The best kept secret in Chicago metal is WITHERING SOUL. These guys should be mentioned in the same breath as CIANIDE, CARDIAC ARREST, USURPER and Chi-town’s other masters of the extreme. But instead there is silence. The band’s last album, Last Contact, was a Top Ten effort in 2021. And if anything, they’ve gotten even better with Passage Of The Arcane.
They are masters of blackened death metal (or deathly black, take your pick),delivering true epics full of pounding aggression but also dense melodies and complex arrangements. They don’t really have that much in common with the other Chicago bands I mentioned earlier as they are much more influenced by Scandinavian metal of the late ’90’s and early 2000s. NECROPHOBIC comes to mind as a touchstone, along with LIMBONIC ART and even touches of GOD DETHRONED. The tunes are generally very fast but never out of control or pure noise. ‘Attrition Horizon’ and ‘Grievance Eludes The Light’ set the tone brilliantly and it’s hard to believe WITHERING SOUL come from a place as gritty as Chicago…or America in general. ’The Monolith Embodied’ is a briefer, almost thrash injected tune where GOD DETHRONED echoes really shine. Christopher’s vocals range from harsh croaks to some very guttural death-inflected tones.
With ‘Trajectory’, WITHERING SOUL have created the best song of their career. Pure majesty oozes from every pore of this midnight-dark epic, which made me think of a horde of armored ghouls thundering across the night plains. A tremendous song! ‘Among Covetous Eyes’ is almost as good, radiating pure power with a grinding mid-paced stomp. The album ends with the most atmospheric song, ‘Burden Of The Valiant’, where a lot of flanged guitar tones add a Gothic touch.
A great blending of death and black metal with real personality! Take the extra effort to hunt down Passage Of The Arcane and help give WITHERING SOUL the fame they deserve.
Review By: Dr. Abner Mality
WITHERING SOUL
Passage Of The Arcane
Liminal Dread Productions