Having played in numerous bands including Edge Of Sanity, Nightingale, Bloodbath and many more as either guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, drummer, and/or vocalist, as well as producing shitloads of albums by Opeth, Katatonia, Asphyx and, well, more, if anyone knows anything about music on the weighty edge of things, then it’s Dan Swanö. Together multi-instrumentalist with Ragnar Widerberg, Witherscape’s debut album, The Inheritance, has emerged. With such a vast contribution to music behind him, you’d be correct were you to assume that many a metal subgenre has been feasted upon and regurgitated into something that is, at the very least, interesting.
There’s not a track here that doesn’t plot an interesting arc. There are heavy passages juxtaposed with intricately woven passages juxtaposed with slow and heartfelt passage juxtaposed with… well, you get the picture. But the structures and arrangements aren’t always predictable, and even when they are, Swanö and Widerberg manage to somehow instill them with a life of their own. There’s a distinct sophistication to the record and that is no doubt down to the combination of Swanö’s years of experience playing and producing and Widerberg’s approach to writing and playing. Being multi-instrumentalists both, it’s apparent that they have worked together, productively critiquing each other’s contributions for the greater good, i.e., the music. This is an album of intricate design, of meticulous precision, of polish and refinement, and one of depth and purpose. Well, almost.
With Swanö at the helm, production tends to take over and the album can feel a little too polished and the tracks overwhelmingly – and unnecessarily – dramatic. Occasionally, the extremities that Swanö and Widerberg explore spill over into the overblown and overstated and so there is more of style than there is of substance in the tracks. This is most apparent in Swanö’s clean vocals. While his Opeth-like death growls are suitably ferocious, his power metal style sounds like the notes are stuck in his throat and so the ill-famed 90s “yarl” comes a-calling on occasion, particularly in his vibrato. Yet though his clean vocals are clearly not his strongpoint, Swanö and Widerberg manage to keep the music under control so that the album’s equilibrium is maintained throughout. There’s not one riff, lead break, drum beat, keyboard line or lyric that’s out of place. An achievement yes, but with the album doing exactly what it’s supposed to, when it’s supposed to, it can feel staid and so is an impressive more so than an incredible piece of work.
7/10
Jason Guest