Anyone who loves heavy music has experienced it: an artist known for bleeding brutality onto record decides to, gasp, experiment. They dare to trade their signature goblin growls for—THE HORROR!—unholy, clean vocals. This cataclysmic event in their career leads to a division of the fanbase, and many are now forced to beg for a return to the artist’s “roots.” It’s a cliché story, so far as Metal goes.
Whitechapel is no different. Born of the foulest soot, the Tennessee band rose to prominence in the Deathcore scene off albums such as 2008’s This Is Exile, 2012’s Whitechapel, and 2016’s Mark of the Blade. And then, in 2019, they dared to throw that infamous curveball at the world with The Valley—only to follow it up with 2021’s Kin.
Fans were left to simmer for four long years. A painful 1460 days to postulate on what a new record, the band’s ninth studio release, might have to offer. The answer, as we now know it, is Hymns of Dissonance, which arrived on March 7, 2025, via Metal Blade Records.
Self-produced by Guitarist Zach Householder, for all its perverted highs and abysmal woes, Hymns sets out to be somewhat of a conceptual album as it tackles the tale of a cultist called Prisoner 666. Bearing an oxymoronic title that suits its gorgeously grotesque meat, it is a thematic sequel to This Is Exile, but one that allows each listener to integrate its narrative into a coherent, linear tale of their choosing.
A violent shove into the oubliette of humanity’s darkest dregs, Hymns of Dissonance is a return to form. Laden with blast beats and undulating guitar mastery, its 10 tracks are exactly what many fans expect from the band and, perhaps, for this reason, a little too on point. It is epic: denying the allure of its title track, the pitch-black prose of “Diabolic Slumber,” or the greed-fueled finesse of “Mammoth God” would be cruel.
Still, gorgeously bleak as each idea might be, Whitechapel finds its roots in exemplary musicianship paired with Stygian lyrics. And one listens to Hymns proves this yet again: Vocalist Phil Bozeman, a multi-faceted powerhouse, delivers unholy chaos on tracks such as “A Visceral Retch” and the finale, “Nothing Is Coming For Any Of Us.” Accomplished musicians in their own right, his bandmates—Guitarists Ben Savage, Alex Wade, and Householder; Bassist Gabe Crisp; and Drummer Brandon Zackey—ride the lightning of album opener “Prisoner 666,” give us a moment to breathe on “Ex Infernis,” and toy with us on “Bedlam.”
Swimming laps through the tar pits of Hell, Hymns In Dissonance is not to be overlooked: it is Whitechapel in its purest form, and still, it lacks the emotional depth of its predecessors, more Biblical tragedy than authentic experience. It is no less a proud moment for the band, yet it is apt to leave a longing in those who favored that uncensored glimpse into the heart of this infamous beast. It is almost exactly what one would expect: a pitch-black plunge into an oubliette of depraved indifference, so far from a feel-good summer anthem as to be laughably obscene.
It’s a musical Catch-22: perfectly rooted in the band’s most vile approach to Deathcore and, therefore, a somewhat predictable response to recent criticism. However you choose to position it in your hierarchy, Hymns of Dissonance is both the brightest and the bleakest and a hopeless assessment of the rancid meat eternally rotting off the limbs of humanity. For this, Cryptic Rock gives Whitechapel’s latest album 4 out of 5 stars.
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