The northeastern United States-based heavy emotional band Lavinia transmit an utterly striking, immersive portrait of confronting a straightforwardly massive void between where you’re at and where you’d like to be. On their new track “Wither” — exclusively available for the first time below — the band transform this longing into an almost hypnotic but definitely never overwhelming tune, striking out into a potentially previously unexplored middle ground in between the heaviness of massive post-rock and post-metal and the gentle emotional reckoning of “smaller” songs. At every moment, “Wither” and its parent record Sallowed feel incredibly sonically and emotionally intimate, like even while dealing with massive musical themes and story elements, the band understand exactly where it is that they’ve ended up and you as a listener can share in some of that understanding, which can be freeing — even if the items on the other end are more dismal than you wanted.
Musically, “Wither” packs a lot of confidence, including lengthy instrumental passages that really amplify the immersive feel. The song begins with some subtly forceful guitar and drum lines before repeatedly developing into pretty stunning heaviness that maintains the feel of emotional closeness but also proves sonically huge. These elements unite for the markedly cohesive track’s epic conclusion, which lands with a musical flourish.
The band’s Nathan Shumaker explains of “Wither”:
I like to think of it as an elegant but ugly breakup song from being with a field hockey player with a beautiful soul, but just did not get what I was about. But I think I want to be more like her because I liked her so much. Can’t make something out of something that isn’t possible or relatable to the other person. It’s about loss and being alone. But it made sense then — to feel alone and lost.
Lavinia features members of a number of other established emotional heavy acts, including — besides Shumaker – Jon McMahan, Brendan Ford, and Mike DiTullio, who’ve performed in acts like Everdown, Eksi Ekso, The Burning Paris, On Fire, Caspian, Seneca, and more.
Listen to “Wither” below, and pre-order Sallowed now from Pax Aeternum at this link! The full album drops July 26.
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