Loudness Wars made no apologies for turning up the decibels with their latest single, “Withered Flower.” The seasoned and striped alt-rock outfit plunges listeners into a sludged-up vortex where the textured growl of Deftones meets the cerebral drama of Muse, with a hint of Smashing Pumpkins’ melancholy woven through.
The innovative declaration in the guise of an alt-rock anthem sees Jerome, the Sri Lankan-born lead on guitars and vocals, crafting a soundscape where each strum feels like a pulse of raw emotional electricity. His voice, an artful contortion, sinks into the distortion that bleeds from the angular, cutting guitars. The anthemic hooks that ensue are nothing short of adrenaline for the soul, crafting a track that’s as unnerving as it is entrancing.
Rich, a guitarist turned bassist, brings a grounded ferocity to the mix. His transition from guitar to bass underpins the track with a depth that only a rhythmic savant could provide. Completing this trio, Ian, a lifelong drummer whose rhythmic instincts are as inherent as breathing, injects Withered Flower with a relentless beat that binds the track’s explosive components. His chemistry with Rich, rooted in their shared upbringing in Chesham, fuels the rhythmic backbone of this record with precision and wild abandon.
Together, they transform “Withered Flower”—a poignant meditation on decay—into a pulse-throbbing hit. The charismatically maniacal presence of Jerome’s vocals incites a riotous revival of alt-rock, proving that the outfit has heavy artillery to attack the senses and leave them cathartically affected.
Stream Withered Flower on Bandcamp now.
Review by Amelia Vandergast