Chad Bowar: It’s been a few years since your last CD. How has the band’s sound evolved from Memento Mori to Folie Circulaire?
Chris Freeman: I think the most noticeable change is that Folie Circulaire is much more focused. The album flows better and is more cohesive. With Memento Mori, we were a new band that was trying to find its way. The writing process was all over the place. It was originally intended to just be a demo/EP, but after Lifeforce showed interest we ended up writing a couple more songs to make it a full length. To me that really affected the finished product. Although Folie Circulaire took some time to write, we knew what we wanted from the beginning so we set out to do just that. The result is darker and more suffocating than Memento Mori.
Since your last album you’ve had some lineup changes. How did you find Beau and Mike, and how has their addition affected the band’s sound?
Mike (Freeman, guitars/vocals) and I have known those guys for a while. They are in another band together called Waited and we would go to their shows and vice versa. Mike (Longoria) started filling in on bass for local shows after our old bassist, Greg, left the band. He blew us away, so when it came time to finalize that position we asked him to join up. Our old drummer Wes actually wanted Beau to replace him. They have similar styles and he thought Beau would be a good fit. I couldn't be happier with those guys. They definitely brought Withered to another level, it shows on the new album.
How did the collaboration with Barney from Napalm Death come about?
It's been something we've wanted to do for years. His vocals and Napalm Death have always had a big influence on us, especially back in the Social Infestation days. We approached Barney through a mutual friend (Albert Mudrian at Decibel) and he was very receptive to the idea. So, we made the arrangements and it actually happened. He was a real pleasure to work with. We are quite honored to have his contribution.
What was it about Necrophobic’s “Into Armageddon” that made you want to cover it, and how did you go about putting your own spin on the song?
Well, for me, the song fits to a degree lyrically with our album. As our album progresses it becomes more violent and accusatory, "Into Armageddon" is just an exclamation point at the end of the sentence, so to speak. We also wanted to pay tribute to one of the great Swedish black metal bands. They are one of my favorite bands and that song is one of my all time favorite songs. We pretty much stayed true to the original when we recorded it. The only obvious difference is the vocal style, other than that you would have to listen pretty hard to notice anything different. The song is pretty close to perfect as is, so we didn't want to mess with a good thing.
Withered’s sound encompasses a lot of different styles and genres. When someone not familiar with the bband asks you, “what kind of music do you play?” what is your response?
I usually ask someone else to describe us if someone is standing there to do it. But, if pressed, I would describe us as a blackened death band. A friend of ours once described us a blackened crust, which is also a pretty good description.
What does the album title signify?
Folie Circulaire was originally coined as a term by a French psychologist named Jean-Pierre Falret describing bipolar disorder. The first time I saw it used was by Nietzsche, who used it to describe society as alternating or cyclic madness. We had been tossing around ideas for the album as far as concepts go and one theme that kept coming up was the “human condition.” We thought the term Folie Circulaire was a very appropriate way to describe what we were attempting to get at with the lyrics.
What inspired the lyrics for this CD?
The overall inspiration for the lyrics are primarily based on observations of humanity and the growing disgust that grew from those observations. Just living in this world and having to deal with people on a daily basis was inspiration enough. Besides that, we have been inspired by philosophy, particularly Existentialism and Nihilism, the writings of Marque de Sade, Charles Baudelaire, Georges Bataille, Carl Jung, and for myself Luciferian philosophy. The lyrics deal with specific themes, examples being a person having a sense of entitlement without any responsibility, or ritualized cleansing i.e. ridding the world of the human plague. We’ve also incorporated the idea of gaining enlightenment through suffering and embracing your “shadow” self.
How did you decide on Prosthetic as your new record label?
After some contractual issues came up with Lifeforce, we decided to rethink the direction we were going and how Lifeforce could enable us or hinder us. Before we made a move, word got out that our contract with Lifeforce was null and void so people started contacting us. We ended up talking to E.J. at Prosthetic and ultimately choose to go with them. They’ve exceeded our expectations and so far we’ve been really happy with them. Hopefully, the new album will do well enough to make it worth their while. Lifeforce was awesome to us, Drew is one of the most amazing people you’ll ever meet. It hurt to turn down renewing the contract, but we felt that Prosthetic would be a better fit in the long run.
