Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but original vocalist Duane Duarte was let go after some alleged questionable behavior (though they still released Hunger with him on it), leaving guitarist Tre Purdue as the lone remaining member. In comes Ian Smith from The Archaic Epidemic to replace Duarte, Thomas O’Malley from Ingested on guitars, and original drummer Leo Mclain (Psycho-Frame, ex Immortal Disfigurement) comes back in the fold. But most importantly, Purdue went out and got Harry Tadayon to help out with guitars (he helped out on Hunger) and orchestration.

Now, Tadayon has quickly become a hot, Francesco Ferrini-like commodity in the scene, doing orchestration for the likes of Ov Ruin, Synestia, and Heir of Fire. He also has his own bands, Vile Sycophant and Hate Within, as well as served some time in Immortal Disfigurement. Dude does absolutely stunning compositions and orchestration, so I was excited to see what he brought to Worm Shepherd. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Worm Shepherd were one of the genre’s top bands before this new lineup, and as you’d expect, Tadayon and co deliver. The 5 songs to introduce the new lineup, delve a little more into the more controlled atmospheric side of The Sleeping Sun EP from 2023, but also do plenty of the genre’s Lorna Shore-heavy tropes, as they have done since 2020’s In The Wake Ov Sol.

All 5 songs are, of course, heavily, heavily orchestral, with Tadayon in top form, delivering a massive layer of dramatic symphonic and choral bombast to the now well-copied template of massive Lorna Shore breakdowns and blackened blast beats.

From the dramatic opener “The Omen”, through the shorter, moody “Feast”, and waltz-y lurch of “Sanctified Rot” to the EP’s centerpiece, the killer,  7+ minute closer “Whispers of a Buried Land”, this lineup is locked in and delivers top-notch examples of the genre. The album’s endcap will certainly stand as one of the best songs in the genre for the year, even having some Lorna Shore-ish moments of melody and emotion built in, as well as the now requisite, huge breakdown that gets slower and heavier.

That said, with sooooooo many bands doing this style now (and well), I have to be honest, with the genre’s saturation going on for a while, they all are starting to sound a bit too similar, especially ones with Tadayon. Frankly, if a song by Synestia, Vile Sycophant, Ov Ruin, Heir of Fire, or Worm Shepherd (or countless other non-Tadayon bands) came on my playlist, I have to look to see which project/band it is.

It still doesn’t stop me from really enjoying all of it; I’m just curious as to who will be the band that tries something just a little different, rather than follow the Lorna Shore template so rigidly.

Well, Like Lorna Shore back in 2020 with Immortal, Worm Shepherd‘s third album was already mostly recorded before the vocalist issues. The band (or lone remaining member Tre Purdue) decided to release the album with Duarte on vocals and add some session folks to help out with Harry Tadayon (ex-Immortal Disfigurement)  and Mental Cruelty‘s Nahuel Lozano on drums to help recording. However, it’s clear the band ( and their third logo) is now a studio project only (and a gentleman by the name of ‘The Orc King’ from Infectorium has been tapped as the new vocalist).

With The Sleeping Sun EP, released earlier in 2024, I felt a style shift coming with much more extensive use of clean vocals and slower moodier songs, and I’m glad to report that Hunger manages to merge the elements from the EP as well as their continued top-notch blacked deathcore into a stellar third album.

The band’s already established sound which is influenced by peers like Lorna Shore (Immortal era) and such, is perfected here. Make no mistake, much like bands like Enemies Everywhere and such they are doing the Lorna Shore blacked deathcore sound with nigh an original note, but they are clearly one of the best bands at it.

Not quite as orchestral or choir-filled as A Wake in Providence, but with the same sense of dramatic, building symphonic bombast, Worm Shepherd’s structural blackened deathcore backbone is solid, and when they get a little moodier such as parts of opener “The Anguished Throne, (where Duarte really shows how good he was) “Illuminate Oblivion”,  “He Who Breathes Fire”, the prior EPs hues shine through, even if Duarte’s clean vocals still don’t hit quite right (Purdue has come out publically saying that the band is done with clean vocals after Duarte’s departure).

Excellent tracks like “He Who Breathes Fire”, the very Meshuggah-ish title track, and the dramatic “The Whistles in the Cold”  and “Of Ruin and Banishment” all deliver the goods for fans of the genre like me, with ample bombast and huge crumbling, now standard breakdowns. But it’s the last third of the album where Worm Shepherd really shows off their ability.

The absolutely blistering standout “A Harrowing Dawn”, brutally gorgeous “The Waters of Lethe” and epic, contemplative 8-minute “And at the End of Fear, Silentium” while not related, come close to matching the gravitas of “Pain Remains” trilogy of songs from Lorna Shore‘s Pain Remains album.

Back in my review of A Wake In Providence‘s stunning I Write To You, My Darling Decay, I wondered who the Big 4 of Blackened Deathcore would be. I ultimately decided that A Wake in Providence should be the fourth act to join Lorna Shore, Shadow of Intent, and Mental Cruelty. But with Hunger, I question who I kick out to make room for Worm Shepherd. Or maybe it’s just a Big 5 now?