Author Topic: The WITHERFALL Thread - SOUNDS OF THE FORGOTTEN out on May 31, 2024  (Read 44801 times)

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Offline Mister Gold

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I'm hearing an "Awake" era Dream Theater tone as well.

Yeah, that's definitely true too! And it's interesting, because Chuck Schuldiner was apparently a pretty big fan of Awake when it came out.
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Offline Mister Gold

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Big news!!!! The band just announced that they've accepted a second guitarist named Fili Bibiano into the band!

Quote
Witherfall have been working with a second guitarist and in the process of honing our live show production. Watching this guy here play 32nd note sextuplets in harmony with Jake Dreyer is always entertaining...

Today we would like to officially announce guitarist Fili Bibianos addition to the band. Please show him some hospitality and join us in welcoming him. \../,
https://www.facebook.com/witherfall/photos/a.377664985729428.1073741828.377655475730379/833884086774180/?type=3&theater

Here's a short clip of Fili shredding with Jake.
https://www.facebook.com/witherfall/videos/834095533419702/

Hopefully we get news about the new drummer soon! :metal

EDIT: Here's some other clips I found of Fili covering some Uli Jon Roth-era Scorpions and also some of his own work from a previous band he was in. Dude's a great fit for the band, I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYQ-I7c3Mdw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ5FxizP67A
« Last Edit: May 20, 2017, 10:09:59 PM by Mister Gold »
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Offline Samsara

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Very cool. I am looking forward to at some point seeing them live.
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Offline Prog Snob

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Comparing them to Pink Floyd is a brazen move. I'll have to check them out.

Offline EVILPROGBOY

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Comparing them to Pink Floyd is a brazen move. I'll have to check them out.
Definitely some pink floyd and queen vibe...

Offline Prog Snob

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I just went through three songs and I don't really like it. I definitely hear some Nevermore and some Savatage. Some of the parts remind me of Opeth. I must have missed the PF influence.

Offline EVILPROGBOY

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I just went through three songs and I don't really like it. I definitely hear some Nevermore and some Savatage. Some of the parts remind me of Opeth. I must have missed the PF influence.

Yeah if you don't hear the whole thing you could miss it. The album changes gears a lot throughout. Nobody Sleeps here and The Middle Section of Sacrifice are the most obvious. I hear the Savatage too.

Offline Samsara

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I just went through three songs and I don't really like it. I definitely hear some Nevermore and some Savatage. Some of the parts remind me of Opeth. I must have missed the PF influence.

Listen to the entirety of "End of Time." You'll hear it.
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Offline 0u81234

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I just went through three songs and I don't really like it. I definitely hear some Nevermore and some Savatage. Some of the parts remind me of Opeth. I must have missed the PF influence.


The middle breakdown section of "Sacrifice" has an "Animals" era feel to it in my opinion.

Offline Mister Gold

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Yeah, I'm with Samsara, Ou81234 and EVILPROGBOY on this one.

The Pink Floyd influences are there, but only for certain segments of certain songs- namely the three epics of the album (Sacrifice, End of Time and Nobody Sleeps Here...). The midsection breakdown in Sacrifice, for example, showcases a bass line from Anthony Crawford that's very reminiscent of "Sheep" off of PF's Animals album.

Personally, I think the best way to get into the band is to just listen to the whole album from start-to-finish. I find that the album flows together really well and has a certain dramatic/cinematic quality to it like Savatage or Pink Floyd had on their works. :tup
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Offline Prog Snob

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The influence is probably there in spurts. I don't think the rest of the music is that good though, even if I did try and find those remote moments of PF influence. I feel like everything else is generic. That's just me though. I heard three songs from that one album and nothing struck me as exceptional. Nevermore have always been hit or miss with me and I feel that is the biggest influence I hear.

Offline Mister Gold

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The influence is probably there in spurts. I don't think the rest of the music is that good though, even if I did try and find those remote moments of PF influence. I feel like everything else is generic. That's just me though. I heard three songs from that one album and nothing struck me as exceptional. Nevermore have always been hit or miss with me and I feel that is the biggest influence I hear.



In all seriousness though, I'm sorry that the band didn't gel for you. They're my personal favorite discovery I've had in a loooong time, so I'm admittedly biased as hell about them, but I do genuinely think they're a gifted and creative band. They're just not for everyone, I suppose.
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Offline Prog Snob

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Offline EVILPROGBOY

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The influence is probably there in spurts. I don't think the rest of the music is that good though, even if I did try and find those remote moments of PF influence. I feel like everything else is generic. That's just me though. I heard three songs from that one album and nothing struck me as exceptional. Nevermore have always been hit or miss with me and I feel that is the biggest influence I hear.

Three songs from the album is not listening to the whole album. The Album is many things. Generic is not one of them.

Offline Mister Gold

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The influence is probably there in spurts. I don't think the rest of the music is that good though, even if I did try and find those remote moments of PF influence. I feel like everything else is generic. That's just me though. I heard three songs from that one album and nothing struck me as exceptional. Nevermore have always been hit or miss with me and I feel that is the biggest influence I hear.

Three songs from the album is not listening to the whole album. The Album is many things. Generic is not one of them.

While I definitely think it was weird for Prog Snob to describe the band as "generic," because they're about as far away from that word as it gets, I think it's clear at this point that they're just not gonna gel for him.

He says he's not a big Nevermore fan, and there's definitely a ton of Nevermore influence in Witherfall's sound. There's a lot of other influences present too imo, but if the Nevermore element is a problem, I doubt hearing the rest of the album is gonna change his mind much.



Heh. Well played, especially in reference to my username! :tup

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Offline Prog Snob

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 :lol  I never saw that one.

Offline Mister Gold

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:lol  I never saw that one.

:lol I just googled "Mr Gold" and found it in the Images segment. :biggrin:


Honestly I've considered a few times going back and changing the thread title to something like "Savatage + King Diamond + Nevermore = Witherfall", since that might be a tad bit more accurate to their 'main' sound. However I've been keeping the PF bit in there since I find the moments on the album where those influences pop up to be some of the album's top highlights for me.

It's not the 'main sound,' but it's that element that helps make the band feel a bit more special to me. That they're technically adept enough to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Yngwie or Petrucci, but also have the sensibilities of mixing things up and going for the more atmospheric, soulful angles a la David Gilmour or Chris DeGarmo.
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Offline Prog Snob

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I always give things a second listen. Hell, it took me three or four listens to get into The Astonishing, so you never know.

Offline Mister Gold

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I always give things a second listen. Hell, it took me three or four listens to get into The Astonishing, so you never know.

Well, that's good to hear! :tup I do hope it clicks for you at some point! :biggrin:


As an aside, I was thinking recently that Witherfall could potentially end up being the closest thing we'll ever get to a spiritual successor to Chuck Schuldiner's short lived prog metal band, Control Denied.
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Offline 0u81234

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I always give things a second listen. Hell, it took me three or four listens to get into The Astonishing, so you never know.


I hear new things every time I listen to the record. I agree with Mister Gold that this record is best listened to from start to finish. In one of the song breakdown clips, Joseph and Jake both talk about how they put a lot of thought in the track sequencing.

I always give things a second listen. Hell, it took me three or four listens to get into The Astonishing, so you never know.

Well, that's good to hear! :tup I do hope it clicks for you at some point! :biggrin:


As an aside, I was thinking recently that Witherfall could potentially end up being the closest thing we'll ever get to a spiritual successor to Chuck Schuldiner's short lived prog metal band, Control Denied.

Richard Christy should play drums for Witherfall!  :metal

Offline FOXAN03

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Gave it a listen, by far the best album i've heard all year! amazing  :metal :metal

Offline Mister Gold

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I always give things a second listen. Hell, it took me three or four listens to get into The Astonishing, so you never know.


I hear new things every time I listen to the record. I agree with Mister Gold that this record is best listened to from start to finish. In one of the song breakdown clips, Joseph and Jake both talk about how they put a lot of thought in the track sequencing.

Yeah, it's definitely one of those albums that flows together really, really well.

Quote
Richard Christy should play drums for Witherfall!  :metal

Now there's an idea! Personally I'm still hoping that Gergo Borlai ends up being the new drummer, but Christy would be a cool addition to the band.

I dunno if it'd happen though- isn't Christy still primarily focusing on working with Howard Stern still? He only does Charred Walls of the Damned every now and then, I think.

Gave it a listen, by far the best album i've heard all year! amazing  :metal :metal

Yup! This is a pretty stunning album for me. I'm really eager to see what the band comes up with on their next album, whenever that comes around. :metal

As an aside, so far "Nobody Sleeps Here..." is the best new song I've heard this year. I know it's Joseph and Jake's favorite song on the album and I personally feel like that's the song that best represents what the band seems to want to accomplish musically moving forward. It's like Animals/The Wall-era Pink Floyd collaborated with Late 90's Chuck Schuldiner and Hall of the Mountain King-era Savatage.
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Offline EVILPROGBOY

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Gave it a listen, by far the best album i've heard all year! amazing  :metal :metal
   :metal :metal :metal


According to the singers facebook page they are working on new material.

Offline Mister Gold

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Gave it a listen, by far the best album i've heard all year! amazing  :metal :metal
   :metal :metal :metal


According to the singers facebook page they are working on new material.

Not surprised. Joseph and Jake mentioned in an interview a couple months back that they were already working on new material for the next album, so I'm looking forward to that.

They said like a week or two ago that some big announcements were coming soon (and in the Facebook comments section, they implied US tour dates will be one of them), so I'm hoping that means they've finally figured out who their next drummer is.
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Offline Samsara

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Just turned a co-worker onto Witherfall. He's an old school metalhead from the 80s and 90s. Dug what he heard, thought Witherfall had a Yngwie vibe of sorts.
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Offline bosk1

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I listened to the album awhile back and nothing really stood out.  Checking it out again thanks to the thread bump.
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Offline Mister Gold

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I listened to the album awhile back and nothing really stood out.  Checking it out again thanks to the thread bump.

Be sure to let us all know what you think of the album on the latest listen! :tup

Just turned a co-worker onto Witherfall. He's an old school metalhead from the 80s and 90s. Dug what he heard, thought Witherfall had a Yngwie vibe of sorts.

Nice! I also got an old metalhead friend of mine into the band too, which is great cause he normally doesn't care much for prog metal.


Speaking of Witherfall, they actually just released this English translation of a new interview on their website earlier today! There's some pretty interesting tidbits in it, imo.

Quote
1. Has Jon Schaffer already heard your debut? I'm asking because the new Iced Earth will come out in a few weeks and you share the same guitar player...

Jake: I actually just sent out a vinyl of Nocturnes and Requiems to Jon a few days ago. Schaffer and I are both big vinyl fans and we bond over vinyl hunting and listening. That's how we would end a night of tracking when I was doing the Iced Earth record "Incorruptible". Spinning one of his copies of "Powerage" by AC/DC or "Animals" by Pink Floyd. As part of my audition for Iced Earth I sent him over "End of Time" and "What we are Dying for".

2. I know it's a tough question – but how do you see your record in the light of all the metalstuff that is flooding the scene?

Joseph- To me Witherfall is it's own genre. We really don't try to fit any mold when we write. I think the best bands over the course of Rock/Metal/Pop history have done something similar. There are a choice few bands that we respect.

Why should someone check out WITHERFALL?

Joseph – Because they owe it to themselves to listen to something that isn't pandering to them. That's just prostitution. Art isn't figuring out what will get someone off and creating that, it's about fucking someone (musically speaking)until you get off and hopefully they also get off with you.

Jake- Witherfall tries to write not just songs but albums in the sense that a film or a novel are presented. It's all about the sum of all the parts. In my opinion, not a lot of records recently are written this way. To me Witherfall is something original, it's a giant melting pot of different genres and ideas put into one all under the camouflage of a metal band.

4. Witherfall is a relatively new band whose first record has just been released earlier this year. Not a very original question, but how did it all begin for you?

Jake-  Joseph and I worked together in a band and we both discovered our love for the same music and influences and the idea of forming a band that had the freedom of what Led Zeppelin was able to do. We were in Europe when the idea to form Witherfall came together. A few weeks later we got together in Los Angeles and started the writing of what became "Nocturnes and Requiems". I had worked with Adam in the past and always loved the way he would compose drum patterns and he had the perfect feel and technical ability to handle the written material. Anthony came into the picture during the production. We saw a video of him playing with Allan Holdsworth and Virgil Donati and the idea of having a fusion influenced bassist that understood and could hear classical harmony made it a very interesting thing.

5. How old are the songs on „Nocturnes...“? Who wrote them?

Jake - Joseph and I both wrote all the songs but a lot of the riffs trace back between 2012 and 2013. For example most of the guitar parts in Sacrifice were written throughout 2012. We arranged them together during our first writing session. Part 1 of End of Time was an alternate picking etude but I always knew it would lead into the arpeggiated acoustic verses that begin the second half. The song was written in 2013 but the beginning and ideas trace back a year before. All songs were complete though from November 2013-May or June of 2014

Joseph – Yeah Jake and I knew we shared the same vision but for proof we decided to sit down together and actually do some writing. He showed me some ideas he had and I immediately knew we had something. We basically wrote the main part of the arrangements and worked out chord progressions and harmonies within the first 5-6 weeks.

6. The record is dedicated to Adam Sagan, who sadly passed away in late 2016. What happened? What can you tell us about Adam, what kind of guy, what kind of musician was he?

Jake-When we were doing the original photos for Nocturnes and Requiems we had initially scheduled a photoshoot in November of 2015 the exact day Adam was scheduled to fly into Los Angeles he was sent to the hospital where they first told him he had the cancer. That night and the following day Joseph and I pulled a ridiculous red wine fueled bender (I still have the bottle of Roja that started it off, it is named (Adam)) this involved Joseph waking up in my bathtub and me in my closet... Adam was an extremely positive guy who could lead anyone through almost anything. He had me convinced he would beat the cancer. Joseph, not so much. The night I found out about his death I was on tour in the Netherlands with Iced Earth. Stu who played with Adam in Into Eternity had received a text and as he was getting that Joseph called me up and broke the news that he was being pulled from life support. I was very upset and emotional about it and it is even hard now to think that Adam cannot be apart of these interviews. Adam was the perfect musician for Witherfall Joseph and I had worked out and composed all the songs on the record and within my first pre-pro session with Adam him and I had went through "Portrait", "End of Time Pt II" and "Sacrifice" and I knew he was the guy. Joseph and I flew back to Minneapolis and finished off the rest of The Album. He is a tremendous loss. I wish he was around to be apart of the success of this album. Adam would have been proud. One Eerie coincidence is that Adam named the album "Nocturnes and Requiems" about nine months before he found out about his cancer.

Joseph-  Yeah man, Jake basically summed it up. I have an eerie recollection of some weird lump above his collar bone all the way back to when he was road tech for Cannibal Corpse. I happened to notice it when he was on the floor doing his weird yoga warmup thing he used to do. It's freaky to think about it after the fact.

Can you tell us a bit more about the lyrical side of the band? Is there a concept that keeps all tracks together? Or are they more or less linked by general ideas?

Joseph - There is no concept. It is one non-linear dreamscape. Like when you wake up in a cold sweat from one dream and fall back asleep to a different theme. I got the idea from the early Stephen King Collections.

8. When you first see the artwork, one could easily put into the Death Metal genre. Who had the idea of the cover? Were there more concepts that you gave out to Kristian Wahlin?

Jake- We love Kristian's work and he was the first guy we thought of and asked to do the cover art. We sent him some Pre-production demos we had made so that he could get an idea of how the band sounded and then we pretty much left him alone for the two months it took him to hand paint it. He has such a great track record that he was probably the only guy we gave up total control too. Besides the fact we wanted the art to have a certain color scheme. To me it is the perfect cover for "Nocturnes and Requiems" for so many reasons.

Joseph- I really take issue with that. It's like how did bands with non-melodic vocals get a monopoly on dark imagery?

9. Jake, you were a part of Jag Panzer – how long have you been into the band? Did you work on some songs with Mark?

Jake- I was literally in the band for a few hours. My good friend and guitar instructor was Chris Broderick who played in jag panzer and in 2011 he had asked if I would be interested in replacing their current guitarist who had just left I learned a couple of solos and songs then auditioned and got the gig but they went on a hiatus a few days later so I never performed or have met them. Mark is a very nice guy from the emails that I corresponded with and I know him and Chris are still fairly close to this day.

What is your opinion on them – and why are you not in the band anymore as they reunited once again?

Jake- I really like Jag Panzer, I believe Joey Tafolla came back who was their original guitar player.

10. Another one for Jake: Your guitar-playing is breathtaking and there are glimpses of Michael Romeo, Malmsteen and even R. Blackmore in your playing. Who really are your idols?

Jake- I really like Romeo's playing but wouldn't necessarily call him an influence. Yngwie and Blackmore are two big influences though along with most of the Shrapnel artist Marty Friedman, Jason Becker, Paul Gilbert. For acoustic I like Al Di Meola and Paco De Lucia. I am also into guys like Brian May from Queen and Lindsey Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac two extremely melodic players that I find very underrated. David Gilmour has to be in there as well.

A bit of gossip: Some people might know that Joseph Michael is Ronnie J. Dio's cousin – how close were you? What kind of guy was he in private? Was he really the rainbow in the dark? :)

Joseph – I only spoke a couple of times with Him. He was a picture on my Uncles wall. Great singer obviously. He died before I could really get to know him or connect.

It's amazing that you released the record all by yourself – and even the beautiful vinyl issues were pressed without a record company behind. Did you get any offers after the release? What must happen to sign a record deal?

Joseph- We received a few offers, but I am glad we went independent at the start. We have received so much support from real music and metal fans. I think that a band like us that doesn't sound like anyone else benefits from having the people judge the record on it's own merit and not how another company wants to market it.

13. How possible is it to have a second Witherfall-record soon? Is it possible to have it by 2018? How are chances for a band to release records every one and a half or every two years?

Jake-Joseph and I are writing the next record now so it is very likely it will have a 2018 release date. Witherfall is all about quality so that's our number one priority.

Joseph- I think every year is possible. Jake and I work very well together. We already have a number of compositions in the works. I can say this much. They are very dark and topical.
https://www.witherfall.com/home/blog/witherfall-interview-in-german-deaf-forever-magazine

So yeah, sounds like we might be getting the next Witherfall album as soon as next year! I'm definitely game for that! :metal

I do hope we get an announcement soon though on who the band's new drummer is.
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Offline FOXAN03

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So far I've bought 17 albums this year and this is the best i've heard all year!

Offline EVILPROGBOY

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For some reason the album is no longer available in Europe...

Offline EVILPROGBOY

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Re: The WITHERFALL Thread - Savatage + Nevermore + Pink Floyd = Witherfall
« Reply #64 on: August 01, 2017, 02:32:14 PM »
I listened to the album awhile back and nothing really stood out.  Checking it out again thanks to the thread bump.

Be sure to let us all know what you think of the album on the latest listen! :tup

Just turned a co-worker onto Witherfall. He's an old school metalhead from the 80s and 90s. Dug what he heard, thought Witherfall had a Yngwie vibe of sorts.


Interesting... https://www.centurymedia.com/artist.aspx?IdArtist=1954
Nice! I also got an old metalhead friend of mine into the band too, which is great cause he normally doesn't care much for prog metal.


Speaking of Witherfall, they actually just released this English translation of a new interview on their website earlier today! There's some pretty interesting tidbits in it, imo.

Quote
1. Has Jon Schaffer already heard your debut? I'm asking because the new Iced Earth will come out in a few weeks and you share the same guitar player...

Jake: I actually just sent out a vinyl of Nocturnes and Requiems to Jon a few days ago. Schaffer and I are both big vinyl fans and we bond over vinyl hunting and listening. That's how we would end a night of tracking when I was doing the Iced Earth record "Incorruptible". Spinning one of his copies of "Powerage" by AC/DC or "Animals" by Pink Floyd. As part of my audition for Iced Earth I sent him over "End of Time" and "What we are Dying for".

2. I know it's a tough question – but how do you see your record in the light of all the metalstuff that is flooding the scene?

Joseph- To me Witherfall is it's own genre. We really don't try to fit any mold when we write. I think the best bands over the course of Rock/Metal/Pop history have done something similar. There are a choice few bands that we respect.

Why should someone check out WITHERFALL?

Joseph – Because they owe it to themselves to listen to something that isn't pandering to them. That's just prostitution. Art isn't figuring out what will get someone off and creating that, it's about fucking someone (musically speaking)until you get off and hopefully they also get off with you.

Jake- Witherfall tries to write not just songs but albums in the sense that a film or a novel are presented. It's all about the sum of all the parts. In my opinion, not a lot of records recently are written this way. To me Witherfall is something original, it's a giant melting pot of different genres and ideas put into one all under the camouflage of a metal band.

4. Witherfall is a relatively new band whose first record has just been released earlier this year. Not a very original question, but how did it all begin for you?

Jake-  Joseph and I worked together in a band and we both discovered our love for the same music and influences and the idea of forming a band that had the freedom of what Led Zeppelin was able to do. We were in Europe when the idea to form Witherfall came together. A few weeks later we got together in Los Angeles and started the writing of what became "Nocturnes and Requiems". I had worked with Adam in the past and always loved the way he would compose drum patterns and he had the perfect feel and technical ability to handle the written material. Anthony came into the picture during the production. We saw a video of him playing with Allan Holdsworth and Virgil Donati and the idea of having a fusion influenced bassist that understood and could hear classical harmony made it a very interesting thing.

5. How old are the songs on „Nocturnes...“? Who wrote them?

Jake - Joseph and I both wrote all the songs but a lot of the riffs trace back between 2012 and 2013. For example most of the guitar parts in Sacrifice were written throughout 2012. We arranged them together during our first writing session. Part 1 of End of Time was an alternate picking etude but I always knew it would lead into the arpeggiated acoustic verses that begin the second half. The song was written in 2013 but the beginning and ideas trace back a year before. All songs were complete though from November 2013-May or June of 2014

Joseph – Yeah Jake and I knew we shared the same vision but for proof we decided to sit down together and actually do some writing. He showed me some ideas he had and I immediately knew we had something. We basically wrote the main part of the arrangements and worked out chord progressions and harmonies within the first 5-6 weeks.

6. The record is dedicated to Adam Sagan, who sadly passed away in late 2016. What happened? What can you tell us about Adam, what kind of guy, what kind of musician was he?

Jake-When we were doing the original photos for Nocturnes and Requiems we had initially scheduled a photoshoot in November of 2015 the exact day Adam was scheduled to fly into Los Angeles he was sent to the hospital where they first told him he had the cancer. That night and the following day Joseph and I pulled a ridiculous red wine fueled bender (I still have the bottle of Roja that started it off, it is named (Adam)) this involved Joseph waking up in my bathtub and me in my closet... Adam was an extremely positive guy who could lead anyone through almost anything. He had me convinced he would beat the cancer. Joseph, not so much. The night I found out about his death I was on tour in the Netherlands with Iced Earth. Stu who played with Adam in Into Eternity had received a text and as he was getting that Joseph called me up and broke the news that he was being pulled from life support. I was very upset and emotional about it and it is even hard now to think that Adam cannot be apart of these interviews. Adam was the perfect musician for Witherfall Joseph and I had worked out and composed all the songs on the record and within my first pre-pro session with Adam him and I had went through "Portrait", "End of Time Pt II" and "Sacrifice" and I knew he was the guy. Joseph and I flew back to Minneapolis and finished off the rest of The Album. He is a tremendous loss. I wish he was around to be apart of the success of this album. Adam would have been proud. One Eerie coincidence is that Adam named the album "Nocturnes and Requiems" about nine months before he found out about his cancer.

Joseph-  Yeah man, Jake basically summed it up. I have an eerie recollection of some weird lump above his collar bone all the way back to when he was road tech for Cannibal Corpse. I happened to notice it when he was on the floor doing his weird yoga warmup thing he used to do. It's freaky to think about it after the fact.

Can you tell us a bit more about the lyrical side of the band? Is there a concept that keeps all tracks together? Or are they more or less linked by general ideas?

Joseph - There is no concept. It is one non-linear dreamscape. Like when you wake up in a cold sweat from one dream and fall back asleep to a different theme. I got the idea from the early Stephen King Collections.

8. When you first see the artwork, one could easily put into the Death Metal genre. Who had the idea of the cover? Were there more concepts that you gave out to Kristian Wahlin?

Jake- We love Kristian's work and he was the first guy we thought of and asked to do the cover art. We sent him some Pre-production demos we had made so that he could get an idea of how the band sounded and then we pretty much left him alone for the two months it took him to hand paint it. He has such a great track record that he was probably the only guy we gave up total control too. Besides the fact we wanted the art to have a certain color scheme. To me it is the perfect cover for "Nocturnes and Requiems" for so many reasons.

Joseph- I really take issue with that. It's like how did bands with non-melodic vocals get a monopoly on dark imagery?

9. Jake, you were a part of Jag Panzer – how long have you been into the band? Did you work on some songs with Mark?

Jake- I was literally in the band for a few hours. My good friend and guitar instructor was Chris Broderick who played in jag panzer and in 2011 he had asked if I would be interested in replacing their current guitarist who had just left I learned a couple of solos and songs then auditioned and got the gig but they went on a hiatus a few days later so I never performed or have met them. Mark is a very nice guy from the emails that I corresponded with and I know him and Chris are still fairly close to this day.

What is your opinion on them – and why are you not in the band anymore as they reunited once again?

Jake- I really like Jag Panzer, I believe Joey Tafolla came back who was their original guitar player.

10. Another one for Jake: Your guitar-playing is breathtaking and there are glimpses of Michael Romeo, Malmsteen and even R. Blackmore in your playing. Who really are your idols?

Jake- I really like Romeo's playing but wouldn't necessarily call him an influence. Yngwie and Blackmore are two big influences though along with most of the Shrapnel artist Marty Friedman, Jason Becker, Paul Gilbert. For acoustic I like Al Di Meola and Paco De Lucia. I am also into guys like Brian May from Queen and Lindsey Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac two extremely melodic players that I find very underrated. David Gilmour has to be in there as well.

A bit of gossip: Some people might know that Joseph Michael is Ronnie J. Dio's cousin – how close were you? What kind of guy was he in private? Was he really the rainbow in the dark? :)

Joseph – I only spoke a couple of times with Him. He was a picture on my Uncles wall. Great singer obviously. He died before I could really get to know him or connect.

It's amazing that you released the record all by yourself – and even the beautiful vinyl issues were pressed without a record company behind. Did you get any offers after the release? What must happen to sign a record deal?

Joseph- We received a few offers, but I am glad we went independent at the start. We have received so much support from real music and metal fans. I think that a band like us that doesn't sound like anyone else benefits from having the people judge the record on it's own merit and not how another company wants to market it.

13. How possible is it to have a second Witherfall-record soon? Is it possible to have it by 2018? How are chances for a band to release records every one and a half or every two years?

Jake-Joseph and I are writing the next record now so it is very likely it will have a 2018 release date. Witherfall is all about quality so that's our number one priority.

Joseph- I think every year is possible. Jake and I work very well together. We already have a number of compositions in the works. I can say this much. They are very dark and topical.
https://www.witherfall.com/home/blog/witherfall-interview-in-german-deaf-forever-magazine

So yeah, sounds like we might be getting the next Witherfall album as soon as next year! I'm definitely game for that! :metal

I do hope we get an announcement soon though on who the band's new drummer is.

Offline Samsara

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Re: The WITHERFALL Thread - Savatage + Nevermore + Pink Floyd = Witherfall
« Reply #65 on: August 01, 2017, 02:39:07 PM »
For some reason the album is no longer available in Europe...

The band just signed to INside Out, and they are apparently re-releasing it in Europe!
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Offline 0u81234

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Re: The WITHERFALL Thread - Savatage + Nevermore + Pink Floyd = Witherfall
« Reply #66 on: August 01, 2017, 08:29:53 PM »
For some reason the album is no longer available in Europe...

The band just signed to INside Out, and they are apparently re-releasing it in Europe!


Blabbermouth reported it as Century Media. https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/witherfall-signs-with-century-media/

Offline Mister Gold

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Re: The WITHERFALL Thread - Savatage + Nevermore + Pink Floyd = Witherfall
« Reply #67 on: August 02, 2017, 06:34:19 AM »
Yeah, the official press release from them also confirms that it's Century Media that they specifically signed on with, not Inside Out. Either way, I think it's fantastic news!

I had thought for sure that the big announcement was going to be whoever their new drummer is, but alas that isn't the case yet. I'm still hoping it's Gergo Borlai personally.
Beyond the limits of the mortal frame
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Offline Samsara

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Re: The WITHERFALL Thread - Savatage + Nevermore + Pink Floyd = Witherfall
« Reply #68 on: August 02, 2017, 08:18:03 AM »
Oops, yep, I meant CM, but wrote Inside Out. Sorry guys!
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Offline EVILPROGBOY

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Re: The WITHERFALL Thread - Savatage + Nevermore + Pink Floyd = Witherfall
« Reply #69 on: August 03, 2017, 03:16:38 PM »
Oops, yep, I meant CM, but wrote Inside Out. Sorry guys!

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