After a seven-year absence despite living next door, Singapore’s grindcore unit Wormrot returned to Kuala Lumpur last Saturday to play a
crushing show that also saw support from Japan’s premier death/doom metal and hardcore band Kruelty.
The Saturday gig’s openers were local bands Glistening Red Chair and Man Dead Set. Both bands played riffy 30-minute sets, before Indonesia’s Fingerprint took the stage with even more hardcore breakdowns.
Once Kruelty appeared, the show truly began its stride. The Japanese unit have been making almost a yearly appearance in Malaysia since 2022 and the show with Wormrot was the perfect opportunity for everyone that missed Kruelty’s previous visits – which they headlined in Rumah Api – to finally see what the band could unleash in a live, even smaller venue.
Having taken over after the previous vocalist’s departure in 2023, Zuma has still not missed a beat, delivering both powerful, crowd-inciting vocals while shredding on the guitar. The band as a whole put out a tight set: bassist SE7 was the only other core member, while the other two on guitar and the drum kit were likely session musicians.
At one point during Kruelty’s set, as the tide of gig-goers squeezing against each other began, someone in the crowd yelled out “Siapa yang tak pakai deodorant ni? (Who here is not wearing deodorant?)” It was a joke aimed at the few in the crowd who stank like Carlsberg.
Kruelty played a mix of their old songs, along with newer ones from its 2023 album Untopia and last year’s EP like Profane Usurpation and Harder Than Before.
Grinding, sonic eruption
As the headliner, Wormrot came up next to play the gig’s final set. While Fitri and Rasyid were busy setting up their drum kit and guitars, respectively, vocalist Arif was in the corner doing stretches and breathing exercises. At the time, fans did not realise this was actually a giant, flashing neon sign of what was about to happen.
Once their set began, the crowd, who were already hyped up during Kruelty’s set, went insane from the combined might of the three Wormrot members becoming a siren call of sorts that pushed everyone completely over the edge.
To paint a picture: Petai Belalang KL is a relatively small-to-mid size in terms of local venues. At the start of the gig, there was still breathing space and even tiny “corridors” for everyone to manoeuvre around. These began to shrink thanks to Kruelty.
However, once Arif began growling and shrieking to the tune of Rasyid’s riffs and Fitri’s drumming, these spaces completely collapsed into tiny black holes.
Every small void in between each person was immediately filled up. People pushed their way to the front, and turning to look at the back, there was an endless sea of heads headbanging. In the middle of the packed tuna can that Petai Belalang transformed into, there was a mosh pit.
The only other time there was an instant shift, in venue space, mood and atmosphere was when Power Trip came to play in Malaysia five years ago. In fact, even Arif’s stage presence was reminiscent of Power Trip’s late vocalist Riley Gale.
Wormrot played roughly 20 songs from previous albums, opening with its popular grind hits that included The Darkest Burden and Behind Closed Doors. A bulk of the songs from the first half of its set were from its 2016 album Voices, while crowd favourites like Voiceless Choir and When Talking Fails, It’s Time for Violence! from 2022’s Hiss dominated the back end of their set.
The gig in Malaysia, which also included Ipoh and Johor, were the final dates in Wormrot’s Southeast Asia tour, which itself comes after a lengthy tour through the US.