Album Review: Witherscape - 'The New Tomorrow'

19 December 2014 | 3:20 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

From mighty and powerful to soft and solemn tracks, it is enjoyable; if only there were some more original tracks.

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Witherscape came out all guns blazing with their 2013 debut album, ‘The Inheritance,’ which received strong reviews. Latest EP, ‘The New Tomorrow,’ is meant to be a continuation of the band's debut album, acting as a bridge between their next album and also giving fans something to hold them over until the next release.

The EP in question gives us two fresh Witherscape tracks, first being the release's title track. It’s the progressive and signature sound that we already expect from these guys. It certainly continues the intended style that listeners became accustomed with on ‘The Inheritance’, with  in-depth riffs and both clean and gritty vocal deliveries.

However, the next three tracks we are given are merely covers. Warrior‘s ‘Defenders Of Creation’, ‘A World Without Heroes’ by KISS; and ‘Out In The Cold’ from Judas Priest are given the once over. ‘Defenders Of Creation’ puts an interesting new spin on the track and is the best of the trio of covers. This track asserts its authority and wins you over with powerful instrumentals and a strong, bellowing vocal style.

Put bluntly, the following two covers are a bit more average. By no means bad, they don’t knock you over with amazement and ,at the end of the day, it would have been nice to have a larger focus on original Witherscape material.

Ending with the only other original Witherscape song, ‘Dead For Another Day,’ it is another continuation. More mainstream in approach, the change in the melodies and harmonies actually work really well.  The two original songs act as bookends to the covers, which proves smart as it begins ideally and ends precisely as it started. This impression means you can easily forgive the band for 60% of the EP being comprised of covers.

'The New Tomorrow' is bold and powerful at times and soft and beautiful at others. It is a decent mixture of sounds and some of the covers work in unison. With just five tracks there are some highs and some lows. Overall, it is a convenient couple of songs to hold over fans until the group's next release.

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1. The New Tomorrow

2. Defenders Of Creation

3. A World Without Heroes

4. Out In The Cold

5. Dead For Another Day