Review by Adam M on April 15, 2012.

Withered plays an aggressive form of metal that mixes up a variety of styles into an interesting concoction. It has remnants of Hardcore, but also touches of the Atmospheric Metal that bands like Neurosis and Isis have held in thrall for years. While this band doesn’t reach the great heights of those bands, there are plenty of enjoyable moments to be found on this disc.

The suffocating nature of the riffs makes for a listen that is quite intense throughout. There is a sense of being increasingly consumed by the riffs of the band as the album progresses into its later stages and this gives an impressive overall atmosphere to the album. Withered have roots in the Hardcore and Punk genres as well, however and this shows throughout the length of the release. There are similarities to bands like Converge to be found here, but also nods to Mastodon as well. The entire album maintains a fairly high quality, but there are certainly some segments that are more compelling than others, such as the excellent closing track 'Among Sorrow'.

In terms of instrumentation and production values, the band is very good and well above average, but still a few notches below outstanding. The sound on the disc is somewhat hollow, though still quite potent. Fans of Atmospheric Metal that has a mixture of many different styles and types of music will certainly be interested in looking into "Memento Mori". It’s a bit rough around the edges, but there is also a lot of quality on offer here.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 7
Originality: 8.5
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.9 out of 10