hypnotic value but even just matching the energy of the intro piece might’ve given the whole deal that much more flesh to chew.

Otherwise I figure it is worth pointing toward the total slick-ass production/curation of Worm Altar‘s work here, especially for a debut. The distorted bass heavy render of ‘Pillars of Eternal Dusk‘ may appear viscous, muddy at a glance but the mix (via Ethan Camp) and master (via Dan Lowndes) bring out the necessary details without breaking the immerse of it all or dampening the drum performances. In terms of modern ‘old school’ girded death metal the total effect of those production values, the morbid colonnade depicted the cover art (via Slimeweaver), and the lyrics provided all make sense in combination without any visibly flippant ideas there to deteriorate their death/doom metal ideal. Their work here is well above average as an introduction and any modern fan of the sub-genre should appreciate the straight forward but idealized vision enacted within. A high recommendation.

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