whitechapel - the valley

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.

whitechapel - this is exile

metal blade pursues an aggressive policy of re-issuing everything which isn't fast enough to escape their grip. i took advantage of that expansion a few times and as long as i am concerned, metal blade can keep them coming. earlier on, late in last year the label pressed whitechapel's debut "the somatic defilement" to vinyl for the first time and now the band's second full length "this is exile" is queued up next.

when pre-orders went live at emp mailorder, the host of the european metal blade store, it took me a few seconds to secure meself a copy. that was in april but release date was in july. i don't have a problem waiting for pre-orders but three months were quite long. anyway, i survived the waiting and i have to say the pressing is of great quality. the first press just came on shitty picture disc and that is why i never bothered to obtain it.

this new pressing does the album justice. it comes in a regular slip sleeve with a double-sided insert and nice colour vinyl. the only thing which is weird is the missing of the poster. the sticker clearly indicates a poster but there wasn't any after i unsealed the record. i checked the net for info and only found pictures without a poster but no statement, so i'm still not sure. whatever, my copy is #20 out of 200 and looking sharp on clear with black and red splatter vinyl. metal blade. 2008/2018.

whitechapel - the somatic defilement

finally. finally someone had the sense to press the debut full length of whitechapel to vinyl. i remember lively how i discovered the band for me. it was 2008, i believe and it was the high time of a social network called myspace. through friends-lists i stumbled upon numerous great bands and one of them was whitechapel. they had two songs of their debut in their music player - the title track and "devirgination studies". i was playing them to death and ordered a cd copy via the amazon market place for cheap. then i played the cd and thus the whole album to death.

i still have my cd copy and every once in a while, after i listened to one of my whitechapel records on vinyl and the question arose, why there was no vinyl edition of "the somatic defilement", i grabbed the cd for a listen. so you may understand my excitement when i saw this very album on vinyl for pre-order at emp.de. without a moments hestitation i made my way through the payment process and waited for the album to arrive. now i finally hold the lp in my hands and the album aged damn well.

it's a record without any flaws. the record is less progressive than their further output and way more direct but still with great technical skills and fantastic song writing. lyrically it's all about stories about women obsessed serial killers. that changed on further records but seems logical with regard to the band's name - whitechapel is the district in london where the infamous jack the ripper struck terror into people's hearts. the only little downer is the revised cover art, which metal blade used for their cd re-release from 2013. the original candlelight records release cover would have been cooler. on the other hand the vinyl colour looks sharp. 300 copies on tan marble a.k.a. "pale violet marbled" vinyl. metal blade. 2017.

whitechapel - mark of the blade

whitechapel was always my favourite band that emerged from that deathcore hype of the the mid 00's. i practically inhaled their debut full length "the somatic defilement" and since then, even though they changed their sound in favour of pure technical death metal and never reached that raw, energetic heights of the first album again, i await every new release with a bit of that excitement, which takes hold of me when i put on "the somatic defilement".

when "mark of the blade" landed at my door last weekend and i put the needle to it for the first time, i was a bit underwhelmed. i thought it was a bit one-dimensional. many songs that formed one, shadowy mass. with repeated listens that first impression vanished completely. i needed a few spins for the record to grow on me but now it sunk its claws way into me and won't let go. "mark of the blade" is played with high technicalty and is, compared to "our endless war" which was pretty straight forward, rich in dark melodics.

whitechapel creates vast, doomy soundscapes with some real killer solos. the only tiny let down is the first whitechapel ballade called "bring me home". man, i cannot stand that whiney clean voice of phil bozeman. his voice is made to puke guttural acid onto me but please spare me this heart-melting sighing. at least that solo at the end is real tight, so the song isn't a complete catastrophe. to get a better idea of what this record really sounds like, check out the title song here.

unlike the last record 'our endless war', this time i pre-ordered the most limited colour-way that was on display at emp. i took the clear with black smoke because i thought milkey clear, the other, less limited colour, would look pretty boring. i saw some pics on the net by now and it's actually a white marble which looks damn good. ah well, clear with black smoke is a great match as well. #169 out of 200 copies made. metal blade records. 2016.

whitechapel - our endless war

whitechapel has always been one of my favourite death metal bands. i love their complex riffing, the sick drumming and phil bozeman's signature voice. i loved their first record "the somatic defilement" that probably misses the musical ingenuity of more recent records, but was so rich with energy, darkness and aggression. it made me fell in love with this kind of modern death metal immediately. so of course i followed their musical path.

in my eyes the second record called "this is exile" paled in comparison to "the somatic defilement". one could feel that they wanted to choose a more complex and technical approach but it didn't work to one hundert percent for me. a couple of weak songs affected the overall impression. besides, "this is exile" only came on shitty picture disc. especially with "a new era of corruption" and with the self-titled record from 2012 whitechapel definitely found its very own style. and here we are with "our endless war" in 2014.

and boy, what should i say, this thing is fucking convincing. a monster coming your way. they became a tiny bit more catchy, if that term is proper in a whitechapel context, so it is easier to comprehend. but don't worry, whitechapel still isn't what your mom would sing along to after one listen. but enough talk. check out the title song, revolt and throw some stones! need to catch them live again.

i pre-ordered this along with the carnifex record of the last post and another pre-order that will be featured in the upcoming post. as this was a metal blade release that i ordered through nuclear blast, nb didn't get the most limited colour. indeed, you might say but such wasn't the case with the self-titled record two years ago. i came across an to 100 copies limited version at metal blade's ebay shop but at that point i already payed my stuff. ah well, that black w/ white splatter looks bad ass and i have a pretty low number. so i'm okay with that. 200 made. metal blade. 2014. 

nuclear blast pt. II: whitechapel

whitechapel - s/t
actually i put my pre-order of the "nile - at the gate of sethu" in plus the agnostic front and another nile record. a few days later just out of curiosity i checked the new-section at nuclear blast again spotting the latest whitechapel out put. at first there were no pictures and the following colour variations: black vinyl, copper vinyl and sand vinyl. i thought the copper colour sounded most interesting. so i wrote an e-mail asking to add the record to the order.
a week later nb put up some pictures. mmmhh... now i thought that sand vinyl looked better. so i wrote another e-mail. finally after being a pain in the ass for the nb team changing my order a few times, i got what i wanted :)
the music is great! another step forward compared to "a new era of corruption". complex song structures, dark melodies, good lyrics. the whole package!

nice presentation. matte paper sleeve, lp-sized booklet, sand vinyl. 200 made. metal blade records.

indie merch store: xforce of changex, whitechapel, hsb

xforce of changex - the bond we share 7"

this is the 7" that preceded their debut album on indecision records called "the fire still burns". the music on this could also be featured on the full length when it comes to quality (actually two of them are). i was out for this quite some time but my first attempt to buy it failed due to a last damaged copy in store :( 

i found it at indie merch by chance and was relieved :)

clear green vinyl. 200 made. 6131 records.

whitechapel - a new era of corruption
after the "somatic defilement" record from 2007 my favourite release of them. insane drum play! i love listening to it and guessing how the hell the drummer just made this combination happen without knotting his limbs. for an amateur like me always stunning! with this record they put a lot more atmosphere in their song structures. great modern death metal with guest appearances by vincent bennett of the acacia strain and deftones' chino moreno (how come?). i've just got their latest self titled effort at home but more of this in the near future.

didn't find any pressing numbers. but it comes in a nice gatefold sleeve. black vinyl. metal blade records.

heaven shall burn - whatever it may take
at the moment it's pretty hard to get even a glimpse of this record's original colour pressing. i check the bay regularly, searched the web extensively for some forgotten shop still having it in stock, looked out for it on discogs (it's there, oh yes but for 50 bucks plus shipping) and on some trade boards like dead format... nothing. at least not for a price i'm willed to pay (as yet). so as i took a look around at indie you may understand my excitement spotting it among their offerings. i clicked it for detailed information and it wasn't sold out yet (i fear hsb isn't such a big thing in the states :). i began to get sweaty hands as i recognized the price. lousy ten dollars. but then a little disappointment crept in. it was the black vinyl version.
but i took it anyway because it's the damn original pressing from 2002, hell yeah!

as the records finally arrived the shape of the sleeve was rather used. storage wear because it wasn't kept in a plastic sleeve which is quite stupid because to be avoided easily. but anyway the original sound is like an ode to my ears. much better than the polished sound on the re-press.
but i still want the coloured edition so i just wait until it shows up on ebay or i reconsider the discogs price. we'll see...

black vinyl + printed dust sleeve. 700 made. lifeforce records.