Rötual is a Death Doom band from Ottawa, Ontario, and their debut EP, "Wörms," is a metal gold mine. "Wörms" is the evil brainchild of bassist Ben Bertrand, vocalist Nic Miquelon, guitarist Tom Hansen, and drummer Mike Berrigan. "Wörms" takes listeners on a ride through death and decay from the title track "Wörms" to the tragedy in space "Ultimate Voyage."  Rötual's music delivers the most crushing, desperate tones of doom metal, with the guttural darkness of death metal. Rötual is Canada's answer to death/doom pioneers like Asphyx, with all the crushing despair and demise.

"Wörms" begins with the title track "Wörms" going through the process of decaying through being consumed by invertebrates, death feeding new life through worms. Nic's vocals drive home the despair of decay with a mix of Johan Hegg (Amon Amarth)  and Daniel Droste (Ahab). "Wörms" sums up death and decay perfectly with the line "On the long journey home our names fade away forever on a gravestone, eroding with the dusts of time, The last candle blown with the last breath of life." In the end our true home is the grave, and our names erode, forgotten in time. "Mycelium" takes the decaying theme of "Wörms" and applies it to being consumed by mushrooms more menacing than the killer carnivorous plants in the 1951 novel "The Day of the Triffids."

My personal favourite track on " Wörms" is "Ultimate Voyage," which tells the story of an astronaut whose rocket is destroyed after launch, jettisoning him into space to face a slow death among the stars he was attracted by, like a more drawn-out version of the Challenger disaster. "Ultimate Voyage" is harrowing and filled with several layers of doom and despair.

"Wörms" is one of my favourite Death/Doom releases; it hammers the Death/doom themes and emotions while proving why Canadian Death/Doom should lead the legions of Doom. "Wörms" will become a Death/Doom genre staple, even standing out from the other Death/Doom bands. At the end of the day, my only complaint is wishing "Wörms" was longer,