Checking In With: WITHERED

(Checking In With is a featurette we do at Pastepunk.com, where I also write, and I decided to check in with the totally fantastic Atlanta band WITHERED)

Death is a very common theme for a great deal of metal bands, many of who take to it ludicrous extremes of either stupidity or hilarity. However, Atlanta's WITHERED took a far more serious look at death and dying on 2005's Memento Mori, an album of sweeping guitar melodies and doomy riffs and easily one of the best metal releases of the past few years. Since then, things in the WITHERED camp have remained relatively quiet, but we checked in with guitarist/vocalist Mike Thompson to see what they've been up to.

Pastepunk: What have you guys been up to during 2007?

Mike: Man, it's been a bit crazy for us. In fall of '06, we lost our bass player. A few months later, our drummer told us that he couldn't tour anymore so we had to basically put together a new rhythm section. In March '07, our friends Mike and Beau from a local Atlanta band told us they wanted to do it. They are both amazing musicians and I feel lucky to have them step up to the plate for us. There aren't many extreme metal musicians in Atlanta, much less very talented ones. We were faced with bringing someone in from out of town and trying to make that work. It was pretty bleak for a while. Anyway, we're up and running now and we're trying to finish writing the new record. We've got over 30 minutes of music so far and it should be finished soon. We also plan to include a cover of "Into Armageddon" by NECROPHOBIC on the album. It's a badass song and we're pretty excited about that too. We started touring again over the summer. We had some dates with MAYHEM lined up but Hellhammer hurt his arm and the dates were cancelled. We went out with SKELETONWITCH, who are amazing, for a couple of weeks. It was a good time. They're awesome dudes and a great band. We're gonna go out again in September with our friends ZOROASTER to help them promote for their new album. Hopefully, we'll enter the studio before the end of the year and get the new record finished.

Pastepunk: How do you think the new rhythm section has impacted your new material?

Mike: Wow, I think it's stronger than ever. Mike and Beau have done an amazing job of keeping the WITHERED "sound" in tact. They've also been able to put a new level of passion behind it and have really helped us take the next step writing the new album. I think the new material is more focused and has more direction behind it. We're very proud of the new stuff. It's a blast to play. We've been doing 3-4 new songs live since the July tour.

Pastepunk: Will your upcoming album will be thematically similar to Memento Mori, or will you be examining a different aspect of humanity this time around?

Mike: I think it will be thematically similar. We haven't quite gotten the dark & morose feeling out of our music. Don't know if we ever will. I think there will be somewhat of a nihilistic approach on this one in addition to pondering mortality. I think there will be a general overtone of disgust for humanity as a whole. We've been studying some existentialist and nihilistic ideals from a philosophical point of view. It's quite interesting to consider these perspectives and what the outlook on life would be from an existentialist perspective.

Pastepunk: What's in store for this fall and for 2008?

Mike: Well, we're touring this September with ZOROASTER and hope to wrap up writing and recording for the new record. We hope to plan the album release by early spring '08 and will likely tour as much as we can. Hopefully, a lot of folks will get to catch us on tour and at some festivals. They are always a lot of fun.

Pastepunk: What bands from your area, or even beyond, should we be looking out for?

Mike: Well, Mike and Beau have another project called WAITED. They're quite good. Real heavy trio; Mike plays baritone guitar, Beau's on drums, and our friend Dylan is the vocalist. It's kind of a PIG DESTROYER meets TOOL dynamic if that makes sense. Of course, ZOROASTER is great too. Super heavy, 70's tone, doom/rock trio. They've got 4 bands worth of gear! Also, our friends BATTLEMASTER, from Richmond, are great. Really crazy technical death/black metal. Their drummer, Alex, filled in for us on our UK tour in '05. He's one of the most incredible drummers I've ever known. The rest of the band keeps up very well too. Lots 'o shredding. SKELETONWITCH is awesome. They blew me away every night on tour. Really enjoyed those guys. Think I'll stop here before I get crazy and write a novel. Oh, also check out LUDICRA, BARONESS, NACHTMYSTIUM, and almost every French black metal band.

WITHERED photo courtesy of the band's Myspace page. Head over to their page to check out an untitled new song.