It's been awhile since I've done much of any regular posting around here, but I happened to stumble upon a brand new band this afternoon that immediately struck a chord with me: Witherfall, featuring one of White Wizzard's many ex-singers Joseph Michael on vocals and keyboards, Iced Earth's new lead guitarist Jake Dreyer, Adam Sagan of Circle II Circle and Into Eternity fame on drums and bassist Anthony Crawford from Virgil Donati's band.
And you know what? This band kicks a
LOT of ass. Quite frankly, their debut album
Nocturnes and Requiems just set an incredibly high bar for my personal Album of the Year for 2017.
As the thread title suggests, Witherfall's sound feels like a blend of bands like Savatage, Nevermore and Pink Floyd. There's a lot of other influences like
Awaken the Guardian/
No Exit-era Fates Warning, King Diamond and Opeth, but my mind typically drifts towards the first three bands. This is some very dark and brooding progressive metal.
While the whole band is fantastic, Dreyer is especially impressive in how he's able to blend Criss Oliva/Jeff Loomis/Yngwie Malmsteen school of neoclassical shredding with more melodious and atmosphere driven David Gilmour-esque guitar playing as well. I'm excited to see what sort of solos he'll contribute to the next Iced Earth album and hope that Jon Schaffer decides to let Dreyer do some co-writing for future albums with the band if he sticks around longterm. This guy is someone to watch moving forward.
Joseph Michael is also great too. I've seen people comparing him to the likes of Rob Halford, Zak Stevens and Tim Aymar, but personally Michael reminds me mostly of Midnight from Crimson Glory. However, I think it's also worth highlighting his keyboard contributions to the band too- it adds a lot to the band's more atmospheric Floydian moments.
Tragically the drummer, Adam Sagan, passed away back in December from a bout with cancer before the album's release. I'm hoping the rest of the band find a suitable successor to Sagan and move forward, because this debut is one of the best I've heard from a band in quite a long time.
The album officially releases this Friday, but the band just uploaded the whole thing on YouTube for free streaming with Loudwire.
Album Stream:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM1VAXrF4Rk