LIAM’S LISTENING ROOM – 14/3/25

Hey everyone! I guess the first part of this thing went well enough so I’m back with another one. If you missed the last one, not only do I encourage you to read it (here) but I’ll quickly give a reminder of the format of this column.

I’ll start by picking out my favourite new metal/rock release of the previous week, then I will spend a bit of time talking about what my general listening habits have been and picking out what I’m listening to outside of the metal genre. So, without further ado, let’s get into it!

WHITECHAPEL – HYMNS IN DISSONANCE

There were a few solid releases that came out this past week, but the biggest standout for me was Whitechapel’s latest offering, “Hymns in Dissonance”. I am not a Deathcore fan, and I am extremely picky when it comes to what I consider to be good Deathcore. Up until this album, I didn’t consider Whitechapel to be in that bracket, even as they experimented more with their sound on albums like The Valley and Kin. My main gripe with Deathcore as a whole is that a lot of the songwriting can feel like it’s done to meet a checklist, with breakdowns that can feel crudely shoehorned in just for the perceived need to have one. The overproduced sound of a lot of Deathcore albums is also something that grates on me slightly, especially when you get into the more atmospheric/symphonic territory. I rarely find examples where this is not the case, but it has happened more and more over the past couple of years as different bands have matured with their songwriting and also incorporated really interesting new elements from other subgenres. After spinning it multiple times over the past week, I think I feel comfortable being bold, and maybe controversial, and saying that this is probably my favourite Deathcore album that I have heard and, by extension, Whitechapel’s best album. 

To say that this album is heavy would be a drastic understatement. I saw a lot of people saying that this is their heaviest album yet, and going by what I’ve heard previously from the band I’m inclined to agree. But the band has done an amazing job of not only making the songs flow almost perfectly, but they have also thrown in plenty of hooks, memorable riffs, and leads that give each song its own identity. A lot of the time, when an album has the express intent of being heavier than everything else, the songs can end up bleeding into each other. This is not the case on this album. The production is almost perfect for the genre as well, with my only gripe being an entirely preference-based one in that the guitars can sometimes be a tiny bit muddy, but the drums sound fantastic, and the bass and low end across the whole album are close to earth-shattering, and Phil Bozeman’s vocals are not only phenomenal but mixed perfectly in with everything, with no instruments feeling like they overpower one another. 

In terms of a rating, I’d probably give it 4/5. It’s always nice when a genre you typically dislike throws up something that surprises you, and I will definitely be coming back to this a lot in the future.

My general listening habits

Aside from spinning Whitechapel and checking out new releases from Cryptosis and Dawn of Ouroboros, I have been in a bit of a nostalgic mood with my listening habits. I think this is due to a slightly stressful week at work than normal, as usually when I find myself under a bit more pressure than normal I tend to feel the need to go back to the stuff that reminds me of a better time, and that usually translates to listening to a lot of the stuff that I was obsessed with in school, especially from around 2011-2014. A few examples of the bands on my playlist are Dragonforce, Avenged Sevenfold, Exodus, Suicidal Tendencies, Disturbed, and Slipknot. If I were to give examples of specific albums, I’d say “The Power Within” from Dragonforce and “Lights, Camera, Revolution” from Suicidal Tendencies. While my tastes have matured over the years and I’ve branched out into way more stuff, I will always hold a soft spot for all of the bands that helped to build the foundations for my taste in metal music, and I will always have a great time returning to them.

My non-metal picks 

This nostalgic mood has gone into part of my selections for the week, with the first album being one that I played to death when it came out in 2009 and built a very special connection with. The album in question is “My Way” by Ian Brown.

Before I got into metal, I was brought up on various acts such as Oasis, Wishbone Ash, Jim Noir (if anyone else remembers him, I’ll be astonished!), The Stone Roses and, by extension, Ian Brown. This is thanks in large part to my grandparents being into all of these bands and hearing them all the time whenever I would go over to their house as a child. Even though I don’t come back to Ian Brown as often as I used to, this album has been lodged in my brain for the entirety of the week! I’m not sure how much of this is due to nostalgia, but I genuinely think “My Way” is the best thing he ever did. The only clunkers are probably “Crowning of the Poor” (mainly from a production standpoint, those electronic drum sounds are grating to me) and “By All Means Necessary”, and I love every other song. I will also say that “Stellify” is the best single he ever put out, and I will not hear otherwise! 

My final pick for this column is going to be not only the most popular one but also the best album I have been listening to, and it’s not even close. This one needs no introduction: the self-titled debut from Toto.

I mean, what else is there to say other than this album rules, and Toto is just an incredible band. I’m nowhere near as well-versed in their wider discography as I should be, but this album is the one that I have come back to the most regularly. Of course, the song everyone knows from here is “Hold the Line”, but my favourite is “Manuela Run”. If that song doesn’t immediately make you smile, then I have a feeling there may be something wrong with you! If, by some miracle, you haven’t heard this album, you must fix that immediately and put it on now.

And that is it for this week’s Listening Room. As ever, I strongly urge you to check out the albums I’ve mentioned if you haven’t already, and also comment telling me what you have been listening to recently! I’ll be back again next week with some new releases to talk about, so see you then.