New contact for Withering Soul.

Four years have passed since their last release, but Christopher (vocals/guitar, Blood of the Wolf, ex-Veneficum), Rick (drums, God Dementia, ex-Blood of the Wolf, ex-Matianak…), Joel (bass, Matianak) and Frank G. (guitar) are back with a fifth album, entitled Passage of the Arcane, released by Liminal Dread Productions.

After a rather disturbing intro reminiscent of the band’s Gothic roots, Attrition Horizon rushes at us at full speed, mixing screams, virulent riffs and unstoppable drums with impressive coldness. Furious melodies rain down with intoxicating Old School touches, but the band doesn’t hesitate to plunge us headfirst into its heaviness, as on Grievance Eludes the Light, which is imposing from the outset, then resumes its frenzied course with scathing sounds. The musicians also know how to trap our minds in this dissonant fog, then they attack The Monolith Embodied, the next track, with a touch of thrash, offering a catchy rhythm, but also knowing how to tone it down a little to tackle some massive passages. The track is a little short for my taste, but Gallery of the End takes over with a unifying sound, almost epic at times, that makes us want to bang our heads to the rhythm and scream along with the musicians, but also lets us be carried away by the lead parts. We return to our raw roots with Trajectory, an aggressive track just the way we like them, which makes use of a few keyboards to reinforce its dark atmosphere, but also to introduce Nick “Exhul” Morgan (Ossilegium, ex-Empyreus), who weaves a polished solo before letting the band finish the track with a bang. Among Covetous Eyes picks up with similar virulence and complex harmonics, but the track also features catchy accelerations that eventually lead us to Burden of the Valiant, which regularly revs up the machine and offers moments of pure brutality between two layers of ethereal darkness, but also promises us a grand final.

While Withering Soul had kept a relatively low profile, Passage of the Arcane arrives at just the right moment to remind us how masterfully the band crafts its melodies! Each track is heavier than the last, but some are true gems of guitar craftsmanship.

85/100

Version Française ?