Band:	Withering
Album:	Gospel Of Madness
Style:	Melodic death metal
Website:	http://www.withering.org
Release date:	2004
A review by:	Undercraft

01. Northern Breeze
02. Quarrelsome
03. On Death's Colour
04. Two Suns
05. Reborn
06. Mausoleum
07. Penance
08. The Feeble Morning
09. Anguish Of Frustration
10. Justification For Unavoidable
11. Not Yet The Last

Withering is a young band hailing from Finland, they started as a group of friends playing some covers of well know bands like Amorphis, Paradise Lost and Sentenced back in 1999, then, 2 years after the official formation , and after they began writing own songs, they released their first Demo titled, "The Signs Of Betrayal", next year in 2002, they released their second Demo, "Justification For Unavoidable", after that they recorded this, their debut album for Warhorse Records, licensed to Firebox.

Withering plays Melodic Death Metal with a twist, all songs are mid-paced, there are no faster-than-the-speed-of-light "Gothenburg" songs, all songs are played following the established patterns of the Melodeath scene, but with the melancholic aspect that a not so fast song brings, which in my opinion, suits just right.

The production is crystal clear, every instrument is in place, the cover art is cool also, I like the logo of the band, nice variation from the undecipherable band logos that I've been receiving lately.

As I was saying in the beginning, if you're looking for typical Melodeath, look elsewhere, Withering is about Death Metal with a melancholic touch, is not about playing as fast as possible, is playing with emotion etched in every song, in every note, just try songs like "Anguish Of Frustation" , or "Penace" and you'll understand what I mean.

At the end, Withering doesn't bring anything new here, just something done to death, with a creative twist, 11 Melodeath songs, with a melancholic touch, maybe this guys have invented a new sub-genre, melancholic Melodic Death Metal, or, Melandeath.