Woe – “Withdrawal”

Woe blend churning, dissonant chords with tremolo-picked ferocity and couple that with machine gun blast beats and high pitched shrieking screams. In other words, textbook definition black metal. End of story.

But is it? Not even close. Woe mastermind Chris Grigg continually delivers monumentally significant works of evil, despair, pain and suffering and Withdrawal is no exception. Much like the two previous releases from the East Coast-based outfit, this isn’t your average black metal. Missing are the experimental, genre-mashing tactics employed by so many of the Scandinavian originators these days. This shit is just out-and-out brutality that will make you want to burn a church, donkey-punch your Grandma, maybe even chilidog your Aunt Lucy. It definitely won’t inspire you to help any geriatrics across a busy intersection, unless that help involves a shove into oncoming traffic.

There are moments where the sun comes out and shines light on the general bleak atmosphere… but these moments are sparse; few and far between, which makes you cherish them even more if for no other reason than to remind you that you are still human and capable of human-like emotions.

The overall experience is further enhanced by an organic sounding production… because nothing says “lame” quite like sampled and overproduced black metal. I recommend Withdrawal wholeheartedly, but I do not endorse any of the behavior listed above, nor will I take any responsibility for the consequences of said actions. You’re on your own at that point.

Track Listing:

01. This is the End of the Story
02. Carried by Waves to Remorseless Shores
03. All Bridges Burned
04. Ceaseless Jaws
05. Song of My Undoing
06. Exhausted
07. Withdrawl

Run Time: 43 mins
Release Date: April 23, 2013

Check out the song “Exhausted”