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. ... »»
Kingdom of Sorrow - Kingdom of Sorrow
Relapse Records (02/19/08)
Metal
After a far-too-lengthy delay, Kingdom of Sorrow has finally been unleashed upon the world. And man, was it worth the wait.
The brainchild of Jamie Jasta (Hatebreed) and Kirk Windstein (Crowbar, Down), the project languished for years as the duo sorted out a variety of record label issues. But the little that did find its way to the fan base over the past year or so has done well to whet its metallic appetite.
Each track spills forth like a avalanche of sludgy, thick sonic turmoil. Jasta's guttural wails merge perfectly with Windstein's more mournful howls. Sure, it sounds like a merger between Hatebreed and Crowbar (as many reviewers have pointed out in a negative fashion), but what did you expect? Hell, one of the earlier titles for the project was Crowbreed. But what's wrong with a combination of those sounds?
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