Album Review : Whitechapel - Hymns in Dissonance (2025)

I'm not a big deathcore guy. It's funny because I'm decently enthusiastic about metalcore and unsuspecting ears can't make the difference, but it has become an apples-and-oranges type of deal over the years. Whitechapel has always been the cheat meal to my lean deathcore diet with their punishingly heavy riffs and Phil Bozeman's acrobatic vocals keeping things consistently fun. Their new record Hymns in Dissonance delivers exactly that, plus some major nostalgie pleasures for audio violence enthusiasts.

This is a ninth studio album for Whitechapel, featuring ten songs and over 43 minutes of crushing deathcore. Thematically embracing the seven deadly sins, it channels "the old Whitechapel" from the This is Exile era that everyone's been clamouring for since they've started only slightly deviating from the formula a decade ago. Although it sometimes draws outside the lines, Hymns in Dissonance has not only the sound, but also the songs to please the folks who miss the MySpace era.

Hymns in Dissonance begins with the powerful and atmospheric Prisoner 666. Big chugging riffs, a Phil Bozeman performance so quick in borderlines on rapping and lingering guitar chords reminiscent of Immolation assault you right out of the gate. Whitechapel's three guitarists advance is put on full display on this song. It's followed by the title song, a thrash-influenced that goes on for about a minute or ninety seconds too long in my opinion. It comes out scorching, but dilutes itself into too many ideas.

Breakneck power chords, fat chugs and ambient strumming come back on third song Diabolic Slumber, creating this haunted atmosphere Whitechapel are so good at. It features a particularly crushing breakdown that eases the listener into the absurdly heavier A Visceral Retch. This song is obvioiusly digitally enhanced, but it's so dramatic and hits so hard that it serves as a storytelling tool to embody this demonic, all-consuming presence Phil Bozeman is singing about with such devouring passion.

Ex Inferis is a minute-long interlude featuring demonic chants and tribal drum rhythms increasing in tempo, serving both as a breather and a launching pad for Hate Cult Ritual.

There are some more thrash riffs and solos on this song, which features blast beats and tempo changes reminiscent of Slayer material from the eighties. The intensity of Hate Cult Ritual is relentless and punishing. It's one of the shortest songs on the record at four minutes, but it's brimming with unholy fury. The Abysmal Gospel is one of my favorites on Hymns in Dissonance as it channels even more of Slayer's influences and features an Earth-shattering drumming performance. It's good, primal fun.

Bedlam is the only song under four minutes on the record and it's another fun, bouncy, moshy cut that's going to make people swing their arms extra hard in the pit. It’s one of the simpler, less riffy songs on Hymns in Dissonance, but it's a good thing. It's compact and focused. If there’s one thing about Whitechapel going extra hard on this record that gets on my nerves a little, it's the occasional riff salad. Three guitarists can sometimes be a problem if they all have to figure out something to do with themselves.

The penultimate song on the record Mammoth God (what a great title) has a super catchy hooks interspaced with weird, dissonant, blast beat-y segments that makes it quite an overwhelming experience for the first few listens. Once again nice throwback eighties solo. The closer Nothing is Coming For Any of Us is, I think, my favorite song on Hymns in Dissonance. It's one of these crushing numbers that tramples you. It features simpler, but souful guitars and some of Phil Bozeman's most heartfelt vocals.

*

Hymns in Dissonance is a lot to take in. It has a lot of moving parts that fly by super fast and it can make you lose the highway sometimes. Some of these songs sometimes feel like a collection of riffs more than actual songs. It's great to hear Whitechapel go for the throat like this, though. I prefer the simpler, groovier, Our Endless War-era Whitechapel, but this is inspired. It's going to be a one-song-at-a-time type of deal for me, but it's going to have lasting power in my running playlist and whatnot.

A lot of people are gonna like this record more than I do, though.

7.5/10

* Follow me on Instagram and Bluesky to keep up with new posts *