Whitechapel - Our Endless War (2014)Release ID: 6850
Deathcore is pretty much the Voldemort of the metal community. The more pure metalheads are used to the thrash/death metal of the 80s and early 90s. However, those two genres were knocked off the popularity throne in the late 90s and early 2000s. The late 2000s/early 2010s was when deathcore was on the rise. There are actually a few bands like Whitechapel that display the genre properly. Their previous two albums have true maturity, especially the latter. Will they have the same in this album?...
Surprisingly not. It seems like they took a step backwards when it comes to the guitars. Whitechapel is known for their 3-guitarist part of the lineup, and that aspect really enhances the wall of sound the band create, whether or not it's fully utilized. What makes this guitarist trio great is the soloing by lead guitarist Ben Savage and the dissonant riff rhythms by the other two guitarists Alex Wade and Zach Householder. For this album, the riffing has far more of a djenty groove. While there's no problem with that in my opinion, they could've at least kept the leads and atmosphere, but no. Instead, those are reduced, and that less effective sound really puts a dent in the album's quality.
The title of the intro "Rise" says it all. The instrumentation rises as you prepare for a revolution, though it's not as revolutionary as the previous two albums are... The crushing title track speeds things up without ever letting go. "The Saw is the Law" has a djentcore riff in the intro, but it's so mediocre and annoying, and anyone moshing would just be shaking around like a seizure-prone robot. The speedier riffs are better, though they keep returning to that d*mn slow riff. "Mono" continues that bad-a** fast riffing.
"Let Me Burn" has slow monotone sections while still having that awesome riffing speed. "Worship the Digital Age" fires away in deathly fury to make up a lot for the mediocrity, includes killer growls and blast beats. I enjoy that! "How Times Have Changed" once again sets aside fast aggression for slow dullness.
"Psychopathy" starts with a strange yet beautiful moment, an atmospheric bass intro that is then decimated by the usual heavy chaos. "Blacked Out" strays away from pretty much any of the slow djent. There are cool leads and riffs, and Sonic-fast bass and drums to please even the heavier metalheads. Last up is "Diggs Road", which is perhaps the most solid way out in great effect. We have a nice guitar melody, and not one but two solos. Wow! That definitely makes up for the earlier disappointments.
What we have in this album is pretty good music that is sadly often f***ed up by mediocre riffing. I thought it would have the same kind of attention-grabbing perfection as the previous two albums, but that wasn't the case. Of course, I still like Our Endless War. It's worth good listening. Still this is the prelude to a different era coming up next....
Favorites: "Our Endless War", "Mono", "Worship the Digital Age", "Blacked Out", "Diggs Road"
