Ed. Note: This is the first guest post in the history of this site (a new milestone!). Today’s album review will feature the writing of my brother Mitchell Plank, whose affinity for thoughtful prose is only supplanted by his love for heavy metal and photography. You can check out his photography Instagram by clicking here.
I’m not here to tell you the difference between deathcore, deathmetal, doom metal, (etc etc). I’m also not here to tell you if there really is a difference between the genres, or if people get a little too hung up on terminology when it comes to the arts (…sometimes). What I can tell you is that I love heavy music. Heavier the better. BRING ON THE HUMBUCKERZ. So granted this review is going to be a bit biased.
A lot of people unfamiliar with these metal subgenres may come out of this album thinking “this is just a shitton of noise”. In many ways I would agree with you. But considering the concept of the album (check out the wikipedia), vicious noise is the charge. There is a clear artistic direction with Whitechapel’s vision for HiD, and I think they delivered.
The opening guitar twangs like a showdown in some forgotten western town before ramping up to a haunting melody of guitars. From there, it quickly launches into aggressive power chords, vocals, and riffs that rarely subside the remainder of the album. It’s a rollercoaster that is nothing but spirals of doom all the way up before crashing down into earth shattering breakdowns. Phil Bozeman’s screams sound demonic all the way through, growling out barely discernible lyrics that hype you up all the same. You may not understand what he’s screaming, but you don’t need to look up the lyrics to know it isn’t for church.
Hymns in Dissonance is relentless, haunting, and savage. This is music for those wanting to be sonically brutalized and experience how heavy heavy-music can get.
It may just be noise to you. But it’s my noise, and I love it.
Maybe you can too.
Standout Songs: “Prisoner 666”, “Hymns in Dissonance”, “Hate Cult Ritual”, “Bedlam”
