« Guest review by IDIOTEQ Texas based contributor Eddie Cantú »
During this self-titled debut album by French post metal / post hardcore group LEFT TO WITHER I’m hearing the dawning of a new band that are still yet to find their voice in such a minimal genre, but nevertheless are approaching their compositions and songwriting with ambition in this collection of epic and dynamic songs; mostly ranging in the 6-9 minute marks.
The record (which is self-produced by the band’s own guitarist, Guillaume Clement) is raw, energetic, and, as I said, dynamic. But there is many-a points during this album where it seems to me that an idea or musical concept is being dragged on too long, or isn’t being executed as well as it could be, mostly in the drumming, and rhythm department. And although the vocals of frontman Olivier Haese fit well during the heavy moments of the album, they do come across as being lacking in emotion when he’s wailing over the band’s clean interludes. Talking instrumentally, the guitar and bass aren’t bringing in any new ideas or interesting settings into the genre, rather emulating of their influences as any newer band is prone to doing. And doing it well.
My honest opinion is that while I don’t see this record holding up well against the artistic flooding of time, I do believe that this is a decent starting point in the early career of an ambitious band. I’ll be interested in hearing what Left to Wither will do next – and whether they’ll experiment more as they gather more experience and find their own voices.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐★★★★
SCORE: 6/10
In march of 2012, the 5 members of “The March” split up, leaving a posthumous 5-track EP called Crawl Space.
Guillaume, Sébastien and Olivier will create Theokoles in 2013, a brief musical experiment. They will meet Thomas, from the band Sunstare, during that time. But the band Theokoles will end up pretty fast because Sébastien left the band at some point.
Meanwhile, Guillaume plays in his own band called Ira Caine during that time. An alternative rock band with Julien playing drums. Guillaume and Olivier always had musical ideas to continue The March but never had the opportunity to do so.
