These days it seems like every other day there is an anniversary tour coming through, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The inherent draw of these anniversary tours is that they hold the possibility of hearing your favorite bands play songs that have either never been played live before or very rarely. In a way, it’s like allowing fans to choose the setlist. How many fans would just end up demanding their favorite album in its entirety anyway? So it came to pass that deathcore heavyweights Whitechapel did their second in as many years. After touring on their debut, The Somatic Defilement, last year, this year brought the opportunity to shift the focus to their follow-up, This is Exile.
Easily Whitechapel’s best received album, This is Exile still shapes the band even now. It featured a shift to more straightforward death metal, dropping many of their “hardcore” elements, that would continue through Whitechapel’s music to this day. In a way, that makes it a perfect record to not only play in its entirety live for older fans, but to reintroduce themselves to a new generation.
Taking the stage at Come and Take It Live in Austin, Texas, Whitechapel breezed through a quick intro set consisting of more modern hits, including “Elitist Ones” from 2016’s Mark of the Blade and “The Saw is the Law” from 2014’s Our Endless War. This warm up may have irritated fans who only came to hear This is Exile, but it felt vital not only to promote Whitechapel’s newer material to older fans, but to satisfy newer fans who may not have even heard This is Exile before.
With that done, the next hour consisted of This is Exile in its entirety and did not disappoint. Not only does the record hold up just as vitally in 2018 as it did in 2008, but dusting off some of these classics remind one why Whitechapel has become such a major player in the metal scene today. Songs like “Daemon (The Procreated)” haven’t appeared in a Whitechapel setlist in so many years, but inspired some of the most precise and crushing playing from the band in the entire set. “Possession” might be a regular staple, but it was the moments when they stepped out of their comfort zone that Whitechapel seemed most at home.
Interestingly, among the new songs played before This is Exile was one which just dropped several days ago called “Brimstone.” Even on a tour like this, Whitechapel keeps an eye looking to the future. Next year they’ll release their newest record, and clearly This is Exile’s blood still runs in their veins. The anniversary tours may be winding down, but Whitechapel still has a whole lot left to give.
