Black Circle by WITHDRAWAL

In the spring of 2010, Withdrawal recorded a handful of songs for a split with UK Holy Terror group Rot In Hell. The songs were recorded then mixed, the artwork almost completed, a summer tour routed and then... nothing.

It is not uncommon for a band to record and shelve half-finished recordings; for rumoured splits failing to materialize. Circumstances change, the bands move on. All that remains is Chung King-ian rumour or lore, footnotes in a band's discography, blurry recollections in a band's history.

By the time the songs were completed the band had a massive member change, a seismic shift that relegated these songs to that aforementioned history. One song found it's way onto a rare, long out-of-print split cassette. The others occasionally shared amongst friends close to the band through clandestine file swaps. Later on, these songs were re-attempted in various forms to various results. "Rotten Hell" was recorded for "Faith, Flesh & Blood" and became a B-Side. "Book Of Death" was attempted on our split with Young & In The Way, but abandoned before any vocals were recorded. Later it found itself attempted again on our LP "Never" alongside a new version of "Forever".

There is something to be said about the first attempt at these songs, those initial performances often have an intangible energy that you can try to recreate. These songs have that mysterious energy which is why we are finally sharing them with you after over 15 years for the first time. "BLACK CIRCLE" is Withdrawal at a time of lethal, precise focus. The end of a beginning, the beginning of an end. On this recording: Adam, Cole, Gord, Jeff and Joel.

Recorded in various locations by Avrinder Dhillon @avrinderd

Additional amplification by Jesse Mathewson @jessekenmode

Guest vocals on Book Of Death by Nick Rockwell

Artwork by RF @pharmak.os

This is SIN-EATER-020.

"...And Still, You Long For More."

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