There is still much debate over whether or not Whitechapel is in fact a christian based band, and having never been a fan of "Christian Death Metal" or any of the other oxymoronic sub-genres of Metal that fuse christian doctrine with the secular sound, style and aggression of Metal in all it's ungodly glory, not much was expected of this latest offering from these southern bred extreme metal upstarts. Fortunately, having no real positive expectations for such an album was a very good thing indeed, as this is one of only a handful of albums to come out so far this year that seriously kicks ass!!
While the deathcore trend continues to permeate the metal community, Whitechapel's latest offering isn't completely entrenched in it, at least not so much as they were on their debut outing. It's obvious that they're not trying to completely alienate the fans that gave them their start, however, they've made the smart move of limiting the amount of shitty predictable breakdowns on the album to a handful. So while a few typical deathcore breakdowns have made their way onto this album, there is still more of an overall extreme METAL feel to it, which is definitely a step in the right direction.
With 'This Is Exile', Whitechapel have come out swinging with more melodic guitar work fused into their ultra-brutal 3 guitar attack, not to mention some wicked lead work as well. And thankfully, along with the slow and steady removal of 'core' breakdowns and a positive leaning toward a more straightforward death metal orientation, there are also no annoying "brees" and no goddamn pig squeals either. There are some rather low end gurgly death grunts, but that's a lot more in line with the direction the band seems to be headed in, and it fits right in with the over the top aggression that makes extreme metal what it is. And overall, Phil's vocals are extremely intelligible (something that every intelligent extreme metal vocalist shoots for) with a great range from his acidic blackened screams to his David Vincent-esque roar. Once again, a step in the right direction for this fast rising band.
In the grand scheme of things, sounding similar to Death Metal legends Morbid Angel (at least vocally), or more similar to fast rising extreme metal peers Job For A Cowboy is a better bet than trying to be the next Despised Icon or worse, the next Suicide Silence. Because when the deathcore trend comes to the end of it's already past due life cycle, Death Metal (sans any bullshit 'core' influence) will still be here, soldering on just as it always has been.
