Whitechapel is a deathcore band from Knoxville, Tennesse consisting of drummer Brandon Zackey, lead guitarist Ben Savage, rhythm guitarist Alex Wade, the 3rd guitarist Zach Householder, bassist Gabe Crisp & frontman Phil Bozeman. They would later fit right in with Metal Blade Records following their debut The Somatic Defilement by putting out This is Exile, A New Era of Corruption, self-titled, Our Endless War & Mark of the Blade. Their last couple The Valley & Kin have proven to be their most acclaimed, returning after 6 years for the band’s 9th full-length studio LP.

“Prisoner 666” opens with this hellish deathcore intro bearing the number of the beast whereas the title track further integrates brutal palm-muted & tremolo-picked riffing, blast beat-focused drumming & guttural vocals with groovy breakdown sections coming to consume all the seas. “Diabolic Slumber” talks about life being a lie & suggesting that everyone meets their demise just before the lead single “A Visceral Reach” throws it back to The Somatic Defilement era.

After the “Ex Infernis” instrumental cut, “Hate Cult Ritual” begins the 2nd half revealing themselves as disciples of hate as well as rage & murder leading into “The Abysmal Gospel” talks about having a silver tongue continuing to fuse death metal & metalcore together. “Bedlam” reassures everyone listening that they’ll never be reborn descending towards the mouth of failure & doubt while “Mammoth God” talks about his greed growing strong. “Nothing’s Coming for Any of Us” ends with 1 more deathcore track revolving around nothing being real.

It’s really a sequel to This is Exile, but the band residing in the same city that made former 3-time WWE women’s world champion & 2-time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Bianca Belair returns to their heavier roots prominently shown throughout their earlier material on Hymns in Dissonance following the story of a cultist who’s gathering worthy people to join his cult including moments in the storyline where the cult followers are singing an evil hymn to open a portal for the head cultist to enter. Some of the characteristics that made The Somatic Defilement so special notably seep their way throughout the dynamic, brutal musicality backing the compelling lyrical story.

Score: 4/5

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