If you like various types of metal and rock, and you don’t want your band to be constrained by genre limitations, there are two things you can do. You can either throw loads of stuff against the wall, hoping some of it will stick, or you can be Witherfall. The band around singer Joseph Michael and guitarist Jake Dreyer has been pumping out high-quality metal albums that don’t necessarily adhere to a specific subgenre since 2017, and their fourth album ‘Sounds of the Forgotten’ is another incredible release. If you like your metal dark, theatrical and unpredictable: look no further.

Although the dark progressive metal tag that Witherfall often gets isn’t entirely inaccurate, it might also paint the wrong picture. Witherfall’s progressive aspect mostly focuses on exploring and expanding their possibilities when it comes to dynamics, textures and light-and-shade workings. Michael and Dreyer are clearly songwriters first, as every song is centered around strong melodies rather than dizzying listeners with time signature changes. There are short bursts of incredible virtuosity here and there, but those almost have more of a fusion-esque character, though pushed through a metal band filter. You will come away from this album remembering the choruses, riffs and guitar melodies first and foremost.

Compared to its predecessor ‘Curse of Autumn’, ‘Sounds of the Forgotten’ somehow feels more focused and more adventurous at the same time. The increased immediacy that ‘Curse of Autumn’ had remains here; the borderline thrash metal of ‘Insidious’ and the intense opener ‘They Will Let You Down’ are so in your face that they are primarily headbangers. And yet, the spooky acoustic middle section of the former and the dense, complex solo section of the latter betray that Witherfall has more depth in its songwriting than the average contemporary metal band. Including those on the more progressive end of the genre’s spectrum.

Theatricality is another one of the band’s strong suits, though never for the sake of it. The King Diamond-inspired ‘Ceremony of Fire’ or the epic power ballad ‘What Have You Done?’ really profit from the fact that Michael can switch from a delicate whisper to a passionate chest voice and from a vicious semi-growl to a high-pitched scream at the flick of the wrist. In addition, the musicians have the skills and gravitas to nimbly follow Witherfall’s multi-faceted songs wherever they want to go. Michael’s voice and the atypical song structures also account for the ballads being far above average for a metal band, ‘When It All Falls Away’ being my favorite of the bunch, partly due to Dreyer’s incredible guitar solo.

Witherfall is hands-down my favorite new metal band of the last decade or so. Their dark and unpredictable, but somehow always easily digestible sound filled the void that Nevermore’s split has left for me. Not that Witherfall is a soundalike, as their songwriting is far more adventurous, but they have the potential to appeal to the same audience. Like all albums before it, ‘Sounds of the Forgotten’ has so much to offer, seemingly something new with every spin, but the band never gets ham-fisted or ostentatious about it. If that isn’t the mark of a good album, I don’t know what is.

Recommended tracks: ‘They Will Let You Down’, ‘Ceremony of Fire’, ‘Insidious’