Rekindling my fading flame for shred and drama, Witherfall entered into my unsuspecting receptors with an impossible to ignore histrionic attitude on their 2017 debut Nocturnes and Requiems. It’s a uniquely tough happening to finally be free of a full-time work, full-time school lifestyle, but that crossroads of relieved burnout and adult life still presents many challenges and inspiration can feel fleeting. Nocturnes & Requiems packed both a nostalgic blaze and modern sorrow that jolted me in a way I absolutely needed.1 Combined with the surprising revelation that bassist Anthony Crawford was indeed the Anthony Crawford I had seen noodling around with Virgil Donati (Planet X, ex-Ring of Fire) and other jazzy ventures far removed from metal—including popping up on CHON records—Witherfall had my attention secured. History has its ups and downs, though.
This Los Angeles act’s humble yet flashy beginnings rang true with the sweep-happy and thrash-grooving axe work of guitar hero groups like Symphony X or Nevermore. Despite those comparisons, though, the riffwork that imbues Witherfall’s aggressive nature rings less like the theatrical Savatage element that vocalist Joseph Michael (ex-White Wizzard) embodies, and more like the anthemic chug that fuels 00s stadium era Arch Enemy. And from the Amott-edged lick that rips open “They Will Let You Down” to the brooding verses that carry mid-album highlight “Insidious,” that low-end rounded romp still scatters about Sounds of the Forgotten. Guitarist Jake Dreyer (ex-White Wizzard) hasn’t let up any steam once songs build—rather slowly in most cases, as Witherfall has grown to more progressive song lengths from album to album—allowing his neoclassical furies to crackle about, often in tandem with Crawford’s rumbling and popping six-string (bass) gymnastics.
Yet, in either a play for a wider reach or simply a growing affinity for gentle sway, Witherfall has taken hold of the ballad in a way that interrupts their potential to rip. The first time I stumbled into the second track, “Where Do I Begin,” I had to check to make sure I hadn’t accidentally set the album to shuffle. Similarly, the title track finds itself wedged between a long-form track that has a fake-out ballad intro (“Ceremony of Fire”) and an interlude (“Aftermath”)—a segment that feels clipped strategically to allow a better ‘single’ experience, as Witherfall seems to really enjoy doing—which leads into another ballad, “When It All Falls Away.” At least this later piece lights the fire with tender harmonic bass tinder and a schmaltz-slathered pentatonic crescendo before it too slips into another interlude (“Opulent”), one that does function as a proper creeping piano and synth set-piece for the epic closing track.
At a hair over ten minutes, “What Have You Done?” isn’t the longest Witherfall song ever, but it does highlight more than other extended numbers how down the progressive lane they’ve traveled. Sounds as a whole, this closer inclusive, finds itself accentuated more vividly with bright and ominous synth and organ layers, courtesy of new keys man Gerry Hirshfeld. And returning to guest on the kit, studio workhorse Marco Minnemann (ex-Ephel Duath, various session work) embellishes space with playful fills, often splashing or slow-rolling about Crawford’s creative pulse. All these elements come together on key tracks—the horrifying bridge of “Insidious,” the powerful chorus of “Ceremony of Fire,” the truly Witherfall-voiced build of “What Have You Done?”—but not often enough to string together an album that plays through without a skip or two.
Each time a new Witherfall release rolls around, I want to love it as much as I did the first notes they ever put to recording. I’ve already bought into the trials that Joseph Michael’s trademarked theatrical vocal dissonance can present, even as he’s developed some harsher vocal stylings starting with album two to various spots about Sounds. I’ve bought into the technical elegance that Witherfall has developed, and could have fallen more for The Curse of Autumn had it not given too much time to less interesting segues, bloated songs, and dipping toes in balladry—the same criticisms that land here. I haven’t given up on loving Witherfall with Sounds of the Forgotten. This band has too much talent and can still stitch together eyes-closed prog that whips to staccato fret-blazing with a studied abandon. Maybe a little more time in the cutting room will give the next round of Blake Armstrong-adorned melodrama a fighting chance.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Deathwave Records
Websites: witherfall.com | facebook.com/witherfall
Releases Worldwide: May 31st, 2024
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