Whitechapel
burst onto the deathcore scene back in 2007 with their debut album The Somatic
Defilement. It didn’t take Phil Bozeman and the guys long to leap to the front
of that genre. These guys are road warriors and have played everything from The
Summer Slaughter Tour to the Rockstar Mayhem Festival and the Vans Warped Tour.
2010 was a big year as their album A New Era of Corruption had a strong debut
at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart. They teased their fans last year
with the release of their Recorrupted EP as they worked on their new album.
That brings
us to this month, which saw the much anticipated release of their new
self-titled album. It’s their fourth full length album in five years and it’s
sure to turn a few heads with both new fans and old ones. Producer Mark Lewis
(Deicide/Devildriver) seems to have taken different elements from their
previous albums and combined them to push the band in a different direction.
Wait, don’t get too upset. I know that you may have heard of the guys adding a
piano to a couple of songs, but this is still the dark, depressing and brutal
Whitechapel that you have all grown to love.
The album
opens with a shocker of an intro to the song “Make It Bleed” as a piano slowly
begins this track. Wait, don’t be too alarmed, but there’s also an acoustic
guitar on here too. Well, that’s definitely something new and thinking outside
the proverbial box, but don’t fret because it doesn’t take long into the song
that you realize this is definitely Whitechapel. The three guitar attack of
Alex Wade, Ben Savage and Zach Householder quickly refresh your memory as to
what you love the brutality that this band brings to the table.
Speaking of
brutality, strap yourself for the second track entitled “Hate Creation”. This
song takes off at mach speed and doesn’t let until it’s over. I think it’s one
of the better tracks on the album. The band is not known for having “catchy”
songs with memorable hooks that have you singing along with just one listen,
yet this song will leave a mark on you after you hear it for the first time.
“(Cult)uralist”
is a crushing song that combines one of the better vocal deliveries by Bozeman
with some insane riffage from the guys. “I, Dementia” has an interesting intro
that the band branches out to try. There’s even some electronics found on this
track, but don’t worry. It’s just a little something added to the song and it
works, but don’t freak out and expect a huge departure for this guys. I, for
one, think it’s great that they like to experiment. “Section 8” is included on
here and it’s a song that many of us should be familiar with as it was the lone
new track on their EP Recorrupted that was released late last year.
Don’t be
afraid, but the song “Devoid” also has a piano intro! The song is a three minute
instrumental journey that really showcases that these guys can be diverse in
their delivery. This song may actually be the slowest that they have ever
played.
an>It’s not a full frontal lobe
assault with this one. It chugs along at a slower pace and not quite as brutal.
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