“Now I can live my third depth fantasy.“
Once a dyed in the wool deathcore band, Whitechapel surprised listeners with the alternative metal-informed The Valley in 2019. This album unveiled a new side to the Knoxville-based group, one that can comfortably feature clean vocals and softer passages. After a litany of cancelled tours in support, the band got to work on Kin.
This new album represents a thematic continuation to The Valley, which vocalist Phil Bozeman describes as “what I could’ve been, had I decided to take the dark road.” Opening track “I Will Find You” picks up right where “Doom Woods” had left the story. “Early in the writing,” guitarist Alex Wade explains, “there was some discussion of the album being like ‘The Valley’ part II.” Given the success of that album, it’s logical to it up with a similarly-minded approach. The question with that in mind is: can Kin deliver in the same way?
“There’s a world beyond the surface of our minds,
Where absolute truth won’t vanish from our eyes.
Let the spirit divide our moral sense and pride,
And descend together, forever you are mine.“
Lead single “Lost Boy” manages to show off both sides of Whitechapel and proved an excellent choice to preview the album. Early on, it demonstrates that Whitechapel do not lose the brutality and heaviness that made them icons. Yet, on the converse, and excellent sung break by Bozeman creates a fantastic juxtaposition. The cleans come off as heartfelt, which can feel like a fine line away from overbearing, but they stick the landing. Given how strongly the band leans into the story aspect of the album, managing to come across as genuine proves critical. Thankfully, early on in Kin, that needed balance is there.
“In blood and bone I carve an oath
To save this boy from this shattered home
Tonight we bathe in blood and drink
From the skull of the beast that left his heart so cold”
The next track, “A Bloodsoaked Symphony”, turns up the wick. Wearing more of its deathcore background on its sleeve, it warms the listener up with a long, almost painful introduction. Furthermore, it relies more notably on stacatto riffs and a stitlted rhythm section to back up the violence behind the lyrics and themes. The track features Bozeman leaning heavily on the aforementioned “dark road” and delivering what sounds like a twisted fantasy of someone seriously deranged. Thematically, it’s most effective when viewed in contrast to the track that follows “Anticure”, which helps to set the course a bit straighter and is a standout track in its own right. Nonetheless, the early picking of tracks helps to show all that Whitechapel brings to the table.
Down the stretch, the album mostly groups its weakest tracks into the middle segment. “The Ones That Made Us” is arguably the most forgettable track here, and “To The Wolves” spends half its length wandering down a road any Whitechapel listener has been on before. With that being said, it gets its act together in the second half, just in time for the most polarizing cut on the album:
“Is there hope somewhere in this case of flesh we call our home?
I don’t feel it, Mother, Father,
Please go back to sleep.
I can’t bare to see you barely alive,
We’re all alone, we’re all miserable.”
On the whole, “Orphan” is the biggest risk taken on Kin. If there’s a single complaint I have so far, it’s that it doesn’t innovate to the same degree as The Valley. This track, instead, dives into the clean vocals and alternative metal side of things. It’s quite slick, well-produced, and could land as the song that makes newcomers give Whitechapel a shot. At the same time, it likely pisses off the deathcore fans that they went this direction. For my money, “Orphan” serves as the crux of the album, and sets up an excellent run to album’s end. “Without Us” feels like a culmination of the sounds they’ve toyed with thus far, and would not be out of place as the album’s closer. However, the acoustic-driven title track ekes out real catharsis, all the way to its cinematic climax.
Ultimately, Kin will not convince most who didn’t enjoy The Valley, given the similarities between them. Instead, it’s a logical next step, and effectively explores similar terrain. Though it potentially plays it too safe at times, its more experimental moments come with huge payoffs. It’s more dynamic, more accessible, and better constructed than their earlier works, and acts as a worthy follow-up to what had been, up to now, their best album.
Kin will be available this Friday, October 29th via Metal Blade, and you can pre-order the record here. For all things Whitechapel, metal and music in general, keep it locked on Boolin Tunes.
8.5/10