You'd be hard pressed to find a band that's had more lineup changes than White Wizzard – their Wikipedia entry spills 500 words of ink detailing the comings and goings of various band members – especially considering the band is celebrating their first decade together this year. Witherfall is the fruits of two ex-members whose tenure in White Wizzard overlapped, guitarist Jake Dreyer and singer Joseph Michael, plus the percussion skills of Adam Sagan (Into Eternity, Circle II Circle). Sagan tragically passed away late last year from cancer, making Nocturnes and Requiems his last extant recordings.
Witherfall play true to their pedigree with a winning combination of melodic speed metal and moody progressive rock, a familiar yet eminently congenial cross-section of Nevermore, Iced Earth and, of course, White Wizzard. Michael's vocals are obviously indebted heavily to the 1980's style of soaring peaks coupled with a slightly raspy world-weariness, and Dreyer's hyper-competent riffing rivals Iced Earth's Jon Schaffer for sheer, enduring catchiness. He even breaks into some nifty classical guitar virtuosity on "What We Are Dying For".
With half of the songs clocking in at well over six minutes, there is a sense of epic grandeur to Nocturnes and Requiems that's reflected in the multi-part songwriting: each track save the two interludes features an abundance of interrelated sections tied together with clever bridges and instrumental change ups, a masterclass in melodic songcraft that will appeal to prog fans while not scaring off those who are usually turned off by the bloated excess of the genre. As a final effort, Witherfall turns out to be a stellar means of Sagan exiting this world way too early, and it remains to be seen whether the remaining trio of Dreyer, Michael and bassist Anthony Crawford carry on with a replacement in the future. It would be a shame for this promising band to double down on their tragic beginnings by breaking up after a single effort, one that instantly puts them at the forefront of the melodic metal movement.
