Sunday 30 September 2012

Withers - S/T 7"


This is a 7" that I can bought recently from Enjoyment Records, who also asked me to review. It is the debut release from Linz, Austria based hardcore band Withers, and was a collaborative release with Life And Death Records.

The 7" itself is pressed on nice clear vinyl, but it's the sleeve that is the talking point for me. Inside the clear plastic sleeve, is a heavy white card insert, which in the front has the band name featured in prominent bold black. On the other side, it features the song lyrics and credits. The clever bit comes in the form of an clear acetate insert featuring the three flowers you see above. I think it's a really nice touch and shows that a high level of care has gone into producing this release.

The 7" itself features three songs:-

1. T.W.U.I.G.B.D.B.F
2. Iron Dome
3. Cloud Us


This is chaotic hardcore, with crunchy buzz-saw riffs, thrash elements and a volume that blows your head off. This is damn intense stuff straight from the off. The production is huge but the music is clear with the guitars sitting up top. It's actually quite hard to categorise Withers' sound. It's not straight up hardcore, neither is it pounding metal, but it site somewhere between the two.  T.W.U.W.B.D.B.F is the perfect introduction to their brand of intense heaviness.

Iron Dome seems to be slightly more straightforward in it's delivery but it doesn't take long for those off-kilter riffs to bounce back into life. It's reminiscent of a lot of the more chaotic hardcore coming from Europe at the moment. God knows what's in the water in Austria right now, but I could do with some! Cloud Us is where things come to a close, but not before you've been face-riffed, Jackass style. Though this 7" is short and sweet, it's really refreshing to see and hear a band not afraid to lift the volume a notch or twelve. Most bands compromise when it come to production, hoping that it will make their end product sound better, but if you ask me this is perfect. It's utterly raging!

My eardrums are dead, long live Withers!

You can stream the EP on bandcamp below:-

The 7" is for sale via the bandcamp link too, but you better be quick as Enjoyment Records only have five left! If you miss out, you can pick it from Life And Death Records too at http://www.lifeanddeathrecords.com/.

Be sure to blast this out and then go and tell Withers that you want new ears at http://www.facebook.com/withersband.

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