AMG Goes Ranking â Whitechapel
By Dear Hollow
The life of the unpaid, overworked metal reviewer is not an easy one. The reviewing collective at AMG lurches from one new release to the next, errors and n00bs strewn in our wake. But what if, once in a while, the collective paused to take stock and consider the discography of those bands that shaped many a taste? What if multiple aspects of the AMG collective personality shared with the slavering masses their personal rankings of that discography, and what if the rest of the personality used a Google sheet some kind of dark magic to produce an official guide to, and an all-around definitive aggregated ranking of, that bandâs entire discography? Well, if that happened, we imagine it would look something like thisâŠ
Usually, when we do something like this, it increases our street cred in the underground, but Iâm dead-set on ensuring our cred goes up in flames. This is Whitechapel, the epitome of why boomer metalheads yell at young âuns. For a hot minute, the Nashville juggernaut was ranked among the likes of Suicide Silence, Job for a Cowboy, and Carnifex, thanks to their brutalizing and divisive attack of deathcore. Toss in some lyrics about slaughtering prostitutes in 1880s London, and youâve got yourself a recipe for millennial Hot Topic fandom.1 In retrospect, however, thanks to the actâs historic three-guitar attack and the iconic performances of vocalist Phil Bozeman, their whole âCookie Monster with breakdownsâ thing was a cut above the rest. I say that not just because I was a teen raised as an evangelical not allowed to listen to âThis is Exileâ and âPossessionâ (but secretly did anyway), although Iâm sure that plays a very minor part.
Contrary to other long-running deathcore acts like Suicide Silence and Chelsea Grin, flexibility has been the key to Whitechapelâs longevity. Three distinct eras emerge: (1) deathcore for spooky Hot Topic frequenters (2006-2010), (2) chuggy minimalist deathcore (2012-2016),2 and (3) deathcore for Phil Bozeman to unpack personal traumas (2019-2021). With that, in anticipation for the upcoming âreturn to rootsâ release Hymns to Dissonance, letâs revisit the eight albums of Whitechapel, that deathcore band you stopped listening to because geezers said deathcore was lame.
â Dear Hollow
Dear Hollow
#8. The Somatic Defilement (2007) â The influence of this album cannot be understated, but its crisis of murky grime and polished clarity â with a never-again-addressed orchestral flare â makes Whitechapelâs first official foray a confused album, nonetheless worthy of the likes of Suicide Silence and Carnifex. Punishment front and center with a murderizing theme that reflected its Jack the Ripper-inspired moniker, thereâs a lot of chunky breakdowns and Philâs absolutely vicious vocals in their fledgling stage, reflected in chunky hatred (âFairy Fay,â âEar to Earâ) and shining riffage that cut through the murk (âVicer Exciserâ). Plenty gained with few highlights.
#7. Our Endless War (2014) â Located smack-dab between two other albums stuck in existential crisis, Our Endless War is the pinnacle of the whole cringeworthy âthe saw is the lawâ schtick (sorry Sodom), paired with questionable production choices and simultaneously too much and too little Meshuggah-isms. While tracks like âLet Me Burnâ and âDiggs Roadâ kick some serious ass, the album is doomed by excessive vocal layering and unnecessary songwriting choices. While it benefits most heartily from the three-guitar attack and feels the heftiest of its era, slow bruisers (âThe Saw is the Lawâ) feel stuck in the dense muck and more allegro offerings (âOur Endless War,â âMonoâ) canât seem to keep up.
#6. Mark of the Blade (2016) â Itâs not that this one is bad, but itâs often overshadowed by the album that emerged next, as âBring Me Homeâ and âDecenniumâ introduced clean vocals. While retaining the saw imagery and three guitars layered for maximum heft, Mark of the Blade cleans up the obscene murk for a more organic and rhythmic album that is heavy on punishment (âThe Void,â âTremors,â), surprisingly catchy and anthemic in its structure (âElitist Onesâ), and experimental enough for a human touch (âBring Me Homeâ). Itâs the punchiest of its era, with drummer Ben Harclerode making his last appearance on a Whitechapel album.
#5. Whitechapel (2014) â A landmark album in its own right, this self-titled effort saw Whitechapel cutting the excess from their sound into a lean, mean, killing machine. Groove shining in the spotlight, its starkness allows more freedom, as tracks can delve into more ominous atmospheres and different instrumental tricks (âMake Them Bleed,â âI, Dementiaâ). However, like any good Whitechapel album, the triple-pronged groove aligns wonderfully with Phil Bozemanâs most menacing performance, descending the tracks into a nadir of darkness and Meshuggah-esque ferity (âDead Silence,â âDevoidâ). A start of a new era.
#4. Kin (2021) â Everything that made The Valley so effective, but with more of the Tennessee flair and a more polished feel. Whitechapel explores the cleanly sung and the wailing guitar solos, enacting a beautiful and yearning feel that doesnât descend into the bleakness of its predecessor but rather looks upon it as lessons learned. It maintains heaviness even if it is less feral than much of its discography â all for the sake of emotion. With more of Bozemanâs cleans contrasting with that trademark density (âAnticure,â âHistory is Silent,â âOrphanâ), an instrumental and technical theatricality (âWithout Us,â âA Bloodsoaked Symphonyâ), and a slightly Tool-esque edge (âLost Boy,â âKinâ), it leaves trauma and torture in the rearview.
#3. This is Exile (2008) â As the only album more popular than The Somatic Defilement, it gets extra points for its influence â but the mania at its core has never quite been replicated. While its predecessor had enough chunky breakdowns to kill a grown elephant and This is Exile has its fair share of mindless chug (âPossession,â âSomatically Incorrectâ), a palpable groove and wild technicality keeps things both grounded and utterly batshit (âFather of Lies,â âTo All That Are Deadâ). Yes, the back half finds itself dwelling more in hellish menace than punishment (âDeath Becomes Him,â âMessiahbolicalâ), but for many an introduction to Bozemanâs unmistakable roar and a chaotic technicality that left Suicide Silence in the dust, it was pure deathcore nirvana.
#2. A New Era of Corruption (2010) â While not as popular as This is Exile, A New Era of Corruption is everything its predecessor was and more. Whitechapel amps the dystopian and anti-religious themes with a stunning blend of its early era colossal chunk and a good use of techy leads and dissonant swells, as tracks feel more mature, fleshed out, and purposeful (âBreeding Violence,â âEnd of Fleshâ), the darkness of progressâ terrible cost seeping through (âThe Darkest Day of Man,â âNecromechanicalâ), and a chunky charisma not unlike The Acacia Strain (âReprogrammed to Hate,â âMurder Sermonâ3). A New Era of Corruption was the pinnacle of Whitechapel before its self-titled reinvention.
#1. The Valley (2019) â Bozemanâs cleans in The Valley were a landmark in deathcoreâs storied and bloody history, but more impressive is that Whitechapel remained remarkably deathcore â if not more devastating â in spite of them. Cutthroat brutality remained first and foremost, with shredding guitars filling every emotional crevasse (âForgiveness is Weakness,â âBrimstone,â âBlack Bearâ), while clean vocals are used as moments of yearning vulnerability and hopelessness (âWhen a Demon Defiles a Witch,â âHickory Creek,â âThird Depthâ) and apathetic sprawls of godless wilderness reflect an existential emptiness (âWe Are One,â âDoom Woodsâ). Itâs an unflinching discussion of pain and trauma in the derelict corners of Tennessee and a vintage horror movie aesthetic that meshes surprisingly perfectly. The Valley is a balancing act of vicious and heartfelt, a monument for deathcore and -core styles in general, seeing Whitechapelâs longevity fully established. Every emotion on the spectrum is present on The Valley, an outstretched hand shrouded by the weight of doom and dread.
Alekhines Gun
For many, deathcore represents the gateway drug to heavy music, enjoyed in your youth before you mature into âreal metalâ proper, discarding breakdowns and angsty lyrics for reflections on the time signatures of the universe and bigger song structures. Not so, say Whitechapel. Since erupting from the ether in 2006 and dropping their first album a mere year later, this band has remained a fixture in the metal world at large, ever growing in popularity and under the disapproving eyes of genre purists everywhere. Tours opening for the likes of Cannibal Corpse and The Black Dahlia Murder while having such luminaries as Cattle Decapitation and Archspire opening for them have established them as breakdown-heaving mainstays in a world of vests and guitar solos. To celebrate their newest release, we have opted to don our Wvmps and Pvsers hats and rank their discog for your disapproval. You gosh darn elitist onesâŠ
#8. Our Endless War â The last descent into full-on arena-bent mindless groove, Our Endless War finds Whitechapel spinning their wheels with gleeful abandon. Any sense of techy approaches or interesting guitar was stripped down, in favor of a continued distillation of simplistic grooves over Meshuggah-In-Denial tones. Buoyed by the smash hit âThe Saw is The Lawâ â essentially the âLiving on a Prayerâ of deathcore â Our Endless War is bland, inoffensive, and an easy choice for the bottom of the list. Itâs catchy enough â a smooth, sanded-down object of easy grooves and basic-tier breakdowns with Bozemanâs vocals drowning out the riffs as if to hide how boring they are. Tailormade for an alternate universe where heavy music is played in elevators, Our Endless War is bland, easily digestible comfort food.
#7. Mark of the Blade â Still overly polished, still easy-listening, Mark of the Blade at least flows better as an entire album rather than merely being a factory-assembled collection of grooves. Here, the first merciful signs of restlessness in the Whitechapel camp began to be felt. âDwell in the Shadowsâ and âBrotherhoodâ broke out some swell guitar playing, which was almost entirely lacking in Our Endless War, while âBring Me Homeâ finally debuted those HeckinâGoshDarn clean vocals and much more dynamic songwriting. It helps that they managed to write a second âThe Saw is The Lawâ in âThe Mark of the Bladeâ to keep their ability for instant catchiness on display. All in all, Mark of the Blade manages to be slightly more interesting than its predecessor, as well as be the bookend of one era for Whitechapel while ushering in the next.
#6. The Somatic Defilement â This is a fun debut ruined by some moderately whack production. Much deathcore at the time had a strange predilection for light switch-click sounding drums and guitar tones thick as plywood, and just as crunchy. The Somatic Defilement overcomes this on the strength of its songwriting. Already avoiding the dubstep style tension-build-and-release permeating breakdowns, Whitechapel emerged from the nothingness fully formed and with a set musical vision. Its youthfulness overcomes its tonal flaws, and its roughhewn edges stand as a stark contrast to what would come later.
#5. The Valley â The first major shift in the Whitechapel sound since their self-titled, The Valley sees the band putting on the closest thing they had to prog boots. Featuring oodles and stroodles of emotive (though unfairly derided as emo) clean singing, acoustic passages and honest-to-goodness ballads, the band attempt to take the listener on a musical journey rather than merely offer up a collection of violent snippets. Songs like âThird Depthâ tries to mesh the disparaging sounds with mixed results, while bouncing between tracks like âForgiveness is Weaknessâ and âHickory Creekâ keep the listener in a state of tonal whiplash. Not quite as consistent as what would come later, The Valley is still an interesting addition to the Whitechapel canon for its efforts, if not quite its delivery.
#4. Whitechapel â On the heels of a pair of monster successes, the self-titled dropped and announced an immediate bid for stardom. Gone were much of the techy nuances and songwriting that actually used three guitar players, opting instead for immediate savagery and accessibility. On the other hand, this newfound sense of immediacy allowed for an excellent sense of hooks, with their old flair boiled down to moments littering songs. Bouncy leads in âSection 8â and harmonized breakdowns in âDead Silenceâ showed the band hadnât forgotten to imbibe songs with flourish and flavor, a skill that would quickly fade out as they continued their ascent to bigger and basic things. Easily the best of the middle era of albums.
#3. This is Exile â The Certified Hood Classic, this album dropped and almost instantly defined what deathcore was supposed to be. A massive sounding album in both writing and by production values of the time, This Is Exile demonstrated fantastic growth in musical writing chops and performances. Solos rip and shred, breakdowns are creatively inserted and (mostly) avoid walk-in-place stereotypes, and each song comes with personality and pizzazz. Touring it for an anniversary with The Black Dahlia Murder showed that the compositions still hit just as hard today, reminding that deathcore as a genre can be intelligent and engaging.
#2. Kin â A fantastic sequel, Kin grasps the mood swung for by The Valley and usurps it in every way. âTo the Wolvesâ assault with peak modern era violence, while the flow into softer moments and use of cleans are much more organically blended. Higher use of melodic leads and atmospheric layeringâs allowed the beauty to shine with the brutality, and the closing title tracks fantastic power ballad transition into synth-laden classic rock styled soloing represents everything The Valley wanted to be. Much more enjoyable as a full body of music rather than a collection of tracks, Kin sees Whitechapel grasping their musical vision in the fullest sense, with an excellent display of vulnerability and pathos littered among trademark forehead-shattering groove.
#1. A New Era of Corruption â Criminally overlooked by fans, criminally neglected in setlist selections, A New Era of Corruption is one of the greatest records in the genre. Taking every skillset from This Is Exile and cranking it up to eleven, this album finds Whitechapel operating at a peak they have yet to return to since. All three guitarists are on full display in the compositions; the breakdowns hit harder, the leads are techier, and the production actually sounds like a full band. Flirting with borderline Nile atmospherics in âBreeding Violenceâ and full on cinematic flirtations in âUnnervingâ, 2010 saw Whitechapel at the peak of their powers, experimenting and tinkering and constantly challenging themselves to write better, bigger, and meaner. A genuine benchmark for the sound of deathcore, listeners can only hope for an eventual return to this ruthless display of excellent musicianship marred with ear-gauge shattering blunt force trauma. If you havenât listened to this album in a while, you owe it to yourself to give it a spin.
Iceberg
Iâm a core kid at heart; it was one of my gateway drugs into metal. While Whitechapel lived on the periphery of my metal consumption for my formative years, the combination of 2019âs The Valley and the pandemic gave me the drive and time to dig into their entire catalogue. Since then Iâve always had a soft spot for the Knoxville sextet, and deathcore in general. Thereâs something about knuckle-dragging breakdowns, whiplash tempo shifts, and gurgly vocals that lights a fire in my icy core. And as one of AMGâs official deathcore apologists, I jumped â nay, catapulted myself â at the opportunity to ride Hollowâs rickety train to breakdown town.
#8. Mark of the Blade (2016) â Mark of the Blade marks the end of Whitechapelâs more-metal-than-deathcore era, and showcases a band running low on creative fuel. Whatâs put on record is the most radio-ready, sanitized version of Whitechapel, and time hasnât been too gentle with her caresses. The proximity to Slipknot-esque nu-metal is at its most blatant, the breakdowns are toothless, and the songwriting feels like the band is spinning their saws for the third album in a row. Philâs cleans make their first appearance in âBring Me Homeâ and âDecennium,â and while theyâre a harbinger of things to come, they feel sorely out of place here and donât do much to right the ship.
#7. Our Endless War (2014) â Smack in the middle of the bandâs metalcore period, OEW doesnât feel as phoned in as Mark of the Blade, but loses some of the snarling intensity of the self-titled release. Saws are beginning to spin. Anthemic choruses are beginning to rely on the tired trope of repeating the songâs title. Breakdowns feel more at home at Knotfest than Summer Slaughter. The album has its moments, though; âWorship the Digital Ageâ is a bit on-the-nose but an earworm, and âDiggs Roadâ is a strong closer that presents one of the albumâs best melodic material in its fist-raising chorus. But against what has been, and whatâs to come, Our Endless War fades into the background.
#6. The Somatic Defilement (2007) â Grimy, grindy, blood-soaked, and slammy, Whitechapelâs debut showcases all the hallmarks of turn-of-the-century deathcore with the production of a greenhorn band (especially those drums). But the hunger of a young band is real; the bpm is redlined, the breakdowns are ignorant and prolific, and Philâs vocals are at their most porcine and guttural. Tracks like âProstatic Fluid Asphyxiationâ and âVicer Exciserâ still hang with the best of them in terms of sheer stankface headbangability. While it lacks in the way of diversity, The Somatic Defilementâs charm has aged like fine hobo wine, and it steadily climbed this list the more I revisited it. In some ways this is Whitechapel at their most genuine.
#5. Whitechapel (2012) â Arguably the most transitional of all Whitechapel albums, the self-titled release sees the band with one foot in ragged deathcore roots and another in the sleek, modern production of metalcore. Tracks like âHate Creation,â âSection 8,â and âPossibilities of an Impossible Existenceâ still snap necks and crush spines, but there are changes bubbling beneath. There are more breaks from the onslaught; a piano introduction here, washy acoustic guitar there, tempos dipping below breakneck speed. Overall, Whitechapel ends up being workmanlike, middle-aged deathcore, selling you exactly what it advertises.
#4. Kin (2021) â If it ainât broke, why fix it? Whitechapel smartly took The Valleyâs formula and ran with it, crafting a sequel that seamlessly moves from itâs predecessor (from a lyrical perspective â literally), while doing their best to improve on an already formidable blueprint. While Philâs clean vocals have never sounded better, they can be too much of a good thing, with parts of the album sagging under the weight of these relaxed vocal passages (âAnticure,â âOrphanâ). The bookend tracks are deserving of all-time playlist status, as is mid-album burner âTo The Wolves,â but thereâs a whiff of filler and a lack of brutality on Kin that keeps it from the lofty highs of The Valley. A fitting closer to a sordid tale but a solid middleweight in the bandâs discography.
#3. This Is Exile (2008) â If The Somatic Defilement is the wind-up, This Is Exile is the body blow. Whitechapel burst forth in their second full-length effort â a full-throated refutation of the sophomore slump â as a true blue deathcore outfit in complete possession of their faculties. Solving the production problem of their debut makes This Is Exile a much more satisfactory listenable, and subsequently, this the best example of Whitechapelâs core sound. No envelopes are being pushed here, but the package is stuffed to the brim with quality. The one-two punch of âFather of Exileâ and âThis Is Exileâ chug and blast their way through your brain stem, right up until they wrap their wretched mitts around your throat for the ubiquitousâif not a bit overdone hereâbreakdown. While âPossessionâ foreshadows the bandâs metalcore meanderings to come, this album is so firmly cemented in early aughtâs deathcore that itâs impossible to classify as anything else.
#2. A New Era of Corruption (2010) â If This Is Exile is the body blow, then A New Era of Corruption is the haymaker. ANEoC takes the deathcore template perfected on This Is Exile and pushes its brutality to new limits. The end result is an embarrassment of riches for fans of the heyday of deathcore that wields rather than relies on the breakdown. âEnd of Fleshâ might be one of my all-time favorite Whitechapel tunes, perfectly reining in the feral instincts of earlier records while retaining their ferocity inside a clear song structure. The dissolution of the final breakdown into a distant snare drum shows an attention to detail as of yet unseen in the bandâs discography. With very little fat to trim, and a tight production job that stops just short of the dreaded sheen (see the self-titled album), ANEoC is the most musically mature record Whitechapel ever put out. That is, untilâŠ
#1. The Valley (2019) â Iâm not sure anyone really saw The Valley coming. Whitechapel must have, because they clearly gave shit a good shake up. Deathcore purists should stop reading here; I decree this album as nothing short of a revelation. From the dusty acoustic guitars ushering the album in and out to the much-improved clean vocals and storytelling, Whitechapel bolstered nearly every aspect of their sound. Smartly returning to his concept album roots, Philâs deeply personal and tragic story of family gone wrong breathes new life into Whitechapelâs modus operandi and cleverly shows just how far the band has come from their razorwire days. I reserve special praise for session drummer extraordinaire Navene Koperweis, who takes an already impressive history of Whitechapel drumming and enhances it with unique, progressive instincts. The album rides the sweet spot between tension and release, with just enough old school piss ân vinegar marching alongside the more contemplative, wizened moments (something Kin failed to achieve). The Valley is a stunning opus from a band newly emerged from their chrysalis, a dark and wounded creature thatâs transcended the deathcore label and become something wholly different.
AMGâs Official Ranking:
Possible points: 24
#8. Our Endless War (2014) 5 points
#7. The Somatic Defilement (2007) 6 points
#6. Mark of the Blade (2016) 7 points
#5. Whitechapel (2012) 13 points
#4. Kin (2021) 17 points
#3. This is Exile (2008) 18 points
#2. The Valley (2019) 20 points
#1. A New Era of Corruption (2010) 22 points
Wanna feel like a scene kid again? Check out our expert picks for your own personal sellout:
#AMGGoesRanking #AMGRankings #Archspire #BlogPosts #CannibalCorpse #Carnifex #CattleDecapitation #ChelseaGrin #Deathcore #Deftones #JobForACowboy #Meshuggah #Metalcore #Nile #Sodom #SuicideSilence #TheAcaciaStrain #TheBlackDahliaMurder #Tool #Whitechapel
đ€ The Metal Dog đ€
Angry Metal Guy
Joerg Scheller
Dam's
Metal Insider
Blog Ă part
