This feature focuses on a pivotal early period in the label’s history that had a huge impact on my own extreme metal tastes. As such, I am highlighting some outstanding albums released by Willowtip between 2001-2006. Some are lesser-known; however, I will argue are must-listen releases from the label’s early golden era. I will skip over a couple of particularly pivotal albums from the period more suited for Yer Metal Is Olde honors; otherwise, it’s open slather. Welcome to the Willowtip Files.
Despite their established pedigree, including a line-up of members that had served time in the likes of Dim Mak, Cattlepress, and cult heroes Ripping Corpse, the Willowtip debut, sophomore album, and final recording from New York’s The Dying Light was an underrated force in the Willowtip canon. Featuring an early production credit from Erik Rutan, The Killing Plan has held up exceptionally well in the intervening years since its original 2005 release. Sadly, it was the short-lived band’s swansong, but they went out with a bang, and The Killing Plan remains an underappreciated and unique entry into The Willowtip Files. So, what better time to shine a spotlight on this unheralded gem, to help garner the recognition it sorely deserves?
The Killing Plan falls under the death metal banner, however, remains a difficult album to pin down. Technical, without being pure tech death, it boasts a bruising, gritty edge, its deathly core livened by clinically precise thrash, blackened impulses, and progressive qualities. For all its muscle and substance, The Killing Plan is done and dusted under the half-hour mark, making for a compact, efficient, and consistently gripping outing. Scant length could ordinarily be an issue, yet the brevity and jam-packed-with-ideas album never leaves the listener feeling empty or unfulfilled. The territory The Dying Light cover remains impressive. Joe Capizzi and Brandon Diaz’s razor-sharp riffs and densely packed axework traverses varied, rugged terrain and diverse genre touchstones. Influence-wise, later-era Death, along with the slashing, thrashy death qualities of the affiliated Ripping Corpse, occasionally springs to mind, but The Dying Light’s unique identity stands out, especially regarding their deft splicing of death, tech, prog, thrash, and blackened elements.
Due to the album’s consistent songwriting standards, highlights are plentiful and tend to chop and change. An instantly memorable opener, the title track marks a bruising encounter for the uninitiated, harnessing a brutal mix of curb-stomping grooves, complex twists, vicious vocals and blazing bursts of speed. The Dying Light deal out snarling, gnashing thrash and an aggro temperament on tough, gritty songs like the vicious “Jaws of Dis,” and the taut, blackened assault of “The Bodiless.” However, it’s the way The Dying Light morph and blur the lines between thrash, death, and black throughout the album that greatly impresses. Progressive turns and an adventurous, techy edge bubbles underneath. An ominous acoustic build-up explodes into an icy gallop and blackened death bluster on “Freezing the Spirit”, as drummer Brandon Thomas’ (ex-Ripping Corpse) hyperactive percussion goes fucking haywire. Later album gem, “Haunting Recollections,” encompasses all those cool aforementioned elements of The Dying Light’s formula into a beastly instrumental jam.
Another aspect of note is the album’s killer atmosphere: cold, dark and calculated, but by no means devoid of deeper feeling or emotion, it boasts a bleak, dystopian vibe and nerve-rattling intensity that adds character to the final product. The production is by no means perfect, but it holds up remarkably well, and its breathable mastering job was in contrast to the brickwalling standards of the time period. Guitars are crunchy and well-defined, blackened snarls and deathly growls carve through the mix with authority, and Thomas’ excellent drumming performance is bolstered by the forceful tones of his thundering bass drums, complimented by snappy snare and bright cymbal tones. The Killing Plan may be a lower profile entry into The Willowtip Files, though remains a finely aged gem in the Willowtip repertoire, well worth seeking out.
