“Hymns of dissonance we sing.”
In the often crowded and somewhat oversaturated genre of deathcore, few bands have remained as popular and forward thinking throughout the years as Whitechapel. Ever since bursting onto the scene with their scorching debut The Somatic Defilement in 2007, they have managed to remain one of the most popular deathcore bands. Their mega hit follow up This Is Exile is often used as a litmus test, exemplifying the brutal lyrics and obscenely heavy breakdowns of the genre’s golden era. Furthermore, Whitechapel have always been willing to change up the formula whenever needed. Later albums show this through a willingness to cut back on the traditional heaviness that fans expect, and instead focus on emotional heaviness. Their often lauded 2019 album The Valley saw the band experimenting with frontman Phil Bozeman‘s crooning clean vocals in impassioned choruses, intertwined with heaviness the band is known for. This pattern of variation continued on their most recent album, Kin, through traditional deathcore structures with time signatures associated with progressive metal alongside more melodic choruses. Even for a band that has constantly pushed their limits, there is an ever looming hunger for a return to their roots. Enter their new album Hymns In Dissonance.
Instead of focusing on the more melodic elements of their sound, Hymns in Dissonance sees the band forgoing a great deal of melody and writing the heaviest album of their career. Whitechapel are returning to the sound of their first two albums The Somatic Defilement and This is Exile, which means the listener should be wanting a savagely heavy record filled with heavy riffs and brutal breakdowns from a now fully mature band. This will no doubt make a lot of the band’s core audience extremely happy, and it’s safe to say they’ve produced some of their best work in the process.
There is no better representation of the album’s mission statement of absolute heaviness than the opening two tracks of the album “Prisoner 666” and title track “Hymns in Dissonance”. “Prisoner 666” sets pace with a country guitar instrumental before slowly changing gears into the meat of the album with a savage breakdown. This onslaught of heaviness continues throughout the song, pausing for just a brief moment to seamlessly transition into “Hymns in Dissonance”. It’s filled with the brutality that populated the band’s first two albums and definitely sets an expectation of uncompromising heaviness.
Another facet to the successful revival of the band’s early sound lies with the lyrics of the album. Instead of being a personal story about frontman Phil Bozeman‘s childhood, Hymns in Dissonance is a collection of evil litanies that follow a cult leader building his flock. A good representation of the overall atmosphere of the lyrics of the album lies in the song “Bedlam” in which the cult leader admits how envious he is of his brother while defiling his corpse (“I know that you’re in there now let me hear you scream”). The song even connects the album to This Is Exile by having the cult leader be the brother of the character ‘Daemon’. This goes to further reinforce that the cult leader truly is the “last living son of the father of lies”, as stated during the title track of the album.
The main statement of Hymns In Dissonance is a reassertion that Whitechapel deserves the crown of deathcore. That doesn’t mean that the album doesn’t have anything else to show. Tracks like “Hate Cult Ritual” and “Mammoth God” pepper in underlying grooves that are satisfying in a both foreboding and energetic way. Other moments are delectably anthemic at times such as the intro and verses in “The Abysmal Gospel” and some of the background instrumentals in the breakdown of “Diabolic Slumber”. The closing track “Nothing Is Coming For Any Of Us” even transitions from the brutality of the rest of the album to a hauntingly melodic instrumental.
Hymns in Dissonance is not just another marvellous record from a band as legendary as Whitechapel. It’s a bold statement that the old can be made new once again. It’s proof that giving into one’s inner darkness can make for a terrifyingly beautiful piece of art.
9/10
Hymns In Dissonance releases March 7th via Metal Blade Records and you can order it here.