Whitechapel - Mark of the Blade (2016)Release ID: 6851
With an album title like Mark of the Blade, you might think the band would make a better mark at their new direction. Unfortunately, it's more mixed than Our Endless War is and not an album I would return to commonly. It's not entirely bad, and I enjoy some parts of it as much as their better earlier material. However, the direction continues to bring the band backwards from the top. The ideas that pop up just aren't fresh or natural enough to stick like a Post-It...
The powerhouse production adds to the album's good side, with thrash/melodeath-like rhythms in the guitar that switching into the usual djenty deathcore grooves, but the problem is, they can't decide where to stick with, so it's a bit messy at times. The bass bounces on you during the hardcore breakdowns that punch through the air.
The album starts off promising in "The Void", with kick-A speed and aggression, but the djenty riffing in the chorus can be annoying. The title track sounds too nu metal-ish for my liking. "Elitist Ones" leans towards the metal/hardcore of Hatebreed that I like, but it's ruined by the hip-hop-like sh*t of Biohazard in the way the vocals are performed. Then we have a brief ominous start to "Bring Me Home" with soothing guitar, and we get to hear clean singing from this band for the first time, sounding a bit like Maynard James Keenan from TOOL and a Perfect Circle. The rhythms are still crushing while in that ballad-like pace. That's where the band should be taking their new direction!
I'm skipping a few songs because of how bad they are for me. "A Killing Industry" comes d*mn close there. The band sounds hypocritical in that song, with lyrics of learning about mistakes and evolving, not writing sh*tty albums for the sake of commercial success, all while growling "I JUST DON'T GIVE A F***!!!" Yet it's just the same ol' nu metal tainting their deathcore, eliminating what makes them unique and soiling the legacy of the genre they added positive light to. The lyrics in "Tormented" have much better anger despite the vocals sounding hoarse. Beautiful melodies and violent rhythms are in a good mix. The instrumental "Brotherhood" sounds interesting in the melodies and solos to make up for some of the lameness. Skipping ahead to "Decennium", this 6-minute closer has better clean vocals mixed well with the growls from the abyss.
To h*ll with over half of this album! The poor songs sound so funny, and not the laughing kind. I wouldn't wanna keep falling into this trap. Is this sh*t really the deathcore I thought I knew?! Well they can diversify the aggression to the point where it almost becomes progressive, but the way they do it is often improper and becomes kind of a nuisance. Yes, I know that Whitechapel can write real songs, and they've written fantastic ones, evident in their earlier material. It's just the riffs and lyrics in this album that don't suit me quite well. They had lost some effort they could've had, and that was since their previous album Our Endless War which was only slightly better. High amount of accessibility aside, there's still a bit of the greatness of the band's first 4 albums in the few great songs. I can jump around in delight like a toddler in those great moments. So yeah, this sh*t isn't f***ing enough to constitute an awesome album. Has potential, but not fully fulfilled....
Favorites (only songs I like): "Bring Me Home", "Tormented", "Brotherhood", "Decennium"
