Album Review: Witherfall - Curse of Autumn
Reviewed by Richard Oliver
Curse Of Autumn is the new album from progressive metallers Witherfall. Witherfall are a band that I have heard about previously but have never taken the time to listen to their material until now and I am suitably impressed. The band formed in Los Angeles in 2013 and Curse Of Autumn is their third album. The line up has had one one change with the addition of prolific drummer Marco Minnemann to the band.
Witherfall have a sound that is heavily inspired by US power metal bands such as Nevermore, Iced Earth and Sanctuary (of which singer Joseph Michael is also a member of) and progressive metal acts such as Symphony X, Dream Theater and Queensryche.
Curse Of Autumn is a dark and angry album which has a healthy balance of metallic aggression, dark atmosphere and melody. The performances by the whole band are phenomenal with everyone at their A-game. Guitarist Jake Dreyer proves himself to be a veritable fretboard wizard with his pyrotechnic playing on songs such as The Last Scar and instrumental The Unyielding Grip Of Each Passing Day. The bass work of Anthony Crawford has to be applauded and the production and mix (by Jon Schaffer and Jim Morris) allows the intricacies of his playing to be heard loud and clear. Drummer Marco Minnemann puts in a powerhouse performance which is both powerful and sophisticated and shows why he is an in-demand drummer from high calibre artists such as Mike Keneally and Steven Wilson. The songs are nice and varied from high octane and aggressive songs such as The Last Scar and The Other Side Of Fear to more melodic and emotive songs such as The River and prog epics such as the phenomenal 15 minute plus ...And They All Blew Away. The band close things off with an acoustic rendition of Boston’s Long Time.
Curse Of Autumn is an excellent album of progressive power metal from Witherfall. The musicianship is phenomenal and the songwriting is to a very high quality. Whilst there are a lot of progressive elements in the music they are nearly always within the context of the song so there is very little in the way of excessiveness and musical masturbation. The darker tone and the lack of hooks and immediacy to the music means this album takes a few listens to fully digest but it is definitely worth spending the time and patience with this album.
Witherfall release 'Curse of Autumn' via Century Media on March 5th.
ICYMI - check out our interview with Jake and Joseph here.
