Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 06/24/2008
Since its 2005 debut album
Memento Mori, Atlanta-based heavy metal band Withered has replaced the rhythm section of
Greg Hess and
Wes Kever with bassist
Mike Longoria and drummer
Beau Brandon and switched record labels from
Lifeforce to
Prosthetic. But the core of the group remains guitarist/singers
Chris Freeman and
Mike Thompson, whose interplay is the signature sound on the band's second album
Folie Circulaire. The two guitars provide majestic mid-tempo riffs on such songs as
"Gnosis Unveils" and
"Purification of Ignorance," although the band also manages some typical speed metal pummeling elsewhere. The CD booklet provides a lyric sheet that reveals abstract Biblical reflections on doom and gloom (sample verse: "Plague of man/For want of a purpose/At war with his nature/A useless passion"), and those sentiments would be unknown otherwise, since the howled vocals are utterly indiscernible in the mix. What matters here are those guitars, creating forceful music that carries a meaning of its own.
~William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Cart 0 items
Listen
