Cerebellar vermis

The cerebellar vermis (Latin for worm) is located in the medial, cortico-nuclear zone of the cerebellum, residing in the posterior fossa of the cranium. The primary fissure in the vermis curves ventrolaterally to the superior surface of the cerebellum, dividing it into anterior and posterior lobes. Functionally, the vermis is associated with bodily posture and locomotion. The vermis is included within the spinocerebellum and receives somatic sensory input from the head and proximal body parts via ascending spinal pathways.

The cerebellum develops in a rostro-caudal manner, with rostral regions in the midline giving rise to the vermis, and caudal regions developing into the cerebellar hemispheres. By 4 months of prenatal development, the vermis becomes fully foliated, while development of the hemispheres lags by 30–60 days. Postnatally, proliferation and organization of the cellular components of the cerebellum continues, with completion of the foliation pattern by 7 months of life and final migration, proliferation, and arborization of cerebellar neurons by 20 months.

Vermis (album)

Vermis is the fourth full-length album by New Zealand death metal band Ulcerate. It was released on September 13, 2013 in Germany and Benelux, September 16 in the UK and internationally, and September 17 in North America. It is the first album by Ulcerate to be released through Relapse Records.

Musical style and theme

While the band has been noted for its use of dissonance, drummer Jamie Saint Merat countered that "[d]issonance for dissonance’s sake is extremely fatiguing". Given this, Merat said that Vermis uses melody in a "weird and unsettling" way to create "a tangible amount of tension and release". Merat further noted that the band made a conscious decision with Vermis to bring back "a level of unpredictability we've always had in the past" due to the feeling that the previous album, The Destroyers of All, "came out a little too fluid on the whole".

According to Merat, Vermis uses the metaphor of invertebrate animal species to explore "the over-arching theme of spinelessness [and] oppression". Merat explained that different forms of oppression are explored on the album, including: