Album Review: Recorrupted [EP] by Whitechapel

For many metalheads, the definition of "deathcore" seems allusive, save that it’s a form of death metal that has perhaps one too many breakdowns. Whitechapel are a shining example of the triviality of such subgenre definitions. On their Recorrupted EP, the Knoxville sextet (three guitarists, oy) blast through one original track, two remixes, an acoustic version, and a Pantera cover, and do so with the versatility and signature style of any decent death-metal band.

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I’m going to be very blunt: This EP sucks. If you aren’t a diehard fan of Whitechapel, you can seriously just let the existence of this five-track EP slip by your memory registry and perhaps order the brain cell manning the registry counter to blast it into oblivion with its neuron blaster as well. One of the biggest criticisms of death-core has and will always be that of the “boring” and “uncreative” breakdowns that go chug-chug-chug for 30 seconds or more, and when a death-core band combines that with monotonous industrial beats and heavy synths in the form of re-bloody-mixes, they are simply opening themselves up to more hate from the core haters (I am not one myself, but still, monotonous + monotonous = fabulously boring).

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Whitechapel sit alongside Suicide Silence and the Acacia Strain as the current leaders of the heavier-than-thou pack of bands playing extreme metal and brutal hardcore currently fighting their way up from the underground. While it may yet be some time before a full-length follow up to 2010’s A New Era Of Corruption appears, Recorrupted’s five tracks make for a solid stopgap release. With brand new track “Section 8” sat alongside a cover of Pantera’s “Strength Beyond Strength”, two remixes and an acoustic reinterpretation of “End Of Flesh,” the Tennessean bruisers both give their fans what they want and introduce elements that will perhaps test the limits of some of their faithful.

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