ALBUM REVIEW: Live In The Valley – Whitechapel

Let us, for a moment, make a comparison: nu-metal and deathcore. Both genres have their deeply entrenched lovers and their dyed in the wool haters. Each has their merits, their flaws, their marks on heavy music history. And crucially, each genre has its success stories – bands who, whilst born into the scene, have managed to rise above, to cast off the limited-scope of their shackles and to become something else all together. One of the bands who look set to break out and reach the bigger stages are WHITECHAPEL, who, by simply releasing a live album, have achieved more than their pig-squealing siblings.

Over their last two albums, the band have flourished creatively, adding soulful, pained clean vocals and more headbang-worthy riffs to their intense, grinding aural assault. With this in mind, it’s only fitting that this record opens with When A Demon Defiles A Witch, a track that caused its fair share of online discussion when it dropped. From its fist pumping chorus to the aforementioned melodic section, it represents the band’s current stage as a whole. Brutally heavy, uncompromisingly intense and not afraid to show their softer, mature side, haters be damned.

Of course, by the time Forgiveness Is Weakness follows it up, you can practically feel the flailing arms battering your face. A track that leans more towards THE ACACIA STRAIN (Phil Bozeman also ranks up there with Vincent Bennett for extreme metal frontmen with excellent enunciation) end of the scale, it’s the foot to the throat ying to the opener’s being chased through a forest at sunset yang.

This set is dominated by the band’s recent career (even the cover focuses entirely on their last two releases) and if anyone is annoyed by that, they’re clearly not at the show to voice their displeasure. Filmed in the band’s hometown at their 2022 Christmas benefit show, it captures WHITECHAPEL at their most comfortable. The band have even said “We thought this would be a good way to close the chapter on these albums before we start recording our 9th album“, which teases that this may not be the only WHITECHAPEL release we’ll see this year.

As a unit, the band are a well-oiled machine. Lacking a permanent drummer as of now, touring member Brandon Zackey does an admirable job filling in, to the point you’d never even guess he wasn’t a full time member, while Ben Savage dishes out some of the most beguiling yet sinister guitar hooks in the game today. Rollicking through modern metal epics such as the sombre, poignant Hickory Creek (a rendition that makes you practically able to feel the sway of arms and smell the lighters in the air), and the country-tinged arena-sized anthem of I Will Find You, the band captivates throughout and you can sense that the crowd was absolutely electric that night, which is a must for any live record to stick with you.

By the time the perennial set’s closing one-two of This is Exile (which harks all the way back to their MySpace days) and The Saw Is Law pulverise the crowd and your ears with two of the heaviest tracks of the night, the mood trickling through your speakers is one of triumph. They may not be making the same type of waves as bands like LORNA SHORE, but by putting out music this good and sounding as absolutely gargantuan as they do on every track these days, WHITECHAPEL could be on bigger stages before you know it.

Rating: 8/10

Live In The Valley is set for release on January 26th via Metal Blade Records.

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