Metal Storm logo
Whitechapel - Our Endless War review



Reviewer:
N/A

83 users:
6.8
Band: Whitechapel
Album: Our Endless War
Release date: April 2014


01. Rise
02. Our Endless War
03. The Saw Is The Law
04. Mono
05. Let Me Burn
06. Worship The Digital Age
07. How Times Have Changed
08. Psychopathy
09. Blacked Out
10. Diggs Road
11. A Process So Familiar [bonus]
12. Fall Of The Hypocrites [bonus]

If Whitechapel has one saving grace, it is that they do deathcore better than most bands. Of course, to paraphrase M*A*S*H's Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, that is akin to being the best hockey player in Ecuador. Our Endless War sticks out not so much like a rose in a minefield as like a slightly less poisonous frog in a rain forest full of incredibly poisonous and extremely lethal frogs.

Our Endless War, like any good deathcore album, makes liberal use of monotones - sometimes extending to three or four different notes once Whitechapel have wholly exhausted the possibility of playing the same note any harder than they already have. This is not to say that the album is without its moments; "Blacked Out" hosts a killer solo, and the riffing in the title track makes it quite an excellent song. While I recognize the consternation this observation might inspire, Whitechapel have of late been incorporating djenty elements into their sound. There were a few times throughout this album when the slightest hint of Meshuggah crept into my mind. For the most part, though, the riffs, if there are any, lack imagination.

Nobody ever comes to this scene looking for poetry. I suppose you can't be disappointed without hoping for something, but you can still be put off by the "2 br00tal 4 sk00l" attitude that dominates about half the songs on the album. Fans of basic slam will really dig "The Saw Is The Law" and "Psychopathy." There is nothing quite like growl-rapping over a breakdown to get the blood pumping. To be fair, though, Whitechapel have wisely opted to use fewer than the standard seven breakdowns per song, which really allows the songs to develop on their own. Rather than serving as a buildup to something underwhelming, tracks like "Mono" and "Diggs Road" try to go somewhere without being roped into a brick wall by the end of the first chorus. The same cannot be said for "Let Me Burn" or "How Times Have Changed."

This review might seem pretty bipolar in tone, and for good reason; my feelings about Our Endless War - and Whitechapel as a whole - tend to be ambivalent. Typically I enjoy deathcore only when tech death bands stumble across the blurred boundary accidentally, and then only on rare occasions. As I mentioned in the first sentence, however, Whitechapel utilize this sound more effectively than most other deathcore bands, and this is enough to make me interested, even hopeful about their releases. Our Endless War isn't great, but it is still something I could consider a credit to the deathcore genre.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 6
Songwriting: 7
Originality: 4
Production: 7





Written on 02.05.2014 by I'm the reviewer, and that means my opinion is correct.


Comments

Comments: 11   [ 1 ignored ]   Visited by: 200 users
02.05.2014 - 22:48
Lit.
Account deleted
Seems like they took a step-back from the awesome self-titled.

That's a shame.
Loading...
02.05.2014 - 22:56
Uldreth

Quote:

If Whitechapel has one saving grace, it is that they do deathcore better than most bands. Of course, to paraphrase M*A*S*H's Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, that is akin to being the best hockey player in Ecuador.

Come on, if you think so you need to dig up more deathcore... :/
Loading...
02.05.2014 - 23:22
Rating: 7
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
Written by Uldreth on 02.05.2014 at 22:56

Quote:

If Whitechapel has one saving grace, it is that they do deathcore better than most bands. Of course, to paraphrase M*A*S*H's Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, that is akin to being the best hockey player in Ecuador.

Come on, if you think so you need to dig up more deathcore... :/

Eh, I think I've done enough digging for a while, but if you have any suggestions I'm open to them.
----
"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
Loading...
03.05.2014 - 00:04
Uldreth

Written by ScreamingSteelUS on 02.05.2014 at 23:22


Eh, I think I've done enough digging for a while, but if you have any suggestions I'm open to them.

I have a list you could check out.

But mainly what I meant is that there IS stylistic variance in deathcore and with it some quite surprising bands/albums. Whitechapel is cool for basic deathcore but nothing special for me.
Loading...
03.05.2014 - 00:55
Rating: 7
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
Written by Uldreth on 03.05.2014 at 00:04

I have a list you could check out.

But mainly what I meant is that there IS stylistic variance in deathcore and with it some quite surprising bands/albums. Whitechapel is cool for basic deathcore but nothing special for me.

I know a decent chunk of your list, but I'll give some of that other stuff a listen. When I do like deathcore it's almost always the very technical stuff, and liking something as simple as Whitechapel is uncharacteristic of me. Very little of the symphonic-, groove-, electro-, or progressive-type stuff I've heard has impressed me, but as I said I'll check out some material from your list.
----
"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
Loading...
08.05.2014 - 20:12
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Your opening paragraph makes you look ignorant and makes me wonder why you're reviewing a deathcore album in the first place. Didn't bother reading anything beyond that to be honest.
----
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
Loading...
08.05.2014 - 22:44
Rating: 7
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
Written by Troy Killjoy on 08.05.2014 at 20:12

Your opening paragraph makes you look ignorant and makes me wonder why you're reviewing a deathcore album in the first place. Didn't bother reading anything beyond that to be honest.

I'm surprised anyone else did. Honestly, I felt bad about reviewing this one. I wasn't going to since I've made it clear that I don't care for deathcore in the past and I figured I would have nothing to add. But their last album was somewhat interesting, I read some pretty positive reviews about this one, and the song or two I heard encouraged me. I really came into this one expecting to enjoy it a lot more than I did, but by the time I heard the whole thing and was disappointed I was already stuck with it. I still tried to say some positive things, though, because I did enjoy it more than I didn't. Sort of the same thing that happened with my review of Ænimus's Transcend Reality. The first half was brilliant, but then the second half turned out not to be so brilliant after I'd already started writing. I thought this would be more of an "I don't even like much deathcore and this is good" review than just another review where I trash deathcore. It wasn't entirely, though, which is something.

You're right, though; if I had had an accurate assessment of my feelings about this album before I claimed it, I wouldn't have done it. I feel bad about writing something essentially unnecessary.
----
"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
Loading...
11.10.2014 - 23:10
Rating: 7
Susan
Smeghead
I enjoyed this review in the sense that I also listen to deathcore VERY peripherally and don't have an informed opinion about it. I see all the negative aspects you mention about this album, but just love the positive side, too. Yes, I hear the "liberal use of monotones" in many songs, lol, but the interesting bits made this a very enjoyable listen. We'll see what it holds re: replay value, but as of this first listen I'm definitely on the plus side.

And PROPS to them for being from my metal-starved former hometown of Knoxville Way to keep it alive, dudes!!!
----
"A life all mine
Is what I choose
At the end of my days"
--The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
Loading...
06.11.2014 - 23:01
Rating: 4
flightoficarus
Stamp Tramp
Written by Guest on 02.05.2014 at 22:48

Seems like they took a step-back from the awesome self-titled.

That's a shame.


This. My thoughts exactly. They aren't the greatest band in the world to begin with, but the self-titled is something I listen to regularly. Very good stuff. This new one is just terrible. they went the same route as All That Remains by becoming overly preachy and corny.
----
Daily underground metal recommendations at Metal Trenches.
Listen to the Trench Talk podcast.
Loading...
09.11.2014 - 05:36
Rating: 7
Susan
Smeghead
Written by flightoficarus on 06.11.2014 at 23:01

Written by Guest on 02.05.2014 at 22:48

Seems like they took a step-back from the awesome self-titled.

That's a shame.


This. My thoughts exactly. They aren't the greatest band in the world to begin with, but the self-titled is something I listen to regularly. Very good stuff. This new one is just terrible. they went the same route as All That Remains by becoming overly preachy and corny.


I'm in the mood for something harsh like this and will take your advice about the self-titled. I enjoyed THIS album well enough so am excited to hear them in a more improved state. Tracking it down now...
----
"A life all mine
Is what I choose
At the end of my days"
--The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
Loading...
11.09.2016 - 18:39
Rating: 7
s_t_s

Two years (and another album) later and I tend to like this album a lot more than I did in the first place. The intro "Ruins" + "Our Endless War" are killer tracks and quite a lot of other tracks are brutal/powerful enough to be enjoyed.
Loading...

Hits total: 4931 | This month: 12