(Metal Blade)

Total Time: 40:33

The American group WHITECHAPEL from Tennessee, three years after “Mark Of The Blade”, is making the long awaited return with the 7th effort called “The Valley”. Being considered as one of the bigger bands in the Deathcore scene, the interest for a new album was at a peak and Deathcore fans waited in anticipation! The “wait” is payed off because with “The Valley”, Phil Bozeman and his “crew” are impressive.

Right from the start, with the album’s opener “When A Demon Defiles A Witch” the band confirms a different musical approach that was slightly apparent, with the appearance of clean vocals in one of the songs in their previous album “Mark Of The Blade”. Phil Bozeman’s clean vocals work really well in these new compositions and match perfectly to the melodic moments of the album, which are more abundant and frequent than in any of their previous efforts. But let’s not misunderstand each other. This doesn’t mean that the classic heavy moments of WHITECHAPEL are missing, like the track “Forgiveness Is Weakness” with it’ s awesome fast riff or “Black Bear” with it’s awesome groove heaviness and Phil’s monstrous brutal vocals. Also, songs like “Hickory Creek” and “Third Depth” make up for moments that clearly expand the sound of WHITECHAPEL and will bring new fans to the band’s camp.

The production of this release is perfect, like all previous efforts from these guys and generally in most of the Deathcore bands out there. Musically the band as a whole has moved forward and Phil Bozeman is standing out confirming he is one of the best modern extreme metal vocalists out there. In conclusion, WHITECHAPEL with The Valley seem to have struck gold releasing their best album to date and I’m very eager to find out what’s coming next.

Rating: 7,5/10

Panagiotis Koreas

Related Link: Whitechapel – Official Page