Photo by Stephanie Cabral
Los Angeles-based dark melodic metal collective WITHERFALL is pleased to unveil their video for “Echoes.” The track serves as a bonus on the deluxe edition of the band’s critically lauded fourth full-length album, Sounds Of The Forgotten, released earlier this year via DeathWave Records. The premiere coincides with WITHERFALL’s European tour supporting Angra, set to commence this Friday, October 25th, followed by their first ever European headlining tour.
The band comments, “Today we embark on our support tour with Angra and after we will play our first headlining tour of Europe beginning in Athens! While we are excited to see you all, we’re still not finished unveiling Sounds Of The Forgotten. For those curious about all things vinyl, you may have noticed a groove on side D containing a hidden song. This curiosity is ‘Echoes.’ While we were securing the track listing for Sounds Of The Forgotten, we realized that we had recorded too much material for the record to have the flow of the album that we wanted the listener to experience. However, this was not a throw away song and hence we had the idea of including it as an Easter egg on the vinyl version, a special nod shared amongst fans that might just bring back ancient ritual of bonding over vinyl collecting. Now that track is available via the deluxe digital release of Sounds Of The Forgotten. Enjoy the marriage of consonance and dissonance that is ‘Echoes.’”
Watch WITHERFALL’s video for “Echoes” at THIS LOCATION.
Preview and purchase Sounds Of The Forgotten at THIS LOCATION.
WITHERFALL w/ Angra:
10/25/2024 Music Station – Lisboa, PT
10/26/2024 Hard Club – Porto, PT
10/27/2024 Sala Custom – Sevilla, ES
10/28/2024 Urban Rock Concept – Vitoria-Gesteiz, ES
10/29/2024 Boveda – Barcelona, ES
10/31/2024 Industry 36 – Rorschach, CH
11/01/2024 Le Griller – Colmar, FR
11/02/2024 Ready for Prg Festival – Toulouse, FR
11/03/2024 Cherrydon – Marseille, FR
w/ Mystery Blue
11/05/2024 Piraeus Club Academy – Athens, GR
11/07/2024 Hell – Diest, BE
11/08/2024 Trompete – Bochum, DE
11/09/2024 Goldgrube – Kassel, DE
11/10/2024 Nachtleben – Frankfurt, DE
11/12/2024 AJZ – Chemnitz – DE
11/14/2024 Bastard Club – Osnabrück, DE
11/15/2024 Bambi Galore – Hamburg, DE
11/16/2024 Willemeen – Arnhem, NL w/ Signum Regis
11/17/2024 De Boerderij – Zoetermeer, NL w/ Signum Regis
Purchase tickets HERE.
With predecessor Curse Of Autumn garnering high praise in Metal Insider, Deaf Forever, and KNAC.com, as well as admirable positions on Germany’s Top 20 Albums chart and Billboard’s Top New Artist Albums and Billboard 100 chart, Sounds Of The Forgotten advances WITHERFALL to legendary status with its epic, foreboding expanse.
WITHERFALL was formed in Los Angeles in 2013. Frontman/songwriter Joseph Michael (also of Sanctuary fame) and Jake Dreyer (ex-Iced Earth/Demons & Wizards) built their new band around drummer Adam Sagan (RIP) and accomplished bassist Anthony Crawford (Allan Holdsworth, CHON). Since then, the group has released three highly regarded albums: Nocturnes And Requiems (2017), A Prelude To Sorrow (2018), and Curse Of Autumn (2021), and an EP, Vintage (2019).
Sounds Of The Forgotten’s strengths are manifold. The punctuating, aggressive rhythms, and impressive multi-ranged vocals of opener “They Will Let You Down” recall thrash metal greats while the chorus, replete with church organ, hooks incessantly. Follow-up “Ceremony Of Fire’’ and its end-of-album peer, “What Have You Done,” are just as volcanic and cleverly arranged. When WITHERFALL steps off the gas, they conjure all their external bitterness and internal passion in power ballad form. “When It All Falls Away,” when coupled with the atmospheric vistas of “Opulent” and “A Lonely Path,” is genuinely cinematic. The soundtracks of ‘70s/’80s horror movies often had great theme songs, but none are as wickedly beautiful as “Sounds Of The Forgotten”’s midpoint. Hostility returns in “Insidious,” a track rife with razor-sharp vocals/growls, wild drumming (blastbeats), and a [Pyotr Ilyich] Tchaikovsky coda. WITHERFALL has always tried to prove a point — they’re only as good as their last album. Sounds Of The Forgotten is superlative from start to finish. The unreal cover of Aerosmith’s “Kings And Queens” is another surprise jewel on the album’s impressive crown.
Many factors influenced and inspired WITHERFALL’s approach to Sounds Of The Forgotten. The initial writing sessions — about three of them — occurred during the pandemic, after an ill-fated tour cancellation, and were fueled by Michael’s and Dreyer’s intensifying dismay with the state of the world. Yet, the album color theme conveys another side to WITHERFALL’s fourth-album distress. Often associated with ambition, power, and regality, the Blake Armstrong (In Flames, Megadeth, Kataklysm, Harry Potter) cover art provides a view into and a visual counter to the music on Sounds Of The Forgotten as well as Michael’s unapologetically forthright lyrics.
Sounds Of The Forgotten was recorded at The Doghouse Studios in West Hills, California, Big Blue North Studios in Utica, New York, and Planet Z Studios in Hadley, Massachusetts. Dreyer and Michael again tapped producer/studio wizard Chris “Zeuss” Harris (Rob Zombie, Queensrÿche, Shadows Fall) to engineer/coproduce, as well as mix and master, with Jeff Aderman (Suit Of Lights) assisting as an engineer. The recording sessions required about three continuous months of tracking, mixing, and mastering. Logistically, Sounds Of The Forgotten”was likely WITHERFALL’s most complicated, but the result is vicious yet musical. The sonic inclusions imbued by the team throughout the album’s hour-long journey resonate deeper with each listen.
WITHERFALL is guitarist/songwriter Jake Dreyer, vocalist/songwriter Joseph Michael, bassist Anthony Crawford, drummer Marco Minnemann (recording only), drummer/percussionist Chris Tsaganeas, and keyboardist Gerry Hirschfeld.
Sounds Of The Forgotten Track Listing:
1. They Will Let You Down
2. Where Do I Begin
3. A Lonely Path
4. Insidious
5. Ceremony Of Fire
6. Sounds Of The Forgotten
7. Aftermath
8. When It All Falls Away
9. Opulent
10. What Have You Done
11. Echoes ** vinyl and digital only
12. Kings And Queens (Aerosmith Cover) + digital only
“Sounds Of The Forgotten captures them in peak condition, and in an explosively creative mood… this is WITHERFALL‘s fourth truly exceptional album in a row. Prog metal is safe in their bloody, velvet claws. What a band.” — Blabbermouth
“…an exhilarating musical journey worth experiencing, showcasing WITHERFALL’s immaculate execution and unique place in dark melodic music.” — Metal Insider
http://www.witherfall.com
http://www.facebook.com/witherfall
http://twitter.com/Witherfall
http://www.instagram.com/witherfallofficial