end of april and finally i am able to write about my first new release of 2019, whitechapel's seventh full length release called "the valley". i don't get overly excited over a new album of the band anymore, still i buy them religiously because i know it is worth it. i ordered this record at some point in late 2018 at emp mailorder.
do not ask me why pre-orders started so early. release date was 29th of march this year, so it was round about five months of waiting. longest official pre-order process i can remember. anyway, of course i opted for the most limited colour-way on orange and purple marble vinyl. well, the outcome looks not as exciting as the description sounds.
the vinyl colour came out as some sort of clear burnt orange which is nice in its own right but i expected more of the purple to come through. whatever, who cares what i expected? of greater interest is the musical part of this release. next to their typical technical modern death metal sound, they gave more space to the more melodic side. clean vocals are more prominent. even though i prefer the first three records, i do enjoy "the valley".
mainly because the lyrical part is very interesting here. vocalist phil bozeman wrote about his difficult youth with his mother suffering from schizophrenia. very intimate and interesting stuff. the artwork is something pretty different in comparison to the bands other records, very cinematically. i like it more the more often i look at it. 100 copies made. i have #35. metal blade. 2019.
