This is a review of "Hate" recorded by Worm. The review was written by Nick Kearns in 2005.

I’m always suspicious of acts whose press releases seem overly keen to labour the point that their musical influences are made up of a diverse mix of seemingly irreconcilable bands and artists, as well as stressing the fact that their sound cannot be “pidgeonholed” in any way whatsoever. This suspicion is due to the fact that the majority of bands that do so are usually easily-classifiable upon the first minute of listening to them, as well as displaying a collective record collection with as much diversity as a cloned asparagus. Worm’s current release “Hate” comes without any accompanying press release of any kind. It’s also a refreshingly eclectic mish-mash of many disparate styles and influences, and a thoroughly interesting listen for it.

Comprising of Bradford-based duo C J Arnfield and Tim Walker, Worm veer between the industrial theatrics of Nine Inch Nails / Ministry to the more subtle ambient-techno soundscapes that the likes of DJ Shadow excel at creating, with a good deal of electro-metal weirdness thrown in for good measure. Opener “Destroy Myself” features a dirty guitar riff with some frantic rapping over it, alongside a plethora of interesting bleeps and samples that add enough variety to the song to elevate it above and beyond any nu-metal comparisons. Meanwhile tracks such as “Needles for Beginners” and “The 18th” showcase Worms’s ability to create intricate mellow passages with a dark pulsating undercurrent, both songs being fantastic examples of how to write songs with darkly foreboding dynamics. One can almost imagine Mulder scurrying around a deserted Russian airfield in search of “The Truth” when listening to them. The album as a whole is generally paced well in terms of light/ heavy songs, though some songs occasionally outstay their welcome by dragging on a tad.

As a release that brims with ideas, invention, verve and gusto it is somewhat disappointing to also have to acknowledge that music of this nature is never going to appeal to a large enough musical demographic to ensure that it receives the acknowledgement and acclaim that it is deserving of. Nonetheless for anyone who is a fan of dark, complex intricate music that pays scant regard for the conventional boundaries that exist between rock and dance music this release is definitely worth looking into.