The Summary Judgment Review:
Title: Memento Mori
Artist: Withered
Label: Lifeforce Records
Release Date: 9/20/05

Rating: 2 Skulls
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    • Reviewed by Crimhead (1/22/06):
    Given the sonic atrocities that are liable to spew forth from any given stack of promotional CDs at any time, it is reasonable to expect that the promotional hype accompanying these CDs will be equally atrocious. Withered certainly do not stray from this model. Truth be told, I feel sorry to pick on these guys. Their hype is no better or worse than that of any other band, really. However, their musical output precludes neutral assessment.

    All editorial decisions are final. Apologies.

    "Withered was formed in the early summer of 2003 in Atlanta, GA by Chris Freeman and Mike Thompson, the founding and current members of the crushing moderately to highly annoying grindcore/crust punk band Social Infestation. With the desire to explore extreme music sonically ass-pump unsuspecting listeners with midrange, their goal was create a musical beast with black metal overtones and dramatic guitar melodies, while still clinging to their punk and grindcore roots they released Memento Mori. Once the line-up settled, Withered would go on to create what would become one of today's most promising marginal and unprofitable metal acts!"

    "Withered spent the first half of 2004 completing a five song mercifully brief EP called Order born from Chaos with producer Michael Green of Light Pupil Dilate-fame at the helm of the midrange sliders. In a move that is slightly confusing to this reviewer, they released three of the songs on a demo CD later that year, which earned Withered tremendous praise and awareness nearly enough money to cover the cost of two recording sessions for the same songs.

    “Within weeks of touring playing very short shows to promote the three-song demo in 2004, the songs found their way into the hands of executives at Lifeforce Records. Floored by Withered's potential and devastating nature to be marketed with hyphens, the group signed with Lifeforce Records in April 2005, and went back into the studio to record a debut full-length titled Memento Mori.

    "Memento Mori features a blistering '90s-era death metal vibe cripplingly thin guitar tone (whatever you do, don't think early Entombed meets Unleashed and Dismember), a fiendish stale Swedish black metal disposition (please, no comparisons to Dissection), and a sludgy, more modern metal presence (think High on Fire and perhaps Mastodon minus their drummer, vision and recording budget) to create their unique and blistering aural manifestation. In a time where musical output is perfect, crisp, and without personality perfectly reasonable, Withered have come to crush the boundaries and expectations set forth by today's top metal acts bucked the shallow trends of the 'mainstream recording industry' and gone Lo-Fi! Songs like 'The Fear and Pain That Cripples Me' and 'It's All Said' are an unrelenting force of metal and grindcore, while the almost nine-minute epic 'Like Locusts' embrace the darkest attributes of life with lulling guitar melodies, majestic riffage, and blistering verses feature some of the most fiendish bass licks ever committed to disk. It is not a stretch to say that this album redefines the bass guitar's role in extreme modern metal, and we mean that. Really, we do.

    "Memento Mori showcases an astounding layout courtesy of Paul Romano (Mastodon, Trivium, Hate Eternal, A Life Once Lost) that fits the lyrical spiritual presence set forth by the concepts of death as an omnipresent and unavoidable part of life features a painting of a sheet draped over what appears to be a bathtub auspiciously located in a dim forest.

    "Withered has been extremely active by touring and stirring up a frenzy in the Eastern U.S. Georgia, supporting bands like Mastodon, Exhumed, Weedeater, and Misery Index, and continue to push the boundaries of modern metal our collective patience, by crushing audiences with their devastating live shows even with the benefit of repeated listening. Make every attempt to Catch Withered when they play your town, and when they do, be prepared for the reckoning the headlining act."

    Final analysis: Breathtaking. Eh. I am not very metal.
    2 out of 5

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