Whitechapel -- 'This Is Exile' [review]

Whitechapel - This Is Exile
Metal Blade Records (7/8/08)
Extreme metal

"Never underestimate immortality."
—"Eternal Refuge"

As much as you may want to shoehorn Whitechapel into the death metal genre, there's just too much going on with the band's sound to do so without regret.

On the surface, the band just tears through the 11 tracks on This Is Exile with abandon, and shoves in enough plodding riffs and double-bass drumming to fill a (sizable) graveyard. However, Phil Bozeman varies up his vocal delivery to such an extent—from growls to grunts to this really interesting stutter-chant (check out the closing moments of "Possession" and then again on "To All That Are Dead") or straight metal howls—and the band fully takes advantage of its triple-guitar attack to flesh out riffs (see "To All That Are Dead" again) and solos that, in the end, this music just has too many layers to be considered simply death metal.

Terror -- 'The Damned, The Shamed' [review]

Terror - The Damned, The Shamed
Century Media (6/10/08)
Hardcore / Metalcore

There's nothing new or particularly inventive about Terror's latest skull-crushing offering, The Damned, The Shamed, and really, you wouldn't want it any other way. The band offers up a thunderous dose of straight-ahead hardcore mayhem, with thirteen tracks clocking in at just over a half-hour of old-school, anger-fueled brutality, full of the trademark hardcore staples which may not break any new ground, but will combine for one hell of an album.

Chunky rhythm, riffs galore, down-tuned guitars, breakdowns, the familiar growled vocals... you name it, the band does it with the aggression and volume turned up to 10.

And they're is able to connect all of the pieces phenomenally. Check out the intense groove on "Betrayer"—hands-down the best Terror has to offer this time out. The band even throws in a slower bridge that just makes the song seem to expand well beyond its two-and-a-half minutes.

Also of note: "What I Despise" (frantic drumming galore and some inspired riffing), "Rise of the Poisoned Youth" (with some terrific bass work) and "March to Redemption" (great lyrics and vocals, and probably the best guitar work on the entire album). There really aren't any weak points on this album, although the first half starts to blend together a little. The band seemed willing to switch it up more frequently on the latter half of the disc (check out the opening to "Lost Our Minds" or the distortion on "Still Believe?") . Of course, track after track of roughly two-minute songs can’t really get too boring.

If you love hardcore, this album is for you. It's a no-frills blow to the face that most newer bands of the genre seem to lack.