RIFTROCK REVIEWS

Withered

Memento Mori
Posted by Dave Huffy
9/13/05

Withered come out of Atlanta, Georgia, blasting faces off with their debut extreme metal release “Memento Mori” such a cliché name for an album that offers so much more than what the term can appear to be on this band’s first release on LifeForce records. For what is being called extreme metal these days there are few bands that can accomplish such a label that by all means does exist but in how many bands is the question, well you can certainly add Withered to that list because this album will be overwhelming to the metal senses.

What’s even more ironic about this band is that a few of the members actually spawned from a grind/crust project known as Social Infestation, and one can only imagine how well they perform other types of heavy music if they can change their ways to create an album that overtakes most metal releases these days. The album is filled with Black Metal influences without becoming entirely consumed by the category and still keeping this powerful sound which can take skin off.

Every song on the album is like a stick of dynamite going off in your head to use the best of fun imagery to describe this act which will have metal audiences of various sorts enjoying this release thoroughly. They include many different kinds of metal from black, to doom, to death, all which are used in a way that makes this album one that is layered and though fuzzy at times it merely adds to its size which is one that is a lot to handle.

This is not an album to be played at low decimal’s, this is one that needs to be blasted from which ever devise you choose to use, except I don’t think your Ipod will be able to handle this one. Withered, with their typical name, and overused album title, prove to be anything but the usual, which is a damn enjoyable surprise.