Withering Soul - Passage of the Arcane

Withering Soul is a blackened melodic death metal band from Chicago, Illinois who formed in 1999.  Their latest release, “Passage of the Arcane,” is their fifth full-length album; they have also released two demos. 

Somehow this band has flown under my radar for a long time as this is my first experience with the band.  Upon pressing the play button on my promo, it immediately hit me that their brand of melodic metal is quite a bit more vicious than most in the style.  The blackened influences certainly help with that.  Overall, the album is fast, catchy, and filled with a ton of melodies while still having an aggressive atmosphere.

The production is pretty damn good too.  So much melodic death doesn’t seem to focus on the bass but “Passage of the Arcane,” does.  Not only is Joel’s bass a pleasure to listen to, it’s also a strong rhythm presence that makes each song sound meaty, instead of thin and stale.

Both Rick’s drums and Krystofer’s guitars have a ton of groove too—the music isn’t always about melodies so there are more than enough moments throughout its 8 song, 41-minute run time where the band barrels through and headbanging definitely isn’t optional. 

The keyboards are impressive too—definitely a presence but much more atmospheric and subtle to the point where they are used to compliment but not take over any other instrument.  I’d say each instrument gets equal footing in the band—-their musicianship is tight as hell. 

After a brief intro, the band launches into “Attrition Horizon," with a primal blackened scream from Krystofer.  This song is urgent and punchy with dazzling melodies at breakneck speeds that effectively combine multiple genres with a massive but cohesive sound.  I really like the passage after the 3:00 mark, with the huge, groovy death riffs and growls.  The drums and bass are hyper focused on destruction….absolutely crushing moment!

At just over three minutes in length, “The Monolith Embodies,” fits a lot into it, including 30-second-long beginning of the audio equivalent of a battering ram.  The vocals are wild, leading the charge to a riff-based song with so much power that I almost forgot this was a melodic textured band.  

“Trajectory,” is at the opposite end of the spectrum, running an epic seven minutes in length filled with a ton of great moments.  The drumming in particular is very well done, a lot of passages where Rick compliments and accents the right notes at the right time.  I like the middle part, it’s atmospheric and serene, feeling very potent after the violence that precedes it.  The passage that follows it features ripping drums and a catchy melodic guitar lick that leads back into the ending that feels alive and expansive.

The final song, “Burden of the Valiant,” is epic within the first second.  The textures feel monolithic and alien, a coming celestial storm.  But the galloping riffs and whiplash speed keeps the song grounded to a degree, combining both heavy and atmospheric textures without compromising neither.  

“Passage of the Arcane,” is quite the late year surprise for me and shows that melodic elements in extreme metal are still viable and important as ever.  If you like exciting and violent metal that’s also catchy with depth, look no further than this album. 

Rating: Great