ALBUM REVIEW: The Valley – Whitechapel

For some, the term ‘deathcore’ only makes the forefront of their minds when a friend shares a post from the ‘Deathcore Dads Memes’ page on Facebook, reminding them of a metal subgenre that was but a fleeting phase and is now consigned to the annals of one’s musical history. The fact that, twelve years after its founding, the Impericon Never Say Die! Tour is still going strong is testament to the fact that deathcore still has a rightful place at the table of all things heavy and WHITECHAPEL, members of the inaugural run back in 2007, still maintain a healthy and rabid fan-base. They’re also continuing to churn out new material and The Valley, released via Metal Blade Records, is their seventh effort and first since the departure of longstanding drummer Ben Harclerode.

For the most part, this is an album we have come to expect from WHITECHAPEL, which could be construed as a better way of saying that the band have played it safe and produced a record that’s solid, if uninspiring, and very much by the numbers. What should actually be taken from that statement, however, is that this is largely another hefty slab of bruising, pummelling metal that ticks all the right boxes for shape throwing and headbanging.

Opening track When A Demon Defiles A Witch is full of energy and blasts through all expectations that may have been formed beforehand, no matter how high; follow up Forgiveness Is Weakness continues that momentum and frontman Phil Bozeman sounds utterly ferocious. The middle partnership of Black Bear and We Are One are also indicative of the quintessential WHITECHAPEL symphony, with big, stompy riffs and breakdowns served on a silver platter and begging to be devoured; the same holds true for Lovelace, which incorporates a serious amount of groove and lead single Brimstone, which certainly leans more towards the ‘core’ end of the spectrum than the ‘death’ but is full of chugging guitars and pounding drums.

So far, so good, but as mentioned before, this is not the end of the story; WHITECHAPEL have thrown a few surprises in along the way and it’s helped them to sound fresher and more potent than they have done for the best part of a decade. Third Depth is a good mix of softer moments and heavier gutturals that makes for a balanced change of pace, but the obvious case in point is Hickory Creek which is slower, cleaner and entirely sung, a powerful and emotive track that pays homage to Bozeman’s late mother. In the case of the latter, its position on the record at track four is a little strange; it would have probably fared better as the closing number, leverage for the aural battering that would have preceded it. Instead, the final song is Doom Woods, which appears to have taken the title to heart, throwing in little moments of BLACK SABBATH and CANDLEMASS in terms of its tempo and general mood, but adds a quite beautiful acoustic outro for good measure.

This could very well be the sleeper hit of 2019. It’s certainly not going to be bothering the upper echelons of too many End of Year lists, but The Valley is the finest WHITECHAPEL album since 2010’s A New Era Of Corruption without any shadow of a doubt, and as such the potential for it to creep into the hearts of many who had either forgotten about them or discarded them completely is sky high. Give it a few years and this may even be seen as a turning point in the careers of the Tennessee outfit, and very much for the better.

Rating: 8/10

The Valley is set for release March 29th via Metal Blade Records. 

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