We’re only five months into the year, but Witherfall has just released this weekend what definitely seems mostly likely to claim the title of the prog metal album of the year. The classic heavy metal album of the year has already been claimed by Judas Priest in March, with their untoppable Invincible Shield. The closest rival to Witherfall’s melodic death metal excellence that I can think of so far this year is Unleash the Archers, who gave us their amazing new disc Phantoma in early May. 

With so many great new albums in 2024, it’s hard to pick favorites, especially with Neal Morse’s The Dreamer—Joseph: Part 2 from January still wearing the crown for prog epic of the year, and Big Big Train claiming prog album of the year in March with The Likes of Us. So I’m just going to declare a seven-way tie for the best albums of the year-to-date, and then proceed to explain below my rationale for giving upper-echelon placement to Witherfall’s Sounds of the Forgotten:

Prog Metal AOTY: Witherfall, Sounds of the Forgotten

Classic Metal AOTY: Judas Priest, Invincible Shield

Metal Epic Concept AOTY: Unleash the Archers, Phantoma

Prog Epic Concept AOTY: Neal Morse, The Dreamer—Joseph: Part 2

Prog AOTY: Big Big Train, The Likes of Us

Glam Metal AOTY: Sebastian Bach, Child Within the Man

Doom Metal AOTY: Pallbearer, Mind Burns Alive

Okay, let’s talk about Witherfall. Witherfall gathers together a stunning array of talent: guitarist/songwriter Jake Dreyer, vocalist/songwriter Joseph Michael, bassist Anthony Crawford, drummer/percussionist Chris Tsaganeas, keyboardist Gerry Hirschfeld, and studio-only drummer Marco Minnemann, whom you may be familiar with from The Aristocrats, Jordan Rudess, and Steven Wilson, not to mention Witherfall’s superb previous album, Curse of Autumn (2021). I’ve been following Witherfall’s underrated audio excursions from the very beginning. I count this as their fifth album, taking its predecessors as Nocturnes and Requiems (2017), A Prelude to Sorrow (2018), the substantial EP Vintage (2019), and Curse of Autumn (2021). 

Their latest album is their greatest album—Witherfall’s Sounds of the Forgotten (2024), which I like to think of as built on a spine of seven epic, nicely prog-length tracks:

“They Will Let You Down” [Track 1 (5:59)]

“Where Do I Begin?” [Track 2 (6:30)]

“Insidious” [Track 4 (6:47)]

“Ceremony of Fire” [Track 5 (7:32)]

“Sounds of the Forgotten” [Track 6 (5:23)]

“When It All Falls Away” [Track 8 (6:39)]

“What Have You Done?” [Track 10 (10:19)]

Even if you wanted to pin down Witherfall as melodic death metal, you’d have to admire the perfect pacing along this seven-song spine. The songs alternate between the more demented death forays and the more melodic metal earworms: “They Will Let You Down,” “Insidious,” “Sounds of the Forgotten,” “What Have You Done?” are the four darkest of the spine tracks, whereas the highly melodic, multi-layered vocal choruses of the others pull you into singing along every time (“Where Do I Begin?”, “Ceremony of Fire,” “When It All Falls Away”).

The other three tracks on the album are clearly intros or outros to that seven-track spine, which is evident simply from their time lengths:

“A Lonely Path” [Track 3 (1:33)]

“Aftermath” [Track 7 (1:31)]

“Opulent” [Track 9 (2:45)]

These three snippets are characterized by brief but effective instrumental evocations of mood and atmosphere and by half-sung word paintings by vocal frontman/songwriter Joseph Michael, in which the other half of the vocal timbre is spookily spoken or growled. “A Lonely Path” offers a seamless introduction into “Insidious,” whereas “Aftermath” seals “Sounds of the Forgotten” with a suitably harsh coda. “Opulent” starts off with a nice instrumental break before the final epic “What Have You Done?” as Jake Dreyer dazzles us with more Spanish-style guitar licks, but Joseph Michael also returns at its end with more dramatic vocal narrative.

It’s impossible not to be floored by the band’s instrumental virtuosity. The central track in the seven-song spine, “Ceremony of Fire,” thrills me to no end with its soloing section, because the emotions I feel during that excursion parallel the excitement I once felt when I first heard the guitar-bass-drums interaction on some classic Rush tracks. The ecstasy induced by the guitar-bass-drums interaction on “Ceremony of Fire” is consolidated by the track’s sudden tempo change and downshifting into Joseph Michael’s magical bridge. That magic lasts right to the final notes, with concluding guitar and organ chords that invoke the heights of musical mysteries. If hearing one song will get you to buy the album, this is the winner.

But while all the musicians contribute to making this Witherfall’s most astounding album, it is perhaps Joseph Michael who leaves me with the mightiest impression here. Yes, it was Jake Dreyer’s guitar playing that drew me to the band, since it is rare to find such shredding talent anywhere that also deploys itself in service of unusually brilliant songwriting. But with Sounds of the Forgotten I have to declare that Joseph Michael is the one who has now stepped forward and truly achieved his own personality. By “personality” I mean that, no matter who he may remind you of here and there, he has a distinct voice that has attained an incomparable individual incarnation. Some examples of iconic musical personalities: Ozzy, Dio, Rob Halford, Chris Cornell, Freddie Mercury. When you hear these guys, they sound like themselves. Same with Joseph Michael, who I would venture has joined the pantheon with this latest performance. The range of what he does on this album is quite something to hear. Screams, shrieks, growls, whispers, howls, layered choruses, he does it all. He’s thereby the perfect frontman to epitomize Witherfall’s overall chameleon-like musical abilities.

I’d advise ordering the CD direct from DeathWave Records, which was created by Witherfall headmen Joseph Michael and Jake Dreyer. I did, and it was most gratifying to receive the CD in the mail in advance of the official release date, along with a bunch of extra goodies like snazzy art and band photo postcards, a band name sticker, and an Anthony Crawford Witherfall guitar pick.

The disc doesn’t have a bonus track, but maybe it will eventually be released with the cover version of Aerosmith’s “Kings and Queens” that the band unveiled earlier. If I could advise the band, I would tell them to release a full album of covers, including their own past covers. The thing about Witherfall’s versions is they put their own stamp on the songs and they morph them into their own delightfully demented renderings. What’s the point of doing a cover if you don’t unexpectedly transform the song into a new reward? Witherfall knows the secret to making a good cover. Witness their contrarian takes on Boston’s “Foreplay/Long Time” (from the Curse of Autumn era) and Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” (from the Vintage era). I say we need more. In the meantime, enjoy one of the best albums of the year: Witherfall, Sounds of the Forgotten. ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ = 10/10 = A+.