In November 2018, U.S. dark melodic metal act WITHERFALL released its second studio album, “A Prelude To Sorrow”. Never resting on its laurels, the group led by the creative duo comprised of vocalist Joseph Michael (SANCTUARY) and Jake Dreyer (ICED EARTH), has now announced the “Vintage” CD, LP, and digital release, to be available during the upcoming acoustic tour with SONATA ARCTICA and released via Century Media Records on March 22.

WITHERFALL comments: “During the sessions for ‘A Prelude To Sorrow’, two cover songs were recorded that showed a different side of WITHERFALL, originally intended to be bonus tracks. A dark and somber version of Tom Petty‘s ‘I Won’t Back Down’ with vocals recorded with Michael Wagener (METALLICA, SKID ROW) and an epic version of the HELLOWEEN classic ‘A Tale That Wasn’t Right’. With the announcement of the SONATA ARCTICA ‘Acoustic Adventures’ tour, it was decided to release these covers along with a few acoustic renditions of favorite WITHERFALL tracks.”

Along with new keyboardist Alex Nasla and session percussionist James “Timbali” Cornwell (SMOKEY ROBINSON, EARTH WIND & FIRE), Joseph Michael, Jake Dreyer and Anthony Crawford retreated to Harmony Recording Studios (Adele, Miley Cyrus) in Hollywood, California armed with acoustic guitars and bottles of wine to start working on acoustic arrangements for the tour. The sessions were fruitful and two acoustic versions of past WITHERFALL songs were recorded: a medley of “Vintage” and “Nobody Sleeps Here…” (originally on “Nocturnes And Requiems”) and an alternate arrangement of “Ode To Despair”. Instead of keeping these as secrets and finally making the rare “The Long Walk Home (December)” also available to an audience outside of Japan, the “Vintage” EP offers a collection of music that shows another dimension of the WITHERFALL sound.

Mixed and mastered by Christopher “Zeuss” Harris and again featuring artwork by Kristian Wåhlin, “Vintage” will be released as strictly limited, hand-numbered CD digipak, on black and limited colored vinyl as well as on all digital platforms.

“Vintage” EP track listing:

01. Vintage Medley
Vintage I
Nobody Sleeps Here…
Vintage II
02. A Tale That Wasn’t Right (HELLOWEEN cover)
03. Ode To Despair (Acoustic)
04. The Long Walk Home (December)
05. I Won’t Back Down (TOM PETTY cover)
06. Vintage (album version)

WITHERFALL already has kicked off the presale of “Vintage” at www.witherfall.com whereas the worldwide digital and physical pre-order via Century Media Records starts January 25.

Furthermore, the “Vintage” EP also features new keyboardist Alex Nasla, who will join WITHERFALL on the group’s upcoming European tour kicking off March 13 in Oslo, Norway.

Fonte: Blabbermouth.net