Deathcore has been done to death.  The majority of bands of this genre mainly focus on how heavy they are, making sure that there are plenty of bass drops and blast beats.  Originality is rare to find in your typical deathcore band.  Whitechapel was one of the pioneers of this now laughable genre, and all of these other bands are trying oh so hard to emulate their sound (Oceano, cough cough).  If you’re in a band like Whitechapel, do you try to separate yourself from all of your followers, or do you stick to the sound that made you famous?  They chose to settle somewhere in middle, and they seemed to choose option.

If you were a fan of the band’s earlier work, you will not be disappointed.  If you were expecting the band to expand their sound, then you won’t be let down either.  This time around, they integrate some experimental touches to their sound without losing the sound that the’re known for.

“Devolver” is a solid opener, but it pales in comparison to “Father of Lies”, the opening track from This is Exile.  Right off the bat, you can notice how much more pronounced Phil Bozeman’s lyrics are.  This effort tells me that this time around, he has either worked harder on crafting his message, or that he has realized that having the lowest growl doesn’t necessarily make you a badass. On the other hand, this song also illustrates how they have one too many guitarists.  For the most part, all three guitar players play the same part, and when they aren’t, they only have a background riff with a single melody over top of it.  They never needed three guitar players in the past, and they continue to write music that doesn’t need three guitars.

While they still haven’t found out how to layer three guitar parts together, Whitechapel’s axemen sure have turned up their performances across the board.  The band has decided to implement more melodic parts, but it does not get in the way of the brutality.  In actuality, it breaks up some parts that could have sounded monotonous without the touches of melody.  “End of Flesh” starts off with an eerie guitar riff that sounds like Satan himself is playing a haunted organ from Hell.  “Prayer of Mockery” is filled with sinister melody, and they slow it down, using a nice delay effect on the guitars.  These small touches keep the album interesting, and hopefully they continue to go down this alley, and expand upon it in the future. 

There are some surprising guest appearances on this album.  On the song “Reprogrammed to Hate”, Chino Moreno, from the Deftones makes a vocal appearance.  Moreno’s voice gives the listener a nice change in tone from Bozeman, whose growls mainly stay in the lower end of the register.  Vincent Benett lends his voice to the song “Murder Sermon”, which happens to be a personal favorite on the album.  At one point in the second half of the song, an acoustic guitar finds its way on to the track.  The song ends strong, and the final riffs and chant-along lyrics force you to bang your head.

The album ends with the epic “Single File to Dehumanization”.  It’s a downtempo track that is packed with atmospheric melody, and it’s surprisingly progressive. The song has everything.  Dive bombs? Check.  A filthy breakdown? Check.  A Spanish inspired guitar section?  Double check.  This is hands-down, the best song that Whitechapel has ever written. Like any properly executed closing tracks, “Single File to Dehumanization leaves you wanting to listen to the whole CD again, and you should, because the album gets better as you give it multiple listens.

You would never think that subtlety would be the key for Whitechapels best record, but it’s true.  It is the small things that make this record as good as it is.  The band doesn’t reinvent the wheel on this record, but with their small touches, and a super polished production, don’t be surprised if this record makes some year end lists.