Withdrawal hails from Cananda and is one of the bands that has most blatantly championed their allegiance to the "holy terror" sound and lyrical aesthetic in recent years. The "Unknown Misery" 7" (on Wendigo Records) mark's the band's first proper release, and displays a huge step up from their demo with five concisely focused tracks in just 11-and-a-half minutes. They're really starting to come into their own as well, so don't let their alignment with the "holy terror" niche of hardcore mislead you, as there's no blatant Clevo worship or anything like that going on. For the most part their approach is packed with fast, crunchy power chords and thrashy, chugging alternate-picked runs with tactful dashes of more metal-based riffs here and there, while side B explores slightly longer compositions with more tempo changes and some darker, more dissonant riffs that amp up the overall power level and really hit the spot. Compared to their demo the performances have grown much tighter, so you can tell they've been honing in on their strengths. Plus, the recording is infinitely more powerful, with a super clean, crisp mix that lets every element of the songs have some breathing room—from the basslines to the backup vocals. I haven't seen the physical packaging yet, but I'm told there's some subtle "invisible ink" on the cover, while the first 50 copies come with some sort of short story as well. Intriguing. I'm quite pleased with the band's progress thus far, and this EP really has me hankering for a Withdrawal full-length. Well done...
There is no truth, there is only perception. The fear that sinks in you is your vision's deception. Shadows float over my hands. Between my fingers like grains of sand. I used to taste more than I could feel, but now I feel nothing at all. As the candle light; it fixates my sight. My glance turns to a stare. My eyes dilate. My soul escapes...
The vinyl apparently includes a digital copy of the record, which is always awesome. Make the grab if you like what you hear...
Comments
I think I’ll pass, Dwid seems to be signing anything remotely “holy terror” left right and centre, cannot wait for when this trend dies.
8.17.2009 | By Jack
opposite.. i think this song is awesome. although I hope the future of holy terror won’t be as same as those of postrock (copy / paste)
8.17.2009 | By Carlos
“Jack”:
A. This band is not on the Holy Terror record label.
B. Your constant negative comments on every single post here that even mentions “holy terror” are tired. I’m not sure what your beef is, but it seems something related to that style of hardcore has rubbed you the wrong way. Whatever the case, you have a blog of your own where you can vent such frustrations. I’m all for people commenting here, but it’s the same thing over and over with you. What’s your point, you know?
8.17.2009 | By Andrew Aversionline
Hadn’t heard the band before, but that track is killer! Ordered the 7”. Nice one!
8.17.2009 | By Edwin
That and powerviolence, people are fickle I never intended to rile you up, i apologise.
8.17.2009 | By Jack
where is Cananda?
8.17.2009 | By fred
Ps have Helcaraxe sent you broadsword yet?
8.17.2009 | By Jack
I’m not riled up, but you should understand that there’s a big difference between saying something like, “I find this style of hardcore to be uninteresting…” (or whatever) and the types of things you’ve been posting. Not a big deal, but… it comes off as though you have some sort of personal complaint.
And nope, I haven’t heard the latest Helcaraxe yet.
8.17.2009 | By Andrew Aversionline
awesome awesome awesome…i’m so glad more people are getting into this style of metallic hardcore…best part is they are from my home town! will definitely check them out!
8.17.2009 | By Russ
Pretty interesting stuff here. The creepy single-note melodies effectively add some atmosphere.
8.17.2009 | By James
I like it quite a bit.
8.18.2009 | By Blatant
thank you for the kind words. didn’t expect anyone to give a shit, i’m touched.
jack, andrew already covered it but i figure i should expant on it. and before i say anything, i’m not “calling you out” or anything, so please don’t get that idea. we are not “signed” to holy terror records. HTR is ran by dwid and zach, whom are our friends and respected peers. in fact, zach provides the spoken intro to the song… HT, that is the current crop of HT, is more than just a record label, it can be described as a loose collective of like minded musicians and artists who support each other and the creation of dangerous, progressive and boarderless art. i understand that it’s easy to dismiss the current crop of HT bands as diet-integrity or ringworm-lite, but you’d be wrong. since being labeled HT we’ve had to deal with just that stigma, and we’re often written off as clevo riff miners (not that there is anything wrong with that!) before being heard at all. but that’s life, evidently some people just tend to write music off before ever hearing it.
carlos, i’m not sure what you mean? could you elaborate?
russ, hope to see you at a show!
edwin, hope you enjoy it!
james, they’re just a taste of what we have planned… unfortunately we didn’t have enough “breathing room” on this 7” to let our atmospheric freak flag fly. rest assured our next record (possibly a split 7” or full length) will be packed with pyschadelic / unsettling riffs left and right, all without sacrificing speed or heaviness.
blatant, thank you.
8.18.2009 | By WITHDRAWAL
I’ll make sure to give ryan eyestone a hi 5 next time I seem him at the record store.
8.21.2009 | By Ben
I wanted to tell that there was suddenly too many bands in the genre (postrock and similar) which started to get to similar and there were/are just few band who are trying to make something fresh…
8.23.2009 | By Carlos
ben,
ryan is awesome. tell him we said hello!
carlos,
ahhh i see i see, i thought you were implying that we were doing a holy terror style post-rock band ha ha. i know exactly what you mean with the whole post-rock / ambient / shoe gaze hype thing. holy terror has pretty low tollerance for heartless or gimmicky musical output. i don’t think there will be a shortage of bands ripping off integrity / clevo riffs for a while though… the sound can be duplicated but the feeling cannot.
8.23.2009 | By WITHDRAWAL