Review: Whitechapel-The Somatic Defilement

Necrotizing
The 35 second intro is a series of industrial sludge and sound clips with some brief drumming in the background.

The Somatic Defilement
The title track is opened with a series hellish, guttural growls that are pretty well extended. Double bass and down tuned riffing fills your skull. Vocalist Phil Bozeman lower end vocal delivery is deep and evil. He accompanies them with higher pitched screams completing an impressive range. The sound of this first song is immense — having three guitarist certainly helps in that cause.

Devirgination Studies
Not much of a name for a song, but the sound is nice- the orchestral end of “The Somatic Defilement” leads into chugging grind core fueled riffs as the vocals shred.

Prostatic Fluid Asphyxiation
Mmm… choking to death on ass juice. You’ve got to love the song titles on this album. They’re completely vile yet, laughably cheesy. I can’t get enough of them. “Prostatic Fluid Asphyxiation” is complex and dark. There are some nice guitar leads similar to recent Cannibal Corpse backed by very active drumming. The start/stop vocals during silence are a nice touch.

Fairy Fay
The beginning of this track is great. Shrill guitar tones accompany a higher pitched vocal delivery. This one’s actually got a pretty nice groove to it.

Ear To Ear
This song is a good bit slower paced than the previous tracks. It’s oozes evil. Thick pounding drums dominate “Ear to Ear” mixed with blasts from the 3 guitarists.

Alone In The Morgue
I can only imagine what these guys would get into if they were left all alone in the county morgue. Like “Ear to Ear”, this track is also a bit slower paced, but it does have moments of chaotic bursts to punctuate the vocals. There’s a hefty breakdown right before the song ends.

Festering Fiesta
“Festering Fiesta” is like the plodding pace of a madman stalking you in the dark. It’s chugging mosh is unrelenting and highlighted by a few short guitar leads as if the madman has suddenly come up with another idea for your skin.

Vicer Exciser
We’re back to the quicker paced material now. “Vicer Exciser” reminds me a little of old school Autopsy mixed with some Deicide. It’s a nice bit of work.

Articulo Mortis
The words “Articulo Mortis” actually refer to the exact point of death. It’s appropriate that the band end with this one. The album is over and at this point of your torturous defilement, you’d probably be dead. It’s a nice play, on words as well as one hell of a destructive track.


Whitechapel’s debut is pretty god damned good. The three guitar onslaught is enough to send any sane mortal to a mental institution. The vocals are brutal, showcasing an impressive range of real low guttural insanity to higher pitched torturous screams. I highly recommend playing this album real loud at your next family reunion.

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Tracklisting
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1. (00:00:35) Whitechapel - Necrotizing
2. (00:05:20) Whitechapel - The Somatic Defilement
3. (00:03:12) Whitechapel - Devirgination Studies
4. (00:03:34) Whitechapel - Prostatic Fluid Asphyxiation
5. (00:03:33) Whitechapel - Fairy Fay
6. (00:03:31) Whitechapel - Ear to Ear
7. (00:02:54) Whitechapel - Alone in the Morgue
8. (00:02:29) Whitechapel - Festering Fiesta
9. (00:02:52) Whitechapel - Vicer Exciser
10.(00:04:03) Whitechapel - Articulo Mortis

Playing Time.........: 00:32:04