Whitechapel's The Decade of Defilement Tour (Los Angeles, CA)
For any band, hitting the 10-year anniversary of your first album release is a big deal. For Whitechapel, this was certainly the case, and they chose the perfect lineup for their anniversary tour. The date I attended was December 5th, 2017 at The Regent Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
The evening started off with So This Is Suffering, a band local so the Southern California. The raw energy that came from their set was amazing. They played 7 songs off their newest album release titled “Palace of the Pessimist”, released this year on Unique Leader Records. Being the opener, they set the tone for the rest of the night: brutal and dark.
The second band to perform was Entheos. This was a band I was VERY excited to see, as they were quite different from the rest of the bands performing on the lineup. While still following the ideals of no clean vocals for the tour, the main difference with Entheos was their amazing dynamics. With influences of groove and fusion, it makes for an incredible experience. Also, fun fact, they were the only female fronted band on the tour, which was very cool. People were astounded when she came out and started belting out those deep guttural screams. I knew this already, as I have all their albums, including the recently released album “Dark Future”, which was released on November 10th. They killed the 7-song set and I cannot wait to see them again.
The third band up was the infamous Rings of Saturn. This was my 3rd time seeing them this year. I previously saw them perform on the Carnifex and Despised Icon Co-headliner, as well as on Summer Slaughter Tour 2017. However, through all the times I saw them, this was the best they’ve ever sounded live. They were on fire at The Regent. They played 5 songs off their newest album, Ultu Ulla, as well as 2 songs from their previous releases. They certainly did not disappoint and the crowd thoroughly enjoyed them. They were the first band of the evening to have crowd surfers and stage divers. It was a thrilling experience to see them again, better than ever, and I cannot wait to see them again in 2018.
The second to last band up was Carnifex. Another band native to Southern California, they got the crowd going from the first moment on. This is the 3rd time seeing them this year, previously seeing them co-headline with Despised Icon, as well as seeing them slay at Vans Warped Tour 2017 in Pomona. With smoke cannons, bright lights, and large lit-up pentagrams in the back, they lit up Los Angeles and slayed that stage. Playing a 9-song set, with songs from almost every release from their 6-album discography, they showed us why they’re still the metal powerhouses they’ve been for 12 years. The crowd was going nuts, with tons of crowd surfing, huge mosh pits, headbanging, and even some crowd fighting, it was one for the books.
The final band up was no other than Whitechapel. Now, the only time I had seen Whitechapel before was for a song or two at Vans Warped Tour 2016 in Pomona, CA. But when they came out on stage at The Regent, they came to make that stage theirs. They played 6 songs off their debut album The Somatic Defilement, which came out in 2007, as well as songs off each of their other 5 albums. With a widespread setlist, they truly brought their fans into the journey of Whitechapel’s albums. With a setlist totaling out at 15 songs, it was a very long and brutal set, filled with deep gutturals, insane dueling guitar solos, and some great stage presence. The venue was off the chain, with lots of stage diving, the largest pits of the night, and some of the best crowd participation I’ve seen.
