If you didn’t already know, Whitechapel is a band from Knoxville, Tenn., that has gradually become one of the biggest deathcore acts. I remember Whitechapel being the first of their kind that I started getting into, and they stood out to me as a band who, I felt, had always put 100% into every album they have recorded.
Our Endless War starts out with an instrumental track titled “Rise,” which really just prepares you for the title track. One of the first things I noticed in my first listen was that the instrumentals are seriously boring, as I was not finding anything super satisfying; however, the album does pick up a bit towards “Mono” – which finishes strong with powerful throaty vocals that only Phil Bozeman can compliment the music being played.
The next track, “Let Me Burn,” drags this album right back into the dirt with poorly written guitar work yet again. Sure, this track is heavy, but that does not make it okay to completely half-ass the track. Midway through the album, “Worship the Digital Age” brings back memories of the band’s earlier material – showcasing solid riffs, insane blast beats and even better vocals. At this point in the album, I was actually hoping things would start picking up and become more interesting. “How Times Have Changed” also starts out super strong and keeps it going throughout a good portion of the track. This song reminds me of “Hate Creation,” one of the singles from the self-titled album Whitechapel put out in 2012. “Psychopathy” also gives me the same classic Whitechapel feel. It did start out a bit slower, but it picked up as it progressed.
Our Endless War closes with “Diggs Road,” which starts off with some pretty boring strings and we are eventually welcomed with some feedback and a mediocre riff. I did find myself enjoying this track as it progressed. It was the first track that actually picked up some really good guitar work as the track went on. This is one of the slower tracks on the album, but it proves the point that a Whitechapel song doesn’t have to be filled with blast beats and breakdowns to be good.
To me, this album does feel as if Whitechapel is trying to go with the same feel of the last record and sort of recreate their own sound, which actually kind of does work. I can listen to this and immediately know that it’s Whitechapel, but it ends up feeling really lazy. I wish after listening to Our Endless War for as long as I did I would have a lot more good to say about it. There are three fairly strong points this album does have, though: vocals, drums and lyrical content. Other than that, I felt that Our Endless War was a snooze fest and a lot more work could have went into it. If you’re a long time fan of Whitechapel, maybe you can find more good in it than I did. If you have yet to listen to this band, I definitely suggest that you do not start here.
