The WITHERFALL Thread - SOUNDS OF THE FORGOTTEN out on May 31, 2024

[Grappler]

Remains to (hopefully) be seen if he can sing like that live, but I think he's top shelf in the singing department. Often, the singer ruins an otherwise good band for me. That's not the case with Witherfall.

Joseph can sing his ass off live.  Samsara and I can attest to that - we both saw him front Sanctuary in 2018.  He was godly on that tour and seemed to be channeling Warrel's spirit those nights.  I actually closed my eyes during The Mirror Black and pictured Warrel as he sang and couldn't tell the difference.  He's a perfect fit for that band. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHgCVFn88e4

I have purchased physical copies of all of Witherfall's albums. So don't preach to me about supporting bands. I buy shirts and other things once I've seen a band live. Over my lifetime, I've probably spent over $50k on concert tickets and merch. Respectfully, don't preach to me. You do you, I'll do me.

c

This is where I'm at.  I've spent the same on cd's, concert tickets and t-shirts over the last 30 years and I'm allowed to be choosy now that I'm 43 with a house and a family to support.  I did buy the Witherfall tour shirt from the band last year because I felt bad for them having their tour pulled out from under them.  And I never did any of those pandemic live streams either, so that was my one time to support a band. 

[cramx3]

Remains to (hopefully) be seen if he can sing like that live, but I think he's top shelf in the singing department. Often, the singer ruins an otherwise good band for me. That's not the case with Witherfall.

Joseph can sing his ass off live.  Samsara and I can attest to that - we both saw him front Sanctuary in 2018.  He was godly on that tour and seemed to be channeling Warrel's spirit those nights.  I actually closed my eyes during The Mirror Black and pictured Warrel as he sang and couldn't tell the difference.  He's a perfect fit for that band. 

This made me just go back and check my videos from Sanctuary and Witherfall from seeing them at Progpowers...

he sounds pretty good, timestamped for screams in both songs:

Witherfall - Tempest LIVE @ ProgPower USA XXI Center Stage Atlanta GA 6/3/2022

Sanctuary - White Rabbit LIVE @ ProgPower XX 9/4/2019

[EVILPROGBOY]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TWfrv5NkKc

There are about 10 screams in a row here.


Witherfall have made plenty of live appearances so i don't know where this doubt about pulling off vocals live is coming from.

[SchecterShredder]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TWfrv5NkKc

There are about 10 screams in a row here.


Witherfall have made plenty of live appearances so i don't know where this doubt about pulling off vocals live is coming from.

That's also a music video using the professionally recorded version of the song. Not a live singing of the song. Clearly he can sing in a studio. He's practically fucking legendary, in my opinion.


I wouldn't say I doubt Joseph's ability to sing live so much as I had only seen a handful of poorly recorded youtube videos until today. It's also not uncommon for a singer to lay down great tracks in the studio, but no be able to hold a tune on a stage. That rendition of The Tempest on Cram's channel is pretty damn solid though, so that doesn't appear to be the case here at all.

[cramx3]

I'm not sure anyone was really saying anything bad about the live vocals, just that they hadn't experienced them

I followed up with some live videos showing the vocals are solid live.  I'd actually say the response was the opposite of doubt.

And yeah, sharing the music video doesn't really give an example of live vocals. But I'm not doubting you, I think we are all in agreement actually

[Samsara]

I saw Joseph sing for Sanctuary. He blew me away.

My video of "Battle Angels" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-A5EabVi2M

[0u81234]

Ok, deep Witherfall analysis:

Vintage
All blew away
Sacrifice

Is there another epic on this record?

Insidious is good. I like the nocturnes elements in the bridge. (As mentioned) Feels like something might be brewing. Witherfall records are not one size fits all. As I have learned.

[0u81234]

Ok, deep Witherfall analysis:

Vintage
All blew away
Sacrifice

Is there another epic on this record?

Insidious is good. I like the nocturnes elements in the bridge. (As mentioned) Feels like something might be brewing. Witherfall records are not one size fits all. As I have learned.

I meant Nobody Sleeps Here… off the first record. Sacrifice works too for epics.

[EVILPROGBOY]

OMG that new album cover and song!

[SchecterShredder]

OMG that new album cover and song!

Yup. May can't come soon enough. These guys are killing it. New guitar/keys/backup vocal guy (Gerry?) is a great add. He harmonizes quite well with JM

[EVILPROGBOY]

Which song do you like more? I really liked "Insidious"

[SchecterShredder]

I'm also leaning to Insidious. There's lots to like amount Ceremony of Fire; but the instrumental coming out of the slow part of Insidious is some of the best Witherfall prog, IMO. And the song hits hard.

[Mister Gold]

Very excited to hear the rest of the album! Love both singles so far.

[TAC]

Very excited to hear the rest of the album! Love both singles so far.

[EVILPROGBOY]

Witherfall Power Ballad!

https://open.spotify.com/track/6TMkwOLdLD6hl7LszOSUeX?si=be974cbae396400c

[SchecterShredder]

Witherfall Power Ballad!

https://open.spotify.com/track/6TMkwOLdLD6hl7LszOSUeX?si=be974cbae396400c

LOL, I was just coming on here to post about it.

I'm digging the track. Joseph's vocals are something to behold so far on this album. Just astounding. This band is severely under appreciated. I get that melo-death-prog is a very niche genre, but holy shit these guys are top notch.

[DT89]

I will be doing a livestream with the Witherfall guys this Sunday to talk all things guitar tab and transcribing! We'll be answering questions in the chat, so I hope you guys can join us at 8:15 PM EST. If you can't make it to the live airing, feel free to leave a comment with your question here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj9xM0Wq8II

[EVILPROGBOY]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2UB95ULdDU

This song is crazy.

Wonder what this song is about?

The mood pervading the "Sounds Of The Forgotten" writing sessions was one of frustration and sadness.
Already our current decade has seen a disproportionate amount of strife we were barely at the beginning of it. Just as we were starting to see some light at the end of the "plague" then the real bogey that lurks in the shadows showed itself. We take no comfort in that the most devastating virus to plague our civilization this decade is not Covid it is misinformation.

What Have You Done?

At the beginning of composing the song we had a feeling it was going to be the albums closing piece.the three movements that carry you through to it's musical conclusion mirrored real life for us in a profound way.  The song is an ode to despair. A dark reminder that like Icarus we are all fallible and prone to misdeeds. Hopefully that light at the end of the tunnel we thought we were seeing can make it's way to us and shine a light into a brighter future.

[Grappler]

Wonder what this song is about?

It's pretty self explanatory in the lyrics, which are included in the youtube description.  It's about people who fall down the internet/social media misinformation rabbit hole.  I've lost a few family members to that stuff.

As for the song, it went by pretty quickly for a 10 minute tune.  Not sure I like Joseph's melody in the chorus, which comes off like an anti-chorus, but that ending scream is 

Still looking forward to the album.  This band always impresses me, even if I don't always dig every single song.

[SchecterShredder]

Wonder what this song is about?

It's pretty self explanatory in the lyrics, which are included in the youtube description.  It's about people who fall down the internet/social media misinformation rabbit hole.  I've lost a few family members to that stuff.

As for the song, it went by pretty quickly for a 10 minute tune.  Not sure I like Joseph's melody in the chorus, which comes off like an anti-chorus, but that ending scream is 

Still looking forward to the album.  This band always impresses me, even if I don't always dig every single song.

I can get behind that sentiment. The chorus sounds...off somehow.

For me, What Have You Done? is the weakest of the tracks released so far. It has its moments, no doubt, but overall it doesn't have the same punch as the other three tracks. Mind you, that's after just a single listen. Plenty of their songs have grown on me after a few spins. So far, Songs of the Forgotten is trending on par with Curse of Autumn, and that's saying something.

[The Realm]

Yeah, that chorus is weird. The vocal melody feels dissonant to the music, would be tough to sing I'd say. Can't say I like it much.

[0u81234]

This one Is my favorite I also love the prog elements. Reminds me of a cousin of “Tempest” or even a little “Vintage” although more classic rock.

[ProfessorPeart]

The vocal melody feels dissonant to the music

Did John Arch help write it?

[EVILPROGBOY]

Yeah, that chorus is weird. The vocal melody feels dissonant to the music, would be tough to sing I'd say. Can't say I like it much.

The vocal starts on the 9th tone. Not really dissonant at all.

[The Realm]

The vocal melody feels dissonant to the music

Did John Arch help write it?

It does have a bit of a John Arch feel so maybe....

[EVILPROGBOY]

Don't hear that at all

[devieira73]

https://open.spotify.com/album/2KmG0dHeJB6X1CIjjeVxg1?si=wwnpmbqCQ2SIUg7RfhUIGg
It seems like this album will be even better than the last one!
I've read that they will release one more single before the album.
I made a playlist with these songs closer to the album order, but not starting with a ballad:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1oXl6epywq0lLbi0krQpdf?si=dhVNU-mCQVC_efjtLfE93A&pi=u-gW9gRNSoQySE

[SchecterShredder]

The bio on their website says they plan to release 7 singles from the album,  so I'm wondering if there's 2 more tracks coming? I do find it odd they put lonely path after Insidious on the EP release. Can't imagine why.

In the age of streaming  the model makes more sense to release monthly to keep feeding the algorithms, eventually culminating in a full album. A YouTube guitarist i follow,  Bernth, started doing this. He broke down the math in one of his videos to compare what happened after he started treating spotify like YouTube.

[MinistroRaven]

New single coming out in 40 hours

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNzjfUJs-44

[devieira73]

New single: https://open.spotify.com/track/6eo2rwwjDuxldykDtDVuWP?si=zzRNqrThS-KpAxwZonmuDw
Apparently not in the new album.

[Samsara]

Sadly, this is not on Amazon yet for purchase. I guess they want to save money and have folks order direct. (Which as an author who is doing the same thing, I can appreciate.) I am digging "What Have You Done?" quite a bit.

edit - just pre-ordered the CD on their website after listening to several songs from the new album on Spotify. Great stuff.

[The Realm]

I'm a bit confused about what is going on with this band. On Apple Music there is a 7 song album/EP called Kings and Queens which came out last week and then there is still another album coming out next month with 10 songs of which many are the same?

Anyway the Kings and Queens 'album' is pretty good.

[Samsara]

I'm a bit confused about what is going on with this band. On Apple Music there is a 7 song album/EP called Kings and Queens which came out last week and then there is still another album coming out next month with 10 songs of which many are the same?

Anyway the Kings and Queens 'album' is pretty good.

I saw that and listened today. Cool cover of "Kings and Queens." A lot (if not all) of the songs on there, except for the cover are on the new album, I thought.

[The Realm]

I saw that and listened today. Cool cover of "Kings and Queens." A lot (if not all) of the songs on there, except for the cover are on the new album, I thought.

Yes but I am just a bit confused about what the release strategy is here? Seems strange to me. Anyway, the music is good.

[Samsara]

Totally with you. I'm confused. All I know is, I spent a grand total of 20.99 on the website after tax and shipping for this CD. It better show.