NEWS: Ov Sulfur mourn with wither?

As we all know, on 16th January 2026 American Blackened Deathcore quintet Ov Sulfur will see Century Media distribute their sophomore album “Endless“. What we now learn is that the band have taken the opportunity to present a song dedicated to the passing of the grandparents of vocalist Ricky Hoover, vocalist and guitarist Chase Wilson and the father of bassist Josh Bearden which features clean vocals for the duration. Pushing the boundaries of their sound further than ever before without diluting what they’re known for seems impossible and yet “Wither” is right here, right now.

Vocalist and guitarist Chase Wilson comments: “We know ‘Wither’ is different and that it’s not the norm for bands like us to do a song like this, but we felt we had to honour our families and in doing so created something very special to us in the process. I had a lot I wanted to say about my grandparents’ passing, as I was very close to them and had a multitude of different emotions I needed to express. Ricky allowed me the honour of splitting singing duties on this song with him, as we joined each other in grief and mourning. My grandfather worked as an MC back in the days of Sinatra, The Rat Pack and artists like that. It was always his dream to make it in show business and be on a record some day. It’s bittersweet we were able to make it happen for him after his passing (he’s the voice clip at the end of the song). I wish he was around to hear it.”

“There is a lot of vocal interplay between the two of us, hinted at on ‘The Burden Ov Faith’s ‘The Inglorious Archetype,’ inspired by Alice In Chains‘ Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell. You can hear that on ‘Evermore,’ and we practically split ‘Wither’ down the middle; the song is about us both losing grandparents, so it’s super personal.”

Vocalist Ricky Hoover comments: “My grandmother was the glue that held my family together. She was the strongest person I’ve ever known and had the ability to forgive those who wronged her, a quality I wish I had. She was truly the best example of what being a good person is. She watched my siblings and I almost every day while my parents were at work, so we were always incredibly close. I used to call her on my way home from work, fill her in on things and just talk. Now I still find myself calling everyone I know on the drive because of how much I miss the talks we had.

After she died I had so many nights spent awake alone wishing I could share in the belief I’d see her or hear her voice again: hours desperately trying to give myself the false hope I would. Eventually, I reached the cold realization that I never would. Some nights I still find myself lost and trying to lose myself in that hope…or delusion. The voicemails (of her wishing me a Merry Christmas or that she hopes I have a good show) were something I couldn’t even force myself to listen to until the day I recorded this song. I sent all the ones I had into the studio prior to me going. These were the ones chosen. She always said she wished I sang more in my music, so that’s what I did. I wish she was around to hear it.”

“I was originally only going to sing a soft intro to ‘Earthen’ on our last album. Once Chase and our vocal producer [for that album] Morgoth heard it, we reworked a bunch of stuff for me to sing more. That’s pushed further here. Chase even taught me to do falsetto in-studio (he actually took a video on his phone where I looked genuinely shocked I hit the notes because it was so new to me).”