Saturday, December 27, 2008

Withered - Folie Circulaire

Withered came on my radar recently when Greg from Batillus mentioned they were going to be playing a show together. I missed the show due to the shitty-ass weather, but heard both bands went over well. Having now spun this a half-dozen times, I hate the winter weather even more.

Folie Circulaire is the second record from this Atlanta foursome. You may be familiar with their debut Momeno Mori, or perhaps heard the two Withered guitarists in their old grind outfit Social Infestation with Mastodon's Troy Sanders.

Withered are new to me, but the interwebs tell me there is a new rhythm section in the fold for their sophomore release. It certainly doesn't sound like there have been problems integrating the new members, as these Atlanta beard aficianados throw down hard on Folie Circulaire. Chris Freeman holds down vocals as well as half the duties. I can only take the cookie monster vocals in small doses, but the music is more than interesting enough to get you through. Sue me, but I'm more of an Opeth guy in that regard. In the guest star department, Barney Greenway from Napalm Death pops up a couple tracks in. I guess it's to my metal detriment that I didn't recognize him until I read about it and didn't find it all that different from the rest of the vocals, but regardless of who is scarring their vocal cords, the excoriating rasp of the vocals dovetails nicely with the sonic onslaught that is Folie Circulaire. The vocal tunes are broken up with a couple instrumental tunes (a good idea) and a pretty ripping Necrophobia cover to close the proceedings a little past the 45 minute mark. It will leave you wanting more, but in this instance I think it's for the best. If this stretched towards the hour mark I probably wouldn't have made it the duration, but at this point I hope we see them in town soon. Pick up Folie Circulaire from the good folk of Prosthetic here. Should you find the urge to waste away with the boys, the Withered web presences are here and here.

No comments: