Whitechapel Albums (3)
What The Critics Say
The burgeoning southwestern United States "deathcore" scene gets another kick in the teeth from Knoxville, TN's Whitechapel with This Is Exile, their first full-length for Metal Blade. A quick glance at the cover art (razor wire, emaciated dude with a bag on his head) and the song titles ("Daemon [The Procreated]," "Messiahbolical") pretty much sums up what's inside, but Whitechapel (named for Jack the Ripper's preferred London hunting grounds) are capable of more than just eating the microphone and playing relentlessly fast -- standout cuts like "Possession," the instrumental "Death Becomes Him," and the blistering title cut, the latter of which yields the album's best lyric ("The world is ours and you're totally fucking dead"), are rarely predictable. To be sure, the "heavy, choppy chromatic riffs wrapped around an indecipherable monster voice" style that fuels the genre is well utilized, but around every corner is a sneaky melodic lead, time-signature change, or smart production trick that elevates This Is Exile above the usual death/metalcore sonic assault. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
'Somatic Defilement'
Release Date 7/30/2007
Tracks 10
Label Siege Of Amida
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Visit a website that discusses the history of Whitechapel (an area on London's East End), and you are likely to find some mention of Jack the Ripper (the infamous serial killer who murdered prostitutes in Whitechapel in 1888). Whitechapel (which can easily be reached via the District Line or the Hammersmith & City Line on the London Tube) isn't a major tourist destination like Piccadilly Circus, but it does attract some foreign visitors who want to see where Jack the Ripper went in search of victims -- and it isn't hard to imagine the members of the band Whitechapel doing a "Jack the Ripper" tour of the East End during a visit to London. Whitechapel are not a British band; the death metallers are actually from Knoxville, TN, but they chose their name because of Jack the Ripper. Never let it be said that death metal bands don't have a fascination with gruesome subject matter, which is quite plentiful on their debut album, Somatic Defilement. This 32-minute CD is full of references to death, murder, and mutilation, but tunes like "Alone in the Morgue," "Devirgination Studies," and "Vicer Exciser" come across as ironic rather than genuinely disturbing. Whitechapel's approach is best described as death metal with elements of technical metalcore; lead singer Phil Bozeman usually favors death metal's stereotypical "cookie monster" growl, but he sometimes detours into metalcore-ish screaming. The influences on this disc range from Carcass (the song titles "Prostatic Fluid Asphyxiation" and "Articulo Mortis" are certainly Carcass-like) to the Black Dahlia Murder (another metal band whose name was inspired by a senseless killing of long ago). Somatic Defilement isn't remarkable, but it offers a decent dose of bombast to those who like their death metal with some acknowledgement of technical metalcore. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
