Whitechapel’s fifth disc came out this past April and Our Endless War (Metal Blade) is a solid slab of hard-hitting deathcore. The music is brutal, the lyrics are nihilistic yet the music is surprisingly accessible which is evidenced by this new disc cracking the US Billboard Top 10 chart. The band is bringing their sonic attack to NYC for a show at Gramercy Theatre on Nov. 10th along with supporting acts Upon a Burning Body and Glass Cloud. This show is general admission and tickets are $20 (+$9 ‘convenience fee’).

The disc starts out with the instrumental “Rise” which is comprised of a marching beat and bending middle-eastern sounding guitar line that progressively build and serves as the lead-in to the galloping title track, “Our Endless War”. “Our Endless War” explodes out of the gate with driving drums and a slashing guitar attack while vocalist Phil Bozeman takes the listener into the abyss with the roar “let’s go”. It is noticeable right away that the disc’s clean production, hints of the Scandinavian sound and Bozeman’s understandable vocal growl means that this is not your run-of-the-mill deathcore album. The lyrics for “Our Endless War” also sets the tone for the disc as Bozeman growls out an anthemic call to arms: “My country tis of greed, sweet land of idiocracy…While we still have liberty, let’s take back our justice for all.”

Whitechapel mixes up levels of intensity across the disc all the while staying close to their deathcore roots. “The Saw is the Law” (the first single from the new disc) has a big bottom end and locks into a sludgy bass groove while Bozeman’s vocals range from a death shriek to a glass-gargling growl.



“Mono” is solid, blast-beat driven pit fodder where bending and twisting guitar lines add atmosphere and mood to change up the tempos. “Let It Burn” is more of a hardcore number with a tribal beat and a menacing bass line that will get the boots stomping. “Worship the Digital Age” is another brutal number with a grinding groove that sounds like a decaying industrial machine grinding to a halt.

The band takes something of a breather on the tracks “How Times Have Changed” and “Psychopathy”. “How Times Have Changed” is the sort of grid metal tune reminds me of the type of music that one would hear at L’Amour in the early ’00s. “Psychopathy” is a slower stomper that has clean guitar and slows in the middle for an evil moody build. “Blacked Out” jumps right back into the death metal with the double-bass blast beats. Finally, “Diggs Road”, a tale about someone contemplating suicide, is one of the most diverse songs on the disc. This number starts with a moody, middle-eastern guitar intro that leads into a slow-burning stomper. The band changes up the tempos during different parts of this song and this number includes some very clean guitar solos. There are two bonus tracks on the disc, “A Process So Familiar” and “Fall of the Hypocrites” and both of these tracks are pummeling death metal that follow the sounds heard earlier on the disc.

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Whitechapel