Gurthworm – Circumference EP

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · May 15, 2026

Gurthworm are a four-piece stoner/ hard rock band from Charlotte, North Carolina. They consist of Jared Nuzzo on vocals and guitar, Matthew “Hippo” Pascale on bass, Greg Philbeck on guitar, and Steve Poe on drums. The band released an EP in 2023 called Scoleciphobia. They just dropped their latest EP entitled Circumference on April 17th 2026. It contains five tracks at twenty nine minutes long.

The album begins with “Worm Moon”, a mellow starting track that slowly builds up the intensity after a minute or so. Beginning with clean guitars, the bass and drums magnify the sound with a gradual increase in volume. When the song kicks in, it has a hard rocking groove with heavy fuzz and dynamic guitar leads. The vocals of Jared Nuzzo are powerful and emotive, and meshes in nicely with the music. “Idolize” showcases the band’s more metal influences with chugs of doom and more sludgy rhythms. The heavy and almost eerie sounding track still manages to stay catchy with the vocal melodies in tow.

The third track is called “Dying Age” and it’s also a banger! More metallic riffing and great guitar harmonies give the song a vintage heavy metal sound that gets into my soul. It’s the shortest track of the bunch, running just over four and a half minutes, but a great one at that. Gurthworm seems to really excel in the six, closer to seven minute time frame for most of these tracks. “Smoke Renewal” has a traditional doom style rhythm that chugs along with a distorted tonality and delight. Powerful leads with some viscous vocals towards the end of the song, Gurthworm are a fully dynamic and engaging band! “Gray Beard” concludes this excellent EP with more fuzzed-out grooves and metal crunching rage. Bassist Matthew Pascale provides some death style vocals on this one and the guitar leads grow more expansive on this track also, with the addition of drummer Steve Poe contributing some guitars. Gurthworm sounds like a very mature and already established band despite only having two EPs released.

Circumference is a huge step in establishing the band as a viable force in the heavy underground scene. With the exceptionally high number of bands coming out nowadays, Gurthworm has already forged a sound and quality to their music that sets them apart from the saturated pack. I am looking forward to hearing what a full length album will bring for this up and coming band. Based on these five songs, I can only predict great things are on the horizon for this exceptionally talented quartet.