The Swedish WORMWOOD (not to be confused with those from the US) are a quite active band, as their recent offering “The Star” already marks the fourth full length album in ten years band history. Nevertheless I haven’t taken notice of their music yet, probably because of the vast amount of new bands coming up nearly daily. But I have to admit that I likely haven’t missed much, as “The Star” really doesn’t thrill me. In my humble opinion, the seven (very) long songs on this album are too much of a smorgasbord of different styles, as WORMWOOD overload their songs with ideas and stylistic changes. Mainly based in Black Metal, the songs contain elements of Folk, Progressive Rock and Metal, even some Classical moments and way too much Gothic Metal. Every promising riff or harmony gets destroyed by a break too soon (‘Suffer Existence’ e.g.) or ends up being washed away by another, less fine harmony. In the very end, WORMWOOD even want to be the next SÒLSTAFIR, but die on the vine, as you can’t beat the original. Thus the final ‘Ro’ is probably a demonstration of falling apart on the seams. To be fair: WORMWOOD are definitely not a bad band, as they are good musicians for sure and they go their own way. It’s just that their way is far from what I prefer musically. So it would not be any wonder that some of you reading these lines might like WORMWOOD and find what I looked for without success. If you’re likely to do so, you might check www.facebook.com/wormwoodswe and www.facebook.com/blacklodgerecords