Description
Following up on the refreshing impact of 2013’s much acclaimed debut album “The Inheritance” (“Album of the month” by Germany’s Rock Hard magazine and position # 97 in the official German sales charts) as well as 2014’s complimentary “The New Tomorrow” EP, Swedish duo WITHERSCAPE, who feature singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer extraordinaire Dan Swanö (ex Edge Of Sanity/Bloodbath, Nightingale, etc.) on vocals/keyboards/drums pairing up with fellow Swedish multi-instrumentalist Ragnar Widerberg on guitars/bass, return with another mesmerizingly dense conceptual album entitled “The Northern Sanctuary”. Musically, “The Northern Sanctuary” manages to seamlessly blend the best elements of the band’s 70’s/80’s Prog/Hardrock and even AOR roots with contemporary, yet always atmospheric and subtle extreme Metal. The versatile vocals span between hauntingly quiet clean vocals, melodic heaviness as well as fierce growls, further extending the stylistic whirlwind that the limitless nature of the songs produce. Once more lyrically supported by Paul Kuhr (Novembers Doom), WITHERSCAPE continue the storyline launched with the debut album. “The Northern Sanctuary” is consequently enhanced by breathtakingly powerful artwork courtesy of Hungarian artist Gyula Havancsák / www.hjules.com (Nightingale, Destruction, Tyr, etc.). The sophomore album continues WITHERSCAPE’s quest for sonic extravaganza with fearless, no-boundaries songwriting, and also raises the bar in terms of production. Its infectious catchiness will doubtlessly appeal to the passionate followers of Swanö’s diverse artistic catalogue, but also to fans of bands like Opeth, Amorphis or Symphony X. You could probably argue that WITHERSCAPE hereon deliver progressive death metal in the truest sense of its definition…