Review Summary: A Tepid Return
Before we get into Naked Whipper’s comeback album, Chapel Defilement, I want to acknowledge that I really tried to like this album. Leading up to its release earlier this year it had all the elements you'd want from a black/grind album: killer cover art, badass track titles, an enthusiastic base of supportive war metal fans. But unfortunately the music itself just doesn't reach the heights set by the hype.
Let's rewind though, because Naked Whipper is worth discussing. In the mid-1990s the second wave of black metal was already well underway. Classic frigid sounds from the north were being recorded and distributed, the melodic grooves from the Hellenic scene were crushing audiences and symphonic black metal masterpieces were being inked.
At the same time a different breed of black metal bands were quietly churning out even more intense music. The names of course are familiar: Blasphemy, Beherit, Sarcofago, Archgoat, to name a handful. These bands played a mix of black metal with influences pulled from death metal and grind. From this miasma, Naked Whipper emerged. Drawing inspiration mostly from the black and grind traditions, they released a pretty damn fun satanic BDSM-themed album, Painstreaks, in 1995 along with a couple EPs before and after. Think Napalm Death goes black metal, more or less. Then Naked Whipper disappeared for 30 years (a dozen of which the frontman spent in prison for manslaughter. Good luck finding more details, because I can't).
Comeback albums have to be a real headache. Do you strike a new path and risk alienating your fans while possibly failing to gain new ones? Or do you play it safe and cater to your base? It’s clear that Naked Whipper chose the latter. Chapel Defilement is in every way a direct continuation from their last album, only a little less interesting, and a little less intense.
In just over 33 minutes of blackened grind, Naked Whipper manages to not include a single track I can pick out of a lineup. That's excluding the opener - Depraved to the Bone - which starts with an audio sketch and an absolutely killer guitar riff. It's a memorably ferocious horse that Naked Whipper rode in on, only to spend the next half hour beating it to death.
That's a shame too because there's a lot to like here. The guitar riffs are reasonably tight and well executed, despite not being particularly memorable, the vocals work well enough, despite becoming repetitive quickly, and the drumming is aggressive and pummeling even with a flabby production quality.
It's unfortunate because their first album, Painstreaks, has all of those positive elements and executes them well. The live tracks released with the album’s reissue sound like an absolute blast to experience at a show. That's contrasted with this album which feels like the spiritual equivalent of opening a time capsule and finding someone 30 years ago left a sandwich inside.
Part of me feels bad for even writing this because I am glad to see this band releasing new music. And I'm sure some of these riffs were kicking around back in the day, didn't make it on a record, and provided an easy way back into jumpstarting the band. We'll have to wait and see if Naked Whipper is a one trick pony, happy with penning the same album over and over to a content base, or if they're just finding their footing after a long hiatus.
