Whitechapel Archives - Page 2 of 3

WHITECHAPEL: “WHITECHAPEL”

Jun 082012

(In this post, UK-based Andy Synn reviews the new self-titled album by Whitechapel.)

Ah Whitechapel, a name to inspire an instantaneous reaction from pretty much anyone who hears/reads it. In fact, I’d imagine many of you have already formed your opinions based on seeing the name of the review alone, and that they’re either going to be “Whitechapel are the sickest band ever dude!” or “deathcore posers aren’t real metal”… and seriously guys, I thought we were past a) the ignorant fanboyisms of declaring band x, y, or z “the sickest band ever”, and b) pre-judging by association with (often outdated) stereotypes. They’re two ends of the same scale, and both are pretty played out by now.

Now, personally I didn’t really “get” Whitechapel at first. Though their debut was a cut above the rest of the cookie-cutter, faux-aggro deathcore out at the time, and their second record saw some vast improvements in their sound and overall direction, I still wasn’t sold. The reason the group finally “clicked” for me was not just the release of their third album (though it is a very good album), but down to the WAY I was listening to the band – something facilitated by their third release, but which has also allowed me to appreciate their second album more than I ever did.

You see, the HOW and the WHY of listening to an album are just as important as the WHAT (genre, etc). And what finally clicked for me was when I queued up a Whitechapel album right after listening to one of my favourite death metal acts, the genre-defining Vader. The similarities were astounding, and this comparison finally got me to look at Whitechapel in a fresh light.

Phil Bozeman’s vocals are the modernised, spitting-image of Piotr’s, while the band’s overall blueprint bears the genetic fingerprints of the Polish masters all over it – the blinkered brutality, the sheer speed, the singular focus on aggression, the minor melodic teases, the twisting solos… they all scream VADER to me. That may be blasphemous to some of you, but it’s how my mind finally managed to categorise Whitechapel, and I think the comparison is only a positive one for them. Continue reading »

WHITECHAPEL: NEW ALBUM DETAILS, TOUR INFO, AND A NEW SINGLE – “HATE CREATION”

Apr 302012

Growth. That’s one thing we metal elitists like to see in a band’s evolution. Tennessee’s Whitechapel is definitely growing, and I don’t just mean in popularity. Today, Metal Blade unveiled the cover to Whitechapel’s new album (above), which is self-titled, as well as the track list. They also began streaming a new song from the album called “Hate Creation”.

I saw Whitechapel on their first U.S. tour, when they were an unknown bunch of deathcore upstarts. They had staying power. They amassed a big following and they helped spawn a wave of imitators. Some of those early deathcore progenitors have gotten stuck in a rut. Others have moved on in different directions, perhaps most prominently Job For A Cowboy, who have evolved into a solid death metal band. “Hate Creation” is evidence that Whitechapel is following a similar path.

I certainly wouldn’t claim that Whitechapel has completely left behind the defining tropes of deathcore, but “Hate Creation” is definitely another step along the road toward death metal mecca, and it’s one of the best songs they’ve yet created.

It hits like a phalanx of artillery in full bombardment mode, with explosive blasts that sound like they might be announcing breakdowns, except the pacing doesn’t really drop. The dynamics of the song are enhanced by stuttering, slightly off-kilter rhythms, speed and increased complexity in the riffing, and variations in the intensity of the onslaught, plus there’s a muted melody that I think will catch the song in people’s heads. And Phil Bozeman’s vocals are suitably violent and raw.

Give the song a shot after the jump, and past that we’ll give you more details about the album and about the band’s forthcoming tour. Continue reading »

WHITECHAPEL: “RECORRUPTED”

Metal News 1 Response »

Oct 032011

Well, well, well. What a coincidence. This morning I included a new Whitechapel song called “Section 8” in a somewhat random hodgepodge of music. At that point, it appeared the song was going to appear on a new EP. Now, we have confirmation of that, plus more details, plus a video for the song. So, for the sake of completeness . . . I give you this post.

The EP will indeed be called Recorrupted and it will indeed be released by Metal Blade on November 8. In addition to “Section 8“, the EP will include a cover of Pantera’s “Strength Beyond Strength”, an acoustic version of “End of Flesh”, a Big Chocolate remix of “Breeding Violence”, and a remix of “This Is Exile” by Ben Weinman from The Dillinger Escape Plan. “Section 8″ and “Strength Beyond Strength” are also the first recordings with new drummer Ben Harclerode.

Recorrupted is a limited edition print run and will only be available through the Whitechapel Webstore, Metal Blade’s Webstore, iTunes, and at the band’s merch table.

The video features studio footage shot and edited by guitarist Alex Wade, with animations by Vince Edwards. You can see it after the jump. Continue reading »

SCRAMBLED BRAINS FO’ BREAKFAST: NEW MUSIC FROM KRISIUN, CENSURA, THE BROWNING, WHITECHAPEL, AND SUBROSA

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 75 Responses »

Oct 032011

I don’t have any scientific way of knowing the musical tastes of the people who visit this site, just rough guesses. My rough guess is that most of the music in this post will be on the outer edge of the comfort zone of most visitors, or maybe outside it altogether. But since I’m starting with Krisiun, maybe that will buy me some leeway from all our necrovorous readers on the final four entries in this round-up. And if it doesn’t, well, I’ve got teflon skin, so you can piss on me in the comments and it will roll right off, no harm done.

I admit that Krisiun is more down the middle of my own comfort zone, too, but for me, the outer edges of the zone are way out there, as the spectrum of this music proves. So, in addition to the new song from Krisiun, I found something to like about all the other new songs included in this post — from Censura (Ireland), The Browning (U.S.), Whitechapel (U.S.), and Subrosa (U.S.). Two of these new songs, by the way, are captured in well-made music videos, and so maybe you’ll be distracted by the moving pictures, though I hope you’ll get something out of the music, too.

KRISIUN

The three, mean-ass, Brazilian death-metal overlords in Krisiun have a new album on the way. Called The Great Executioner, it will be released by Century Media in Europe on October 31 and in the U.S. on November 1. About 10 days ago, Krisiun released a song from the album called “The Will To Potency”. Somehow, I missed it until this past weekend. It’s stupendous, titanic, mind-bending. It lashes together strikingly proficient technical musicianship, bursts of head-spinning melody, guitar solos so white-hot as to melt lead, and the voraciously unclean vocal roars we all know and love so well. And wait ’til you hear the song’s intro. Limber up your neck muscles and hear this (right after the jump): Continue reading »

THE SECRETS OF GROWLING AND SHRIEKING REVEALED!

IQ Subtraction, Metal News 8 Responses »

Aug 162010

You learn something new every day. You may not think you do, but you do.

Like on Friday, I learned that the German word for emptiness is “leere”. On Saturday, I learned that if you live in the Pacific Northwest and forgetfully leave your car window down overnight, spiders will move in and later drop on your arm while you’re driving, causing unexpected vehicular fun ‘n games. And yesterday, I learned the secrets of how extreme metal vocalists can shriek and growl really low without requiring hospitalization.

I’ve always wondered, and finally, after years of listening to non-clean singing, it now all becomes clear to me. It’s like some trade secret that finally leaked. And it turns out to be something that is easily duplicated. It just takes the right preparation and the right record producer (like Chris “Zeuss” Harris).

I’m not making this up. I learned it from a dude who ought to know — Adam Warren, who happens to be the frontman for deathcore heavyweights Oceano. It’s all in that video at the top of this post. It just takes sleeping ’til noon, some microwaved elixir, a little Lion King chord-stretching, and someone who can tell you which buttons to push.

Go ahead, see for yourself. The secrets are out. We won’t even charge you to watch. In the video, you can also see some spirited debate over whether “Contagion” is the kind of album title people will have to look up, as compared to a common street-word like, uh, “harbinger”.

Truly, Adam Warren is an engaging dude, and we can pretty much guarantee this thing will make you smile, even if you’re not an Oceano fan. And while we’re on the subject of deathcore, word of a Whitechapel–Impending Doom–Miss May I–Oceano–I Declare War tour has leaked out. Details about that breaking news, plus an Oceano video, follow after the jump. Wonder what I’ll learn today? Continue reading »

VISUAL STIMULATION

Metal News 11 Responses »

Jun 182010

I’ve got a fucking day job that sometimes requires me to work very early, and sometimes very late, and sometimes both together. The last few days I’ve been caught in one of those late-and-early vortexes, and it’s fucked up my plans for finishing some album reviews.

But instead of letting this site turn into a big void today, I’ve got a few random pieces of eye candy to throw your way in place of what I’d originally planned. Given what the rest of this day and night looks like, there will probably be some other kind of random shit up here tomorrow, too. After that I’ll get caught up and get back to the task of introducing you to some new music.

The first piece of visual stimulation is that album cover up above. The name of the artist is Remy Cuveillier, and he created that piece of visual mindfuckery for the second album by a California band with the family-friendly name of Embryonic Devourment. The album title is Vivid Interpretations of the Void, and it will be released July 27 on Deepsend Records. Compared to the music, the album cover is actually pretty tame.

(we’ll explain what that means after the jump, plus we’ll show you a cool video for our second piece of stimulation . . .) Continue reading »

Double Penetration

Album Reviews 4 Responses »

Jun 082010

I know, I know, I have been absent from No Clean Singing for quite a while now but what do you want from me? I am in college after all. I have many important things that occupy my time like girls, sleep, cookies, movies, shooting the shit with friends, cookies, (mmmm cooooookies) and did I mention girls? Oh and there is that foreign entity called homework…wait; fuck homework. Anyway, all that being said, I have been brought out of hibernation by the multitude of new releases today and I am here to tell you about two of them that will fuck your ears repeatedly until you beg for mercy. (more after the jump, including songs…) Continue reading »

MORE 2010 SICKNESS (Part 5)

Forthcoming Albums, Listmania, Metal News No Responses »

Jun 012010

We’re now five months into 2010, and it’s time for another monthly update to the list of forthcoming new albums we first posted on January 1. (All the other updates can be found via the “Forthcoming Albums” category link on the right side of our pages.) Below is a list of still more projected new releases we didn’t know about at the time of our previous updates, or updated info about some of the previously noted releases.

Once again, we’ve cobbled together news blurbs about bands whose past work we’ve liked, or who look interesting for other reasons. Needless to say (but we’ll say it anyway), these are bands that mostly fit the profile of music we cover on this site.

So, in alphabetical order, here’s our list of cut-and-pasted blurbs from various sources since our last update about forthcoming new releases. Look for the bands you like and put reminders on your calendar. Or if you’re old school like us, just get ’em tattooed someplace you can see without a mirror (because reading stuff backwards is hard).

THE ACACIA STRAIN: “Western Massachusetts’ chuggernauts The Acacia Strain, have completed work on their new album, which will be released July 20th in North American and August 2nd in Europe via Prosthetic Records.”

ATHEIST: “Reactivated seminal technical metal pioneers ATHEIST will enter LedBelly studios in Atlanta, Georgia on July 5 to begin recording their long-awaited, as-yet-untitled fourth album. Engineering the session will be Matt Washburn. Additionally, the band has secured the services of one of metal’s most significant talents of the past decade, Jason Suecof (TRIVIUM, CHIMAIRA, DEVILDRIVER), to handle the mixing of what promises to be a modern classic from the pioneers of technical metal. . . . ATHEIST‘s forthcoming album is tentatively scheduled for a late 2010 release and will be followed by a world tour in 2011.” (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

“RUINATION” TOUR LEAVES SEATTLE IN RUINS

Concert Reviews 4 Responses »

May 202010

Job For A Cowboy, Whitechapel, Cattle Decapitation, Revocation, and I Declare War hit Seattle hard on JFAC’s current Ruination tour on the night of May 18 at El Corazon. All three of your NCS collaborators turned out for the carnage and we file this somewhat incomplete report, along with a somewhat incomplete batch of our half-assed photos (be sure to scroll to the end of the review to see those).

Somewhat incomplete, because we had to leave before JFAC’s set. Maybe if we were being paid to run this site, we’d have stayed to the bitter end, but the people who actually do pay us were expecting our asses to show up on time early the next morning. Life is full of fucking compromises, isn’t it?.

I DECLARE WAR

Well, what can we say? It’s just so fucking cool to see our local boys making good. As we reported here back in March, IDW has signed with Artery Recordings and has a new album (Malevolence) due out on June 8, with two of the songs currently streaming on their MySpace page. They played some dates earlier this month in California with Whitechapel and Son of Aurelius, and next month they start a nationwide tour with Molotov Solution, Dr. Acula, and Monsters.

But this night was a show for the home folks — something of a coming-out since the news of their label-signing, and man, did the home folks turn out. El Corazon was packed to the gills in time for the first chord of IDW’s first song, and they showed these hard-working, hard-playing dudes a lotta love. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

MORE 2010 SICKNESS (Part 4)

Forthcoming Albums, Listmania, Metal News No Responses »

May 012010

We’re now a full four months into 2010, and it’s time for our fourth update to the list of forthcoming new albums we posted on January 1. (See the original list here, the first update here, the second update here, and the third update here.) Below is a list of still more projected new releases that we didn’t know about on January 1 or at the time of our last three updates (or that we’ve found updated information about) — and the new sickness is still spreading in epidemic proportions.

So, in alphabetical order, here’s our list of cut-and-pasted blurbs from various sources since our last update about forthcoming new releases. Look for the bands you like and put reminders on your calendar. Or if you’re old school like us, just get em tattooed someplace you can see without a mirror (because reading stuff backwards is hard).

ABIGAIL WILLIAMS: “Abigail Williams have completed recording of individual performances for their still untitled second full-length. Captured at Conquistador Studios in Cleveland, Ohio, eight new songs were laid down with vocalist/guitarist Ken Sorceron and engineer Cole Martinez controlling the audio takes. The songs are currently being mixed by Peter Tagtgren (Dimmu Borgir, Immortal, Celtic Frost) and are expected to be completed later this month.”

ABYSMAL DAWN: “Los Angeles-based metallers ABYSMAL DAWN will enter Trench Studio in Corona, California in May with producer John Haddad (PHOBIA, INTRONAUT, HIRAX) to begin recording their new album for a tentative fall release via Relapse Records. The follow-up to Programmed To Consume will be mixed by Erik Rutan (HATE ETERNAL, VITAL REMAINS, CANNIBAL CORPSE) at his Mana Recording Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida.” (the list continues after the jump . .) Continue reading »

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