US dark melodic metal up-and-comers WITHERFALL have released a brand-new lyric video for the track “The Great Awakening”, song #6 on their debut album “Nocturnes And Requiems” (released in Europe on October 6th), which received raving reviews by international media for being one of the most outstanding progressive metal releases of recent times.
Watch “The Great Awakening” here:
“… a tremendously epic sound, reflecting early Nevermore as well as Fates Warning and the “Conspiracy” era of King Diamond.” -ROCKS – 5,5/6 points
“… dark power-prog, reminding on bands like Crimson Glory and Queensryche.” ROCK HARD (DE) – 8,5/10 points
“…an epochal, truly progressive power metal masterpiece, full of vigour, darkness and energy” -DEAF FOREVER – 9,5/10 points (soundcheck #2)
“Rounded up by a strong production and a beautiful cover artwork by Kristian Wåhlin, WITHERFALL present an absolute progressive metal highlight.” -LEGACY – 13/15 points
“A highly ambitious debut album, done by real professionals.” -ROCK IT! – 9/10 points
“Fans of virtuoso guitar playing and bands such as Savatage, Dream Theater, Symphony X or Into Eternity should check this out!” -METAL HAMMER (DE) – 5/7 points
WITHERFALL are currently writing new songs for the release of their second album, roughly scheduled for autumn/winter 2018. Stay tuned for more info on the recording process and new live activities!
“Nocturnes And Requiems” tracklist:
Portrait (6:36)
What We Are Dying For (6:54)
Act II (0:54)
Sacrifice (8:59)
The Great Awakening (3:24)
End Of Time (9:36)
Finale (1:49)
Nobody Sleeps Here… (8:49)
WITHERFALL line-up
Joseph Michael – vocals,keyboards
Jake Dreyer – guitars
Anthony Crawford – bass
Fili Bibiano – guitars
Steve Bolognese – drums
US dark melodic metal shooting starts WITHERFALL have completely their line up for live activities. After the tragic demise of founding member Adam Sagan, who passed away right before WITHERFALL‘s debut album “Nocturnes And Requiems” was ready for release, WITHERFALL have taken a well-deserved break of some few months for drumming auditions, finding a replacement for Adam in the highly talented Steve Bolognese, who by strange coincidence replaced Adam Sagan after his departure from the Canadian progressive power/death metal heroes Into Eternity.
“This is indeed a bitter sweet statement to announce, on one end we are happy to have found a replacement for our late drummer Adam Sagan. On the other side of the coin, we had to find a replacement for Adam. We went through a long period of searching for the right drummer to carry on Adam’s contributions to Witherfall. With Steve Bolognese we knew from our first rehearsal and assorted meetings that he was the right fit. Not only does Steve pay respect to the drum parts that Adam recorded on “Nocturnes and Requiems”. Steve also shares with Adam an impressive writing ability when it comes to composing his drum parts while we are in the pre-production stages for the follow to “Nocturnes and Requiems”. We have also been putting in grueling hours getting our live show dialed in. Expect Witherfall touring announcements very soon.” – Witherfall
Steve Bolognese comments: “I am excited to announce that I have recently joined Century Media Recording Artist Witherfall. As happy as I am to be part of such an incredible band, there are tragic circumstances surrounding the situation, as many may know. Original Witherfall drummer Adam Sagan was a friend of mine. Adam was the original drummer and passed away last year during the final stages of production. Sagan and I both played drums with Into Eternity as well as sharing a lot of the same friends, including Jake and Joseph. Adam would come out to see Into Eternity play every time we came through Minnesota. He remained a great friend. Witherfall was Adam’s band along with Jake and Joseph. They formed it. I am going to do my best to carry on with it the way Adam would have wanted. Adam Sagan was an amazing talent and he didn’t make “Nocturnes and Requiems” an easy record to learn to play on drums, but I am going to do my best. Adam Sagan is truly missed by all. See you all on the road soon!”
Watch Steve’s drum playthrough video of the song “What We Are Dying For” here:
“Fans of virtuoso guitar playing and bands such as Savatage,
Dream Theater, Symphony X or Into Eternity should check this out!”
METAL HAMMER
WITHERFALL have also just announced Fili Bibiano as a second guitar player in the line-up and are ready to return back on stage! Watch out!
WITHERFALL’s critically acclaimed debut album “Nocturnes And Requiems”, released in the US earlier this year, will be finally available in Europe on October 6th as limited CD Digipak (with three stickers), deluxe LP (with gatefold sleeve, poster and the entire album on CD) and digitally.
“…an epochal, truly progressive power metal masterpiece, full of vigour, darkness and energy”
9,5/10 points DEAF FOREVER
“WITHERFALL play dark US power/progressive metal, with strong compositions and
flawlessly executed. Fans should definitely take a listen!”
ROCK HARD
For the vinyl collectors, “Nocturnes And Requiems” is available in the following colours:
Black vinyl: unlimited
Golden vinyl: limited to 100 copies, exclusively offered at CM Distro Europe — LAST COPIES
Dark green vinyl: limited to 200 copies, available at various online mailorder stores
“Nocturnes And Requiems” tracklist:
1. Portrait (6:36)
2. What We Are Dying For (6:54) — watch Jake Dreyer’s playthrough video here
3. Act II (0:54)
4. Sacrifice (8:59)
5. The Great Awakening (3:24)
6. End Of Time (9:36) — watch the lyric video here
7. Finale (1:49)
8. Nobody Sleeps Here… (8:49)
WITHERFALL line-up:
Joseph Michael – vocals
Jake Dreyer – guitars
Anthony Crawford – bass
Fili Bibiano – guitars
Steve Bolognese – drums
WITHERFALL has issued the last interview that their drummer Adam Sagan gave before passing away in Decemeber.
The band would like all to know the following, “Nocturnes And Requiems” is dedicated to the life of Adam Sagan who passed on December 7, 2016 during the final stages of production.
“This, as we know, is the last piece of work that Adam contributed and played on. Adams talent, passion and personality is woven throughout every part of this record as he was easily 1/3 of the creative force. “Nocturnes and Requiems” was a name that Adam eerily came up with one evening when we were figuring out album titles would not have sounded the way it does now without his immense contribution on and off the drums. Adam, we love you and it’s a tragedy that you were not able to see this release. You will always and forever be a member of Witherfall. Rest In Peace man.”
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members
JOSEPH MICHAEL: Witherfall is a Dark Melodic Metal band based out of Los Angeles. Our Drummer Adam Sagan who just recently passed away from complications of Lymphoma was living in Minneapolis. Jake Dreyer and I met playing for a NWOBHM artist on Earache Records. We had great chemistry during live shows as well as hanging out talking about music theory and other musical nuances that get left out of the normal “Heavy Metal” conversations.
2. What’s the origin of the bands name?
ADAM SAGAN: We had a different name early on, and the band wasn’t entirely on the same page in that regard. For legal reasons we actually had to drop it, which worked out perfectly in the end.
JOSEPH MICHAEL: Yeah, Adam hated the original name… One night Jake and I were texting and passing back and forth names. Wither is one of my favorite words. I believe Jake added the Fall and I think it took a few days for me to embrace it. The name reflects the fact that life is very fragile and everything is in a constant state of Wither and falling.
JAKE DREYER: The Other name was Midnight Silhouette, which Joseph and I liked but Adam hated it. Though someone else thought it was a good name before we did so we had to give it up. The last thing we wanted to do was start our project off with a cease and desist letter. …. READ MORE AT NATALIES WORLD.
Witherfall have set up a special memorial page for Adam, fans and fellow musicians can post directly on it. Go ahead and leave any funny stories or whatever you like, Here.
