I was familiar with related, and far stranger, act Botanist before I had heard of Palace of Worms. This is a more standard black metal project than the plant-obsessed former. Despite my ignorance, The Ladder is actually the third full-length from one-man super-musician, Balan, under this moniker. It was mastered by Jack Shirley (Bosse-De-Nage, Deafheaven, Lycus), so I imagine we'll be hearing quite a bit of commentary from that crowd. But Palace of Worms has less to do with those acts then the darker corners of the classic black metal sound.
The overall aesthetic can be instantly and accurately described with d-words like "doomy," "depressive," and "dismal." There is a clear influence of funeral doom on the guitar sound but that's not to say that the pace doesn't pick up at times. In fact, "In the Twilight Divide" kicks off with an almost Western-sounding up-tempo beat and mandolin(?) before shifting gears into more traditional territory. Many pace and texture changes ensue, from agressive howls and tremolo to post-metal meandering and female clean vocals. It's a powerful opener, and by far my favorite of the album.
From there, the rest of the album is definitely, solid; but there is something about the (expertly) crafted level of melancholy dripping from these tracjks that makes it difficult to "enjoy" per se. This is a difficult thing to put into words, as I am simultaneously praising Balan's mastery of evoking mood, while also forewarning the listen that this is more of either A) background music while you work on something or B) music for being depressed and possibly suicidal in a dark room (at which point I seriously recommend you seek some human contact and support).
That aside, black metal was never meant to be "fun" anways. Tracks like "From the Ash" are gorgeous in their own rite, but completely devoid of any pleasantries or comfort. To use a favorite adjective of the 2nd wave, the sound is "cold." Bitterly so. Listening to "Night World" is standing in an abandoned concrete building at 3am in January. A sense of dread lurks around every corner, personified by the foreboding guitar lines and grim, deathy growls. One might be so caught up in these elements as to miss the always impressive drumming Balan is capable of.
So ultimately, The Ladder took a lot of time to grow on me. There were many times where I was ready to pass on the album as lacking interest or energy to me. However, something about it kept calling back to me from the shadows. It wasn't until sitting in my review playlist for almost a month that I really found myself taken in by what Palace of Worms has crafted. The mood is chilling, the performances engaging, and despite being a huge pussy and needing to take it in small doses I am blown away by some of the moments that eluded me upon earlier perusals, like "Wreathe" which is oddly reminicent of R.E.M. It's kind of like the Requiem for a Dream of metal albums: you recognize the artistic value, but you can only handle that level of bleakness so many times in a year. See what you think below.