Normally I don’t listen to a lot of death core bands like Suicide Silence (terrible band btw) or Veil Of Maya but there are always exceptions. That said, the band on the chopping block is Whitechapel. I’ll admit I didn’t like them when I first heard them but their newer albums and their live shows are pretty good so let’s take a look……
Somatic Defilement- so with this album, I feel like it’s just kinda what you’d expect from a typical death metal band. Musically, the band is badass but vocally, it’s just kind of generic. Not to say that this is the worst thing I’ve ever heard but nothing special. I’ll give it 6/10
Standouts: Devirgination Studies, Alone In The Morgue, Festering Fiesta
This Is Exile- so I’m pretty certain that if I were to ask fans of this kind of music, they would say that this album is a classic and I’m sure that to them it is. It is a little better than the last one and they always play the title track as the closer for their live shows. I actually like how Phil Bozeman sings on that particular song. Also during this album cycle, is when I saw them at The California Metal Festival and I remember thinking they sounded like all of the other openers and weren’t that special. Now as far as the rest of the record goes, it’s slightly better than the first one. I feel,like this one is tighter but overall, like I said it’s kind of more of the same. I’ll give it 8/10
Standouts: Possession, Exalt, Of Legions
A New Era Of Corruption- again this one is kind of more of the same but you can kind of hear them move away from what they were doing the last couple of records. To me this one is a slight improvement and I’ll give it 8.5/10
Standouts: Devolver, Reprogrammed To Hate, Murder Sermon
Whitechapel- this is probably around the time I started somewhat paying more attention to these guys. I remember seeing them at Mayhem Festival and thinking that they were much better this time around. Their sound seems to be evolving and this is a killer album. I’m giving this one 9/10
Standouts: Faces, Hate Creation, Possibilities Of An Impossible Existence
Our Endless War- this one has one of my favorite Whitechapel songs that being The Saw Is The Law but aside from that one song, this album overall, is so damn good. The last record was sort of a preview of what would come for this record and to me this is how deathcore should be. They’ve definitely tightened and evolved in the right direction. One other thing to note with this band is that I am a huge fan of when Phil sings and annunciates the lyrics really fast. It’s definitely unique. I’m giving this one 10/10
Standouts: Our Endless War, Mono, Psychopathy
Mark Of The Blade- so with this one we actually get clean vocals. I will say that it kinda feels a little forced but I can appreciate that they are trying something new but again it does seem a little forced. Other than that, the album does have some hit or miss moments. I’ll give this one 8/10
Standouts: Mark Of The Blade, Venomous, Elitist Ones
The Valley- I feel like these guys were on a clean vocal kick because this album has more songs with that kind of singing. I do think this one is slightly more cohesive than the last one and I also remember Sirius always playing that Demon Defiles A Witch song that I feel like it got overplayed. Overall, not a bad record and it gets 8/10
Standouts: Forgiveness Is Weakness, Brimstone, The Other Side
Kin- by now these guys have gone from you kinda average sounding deathcore band to a band that’s trying new things and there’s something to be said about that. To me both this one and The Valley are similar except maybe this one has more cleans on it. Not bad overall and I’ll give it a 8.5/10
Standouts: I Will Find You, Lost Boy, To The Wolves
As I said in the introduction, this is a band where I couldn’t stand them when I first heard them. I feel like bands of this genre tend to all sound the same and just aren’t that good ie Suicide Silence. With Whitechapel, I really like the annunciation of the vocals and I like that they try new things. Also live they are badass. I just saw them at Aftershock and they definitely crushed it.
Final Grade: B
Album Rankings:
- Our Endless War
- Whitechapel
- A New Era Of Corruption
- Kin
- Mark Of The Blade
- The Valley
- This Is Exile
- Somatic Defilement
Sinister Reviews 