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Whitechapel The Somatic Defilement
Candlelight CDL369 July 31, 2007
By Ryan Starr
How can an album that starts off so strong turn out to be so bad? Im a bit conflicted here. Whitechapel have some moments of brilliance, but they ruin it with their oversimplified core influences. The Somatic Defilement starts off really strong, with a kind of Cattle Decapitation meets Misery Index style. As a matter of fact, the title track is absolutely fantastic. It has some great riffing and a really epic ending, complete with some awesome harmony. But after that, it starts to go downhill. The riffs go down in quality, almost like they are saying we can really shred but this is what we think the masses want.
Another problem I have with this metalcore blunder is that the guitars are detuned way too low. I really wish bands would play 7 string guitars, instead of down tuning 6 strings. And the reason is clarity. If you tune a guitar that is meant to be played in E all the way down to A, those strings are going to be incredibly loose and lack any sort of definition, I dont care what kind of setup job you do, they arent supposed to be played like that. And while that works if you play nothing but breakdowns, if you play anything involving more than 2 notes per riff, everything gets lost. With a 7 string, which is normal tuned to B, you have crushing lows and well defined notes. Morbid angel figured this out 20 years ago, why cant these new bands?
Im not sure what else I can say on the subject. This album could have been fantastic, but they decided to go another direction. I can only hope they decide to step it up on the next album. If not, theyll just be another metalcore band that gets lost in the shuffle.
Official Whitechapel Website
Official Candlelight Website
Candlelight CDL369 July 31, 2007
By Ryan Starr
How can an album that starts off so strong turn out to be so bad? Im a bit conflicted here. Whitechapel have some moments of brilliance, but they ruin it with their oversimplified core influences. The Somatic Defilement starts off really strong, with a kind of Cattle Decapitation meets Misery Index style. As a matter of fact, the title track is absolutely fantastic. It has some great riffing and a really epic ending, complete with some awesome harmony. But after that, it starts to go downhill. The riffs go down in quality, almost like they are saying we can really shred but this is what we think the masses want.
Another problem I have with this metalcore blunder is that the guitars are detuned way too low. I really wish bands would play 7 string guitars, instead of down tuning 6 strings. And the reason is clarity. If you tune a guitar that is meant to be played in E all the way down to A, those strings are going to be incredibly loose and lack any sort of definition, I dont care what kind of setup job you do, they arent supposed to be played like that. And while that works if you play nothing but breakdowns, if you play anything involving more than 2 notes per riff, everything gets lost. With a 7 string, which is normal tuned to B, you have crushing lows and well defined notes. Morbid angel figured this out 20 years ago, why cant these new bands?
Im not sure what else I can say on the subject. This album could have been fantastic, but they decided to go another direction. I can only hope they decide to step it up on the next album. If not, theyll just be another metalcore band that gets lost in the shuffle.
Official Whitechapel Website
Official Candlelight Website
