The Valley | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | March 29, 2019 | |||
Recorded | 2018 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 40:33 | |||
Label | Metal Blade | |||
Producer | Mark Lewis | |||
Whitechapel chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Valley | ||||
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The Valley is the seventh studio album by American deathcore band Whitechapel. It was released through Metal Blade Records on March 29, 2019 to very positive reviews.[4][5][6][7] On April 14, 2020, an acoustic version of "Hickory Creek" was released. It marks the first Whitechapel song to include entirely clean vocals.
Loudwire named it one of the 50 best metal albums of 2019.[8]
The Valley is a concept album based on vocalist and writer Phil Bozeman's childhood; the title is a reference to Hardin Valley, Tennessee, where Bozeman grew up.[9] His father, Michael Gary Bozeman, passed away in 1995[10] when Phil was ten,[11] while his mother struggled with alcoholism and schizophrenia;[12] "When a Demon Defiles a Witch" is an interpretation of one of her visions she wrote down in a journal entry.[13] She eventually remarried, but Bozeman's step-father turned out to be abusive towards both of them: Bozeman has called him a "predator"[14] and holds him responsible for introducing his mother to crack cocaine,[10] which lead to her eventual death[11] via drug overdose.[15][10]
The band's follow-up album, Kin, continues the story.[16]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Consequence of Sound | B+[4] |
Exclaim! | 9/10[5] |
Kerrang! | [6] |
MetalSucks | [7] |
Metal Injection | 9/10[9] |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "When a Demon Defiles a Witch" | 5:04 |
2. | "Forgiveness Is Weakness" | 2:55 |
3. | "Brimstone" | 3:25 |
4. | "Hickory Creek" | 4:56 |
5. | "Black Bear" | 3:08 |
6. | "We Are One" | 3:58 |
7. | "The Other Side" | 3:17 |
8. | "Third Depth" | 4:07 |
9. | "Lovelace" | 3:48 |
10. | "Doom Woods" | 5:51 |
Total length: | 40:33 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
11. | "Sea of Trees" | 2:29 |
Total length: | 42:58 |
Chart (2019) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Digital Albums (ARIA)[17] | 15 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[18] | 36 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] | 27 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] | 46 |
US Billboard 200[21] | 143 |
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[22] | 7 |
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[23] | 26 |