Not sure why life was so cruel to the guys in VERMIN, but these lowlanders sound mighty disgruntled! Yet another stand-out in the Dutch death metal renaissance (along with DEVIOUS - clicky!), "A Nihilistic Swarm" delves head-first into the extreme, near-grindcore style with reckless abandon. These gritty, A-tuned riffs and blistering blast beats are not for the weak of heart. As soon as the two intro tracks are finished (the buzzing of "The Swarm" followed by the deadly "The Plague"), the listener is already checking his ass for footprints. And just like any good extreme metal album, it never really gives the listener a rest after that. Fortunately, these tracks are in relatively bite-size pieces (averaging about 2 or 3 minutes), along with some relieving interludes ("Birth"), which keep the assault from being overpowering.

The only major gripe about this album would be the production. The muddy sound and super-low tuning prevents the listener from hearing the riffs clearly. Also, the high-pitched kick of the drums treads dangerously into typewriter territory. Still, considering how hellacious of an album this is and how effective it is at delivering the aggression, these sound flaws can be easily enough overlooked, and fans of extreme death metal would definitely be doing themselves a favor by checking this killer album about. Prepare for the Swarm!

- Cardona

OFFICIAL SITE: www.verminband.nl

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