Band:	Vermin
Album:	A Nihilistic Swarm
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	2006
A review by:	Herzebeth

01. The Swarm (Intro)
02. The Plague
03. Ascend
04. Fuel For The Flames
05. Conquer
06. The Swallowing Vortex
07. I Am The Dissident
08. Birth
09. A Nihilist
10. Falling Deathwards
11. Eyes Wide Shut
12. Deviate
13. Dislekt
14. Scientific Domination
15. Collpased Future Visions
16. Clipped Wings
17. Vertigo

Well this is going to be an easy review to write actually; the music in this album is so direct and in-your-face that I won't even need to charge my brain or my review with all those portentous words about ostentatious matters; hell no! I'll just write about the intensity and the brutal scheme of this album.

Vermin is quite simple to describe, they play Death Metal?yeah that was almost obvious considering the name or the cover. Anyway, so long for the short explanation, now I'll try harder for those seeking knowledge with my reviews. This Dutch outfit is heavily influenced by the old school to begin with (patterns and structures), they finally add some new school riffs to the mix to finally create an heterogeneous metal product with technical brushstrokes here and there; think Grave and Morbid Angel jamming with Sinister and Houwitser for a slight example.

This album sounds quite good really; I'm mostly impressed for their assembling capabilities, this because most of the tracks managed to sound practiced to the core and arranged from the beginning to the very end (feature lost in most bands nowadays). The music sounds hard as hell and even brutal at times, the performance is rather impressive (but rigid at times), the music makes you want to kick someone in the mouth and the lyrics actually will make you think (WOW!!, now that's a breakthrough for the new-scene), last but not least the album comes with a great layout and a killer multimedia enhancement with a video, a small "studio" documentary, some pictures and a couple of useful links.

So what's the problem with Vermin? Almost none, the band hooked me for the first twelve tracks, but, even though it's a decent extent (talking about minutes of course), seventeen tracks is way too much for my taste; I was really impressed with the first half-hour, but then I just wanted to hear something else and I don't even know the reason why because the music throughout the entire album is quite good?These guys are actually going somewhere, I'll be waiting for a polished album with better riffs, catchy breakdowns and complex songwriting, then I'll start talking about their greatness.

Best Tracks: "Ascend", "I Am The Dissident", "Clipped Wings"