Whitechapel: Devouring The Eyes Of God
WHITECHAPEL have been dominating the deathcore division with their white-hot run of releases for many years now. The fascinating yet incredibly personal thematics of The Valley and Kin brought out a new side of the band, pushing their creativity into exciting new territories. However, sometimes you cannot deny your roots.
Their impending effort Hymns In Dissonance is soon to unleash some of their most devastating material to date. “Hymns In Dissonance is a play on words that Phil came up with,” explains guitarist Alex Wade. “A hymn is usually a beautiful song and dissonance is the complete opposite of that. We were talking about different ideas for the record and what direction we should take and Phil expressed that he wasn’t really interested in singing for this one. Not that he will never want to do that again, just that the last two albums were very emotional and he was ready to head in a heavier direction. It was really fun and quite nostalgic for us, just hanging out and writing really brutal shit again. Our guitarist Zach has his own studio now so we recorded everything there. It was the first time we’ve ever done a record that way and it was cool to be able to do that because as soon as we got finished writing we were able to just switch gears and start recording without having to move locations.”
The overarching narrative devised by frontman Phil Bozeman for Hymns In Dissonance revolves around that last living son of the entity known as the Father of Lies. He begins to assemble a cult of followers with the aim of committing the seven deadly sins and resurrecting the dark lord. What some may not know is that Phil also lends his skills in the instrumental department. “Phil had a lot of fun coming up with the theme for the cult leader and the cultists which flows through the album and just being able to let loose on this one without having to make it so personal,” discusses Alex. “The songs where he writes guitar parts are usually some of the best vocally too because not only does he have the idea of what he wants to do lyrically but if he has an idea for the guitar as well he can really make those ideas intertwine. He’s always contributed to the guitars in some shape or form, ever since our first album. He’s definitely a renaissance man.”
In addition to Phil‘s contributions, WHITECHAPEL are armed with a triple-pronged riff assault in the form of Alex, Ben Savage and Zach Householder. As well as having an endless sea of inspiration to tap into it ensures that they are on top form from a performance perspective. “For the most part, me and Zach handle the rhythm duties and Ben does all the lead work,” informs Alex. “Any solos you hear on the record he wrote and performed all of those. I think it helps us a lot having three guitarists when it comes to playing live as some bands have to pick and choose which elements are played live whereas we can play everything without the rhythm having to drop out to play leads. It allows us to have a fuller sound and perform everything rather than having to rely on backing tracks.”
WHITECHAPEL have given the fans a taste of what to expect with the release of singles A Visceral Retch and the title track Hymns In Dissonance, both equipped with an abundance of destructive capabilities. “The reception to the singles has been overwhelmingly positive,” admits Alex. “When the talk began about us going back to our roots a lot of people wondered whether we’d be able to pull it off and replicate the old sound and I’m happy that we did exactly what we said we were going to do. I feel like the groove is part of our sound now and that will never go away. No matter how many blast beats we incorporate. I think it’s what sets us apart from a lot of other deathcore bands too, songs like The Saw Is The Law and Prisoner 666 from the new record are great examples of that.”
The responsibilities of breathing life into the accompanying artwork for this demonic concept was bestowed upon world renowned tattooist Rob Borbas, most will know him better by the moniker Grindesign. “He kind of just stumbled into our laps,” states Alex. “We had been looking at a handful of artists and nothing was really sparking our creativity. Phil was the one who brought up Rob, he’s got a really big following and makes some pretty dark shit, his style is perfect for the vibe and sound we have gone for on this record. The original idea for the cult mask came from Ben experimenting with Photoshop and just stitching ideas together and then we got Rob to redraw it in his style, putting his own spin on it. I think it’s perfect. It’s creepy and ominous, just like we wanted it to be. We wanted the cover to be kind of understated as there is a lot of accompanying artwork on the inside. We didn’t want to give it all away!”
WHITECHAPEL have racked up a significant amount of touring in the last few years and they have no intention of slowing down, a hefty US tour is on the horizon following the album release alongside a bundle of festival shows for their fans to feast upon. “Once the album drops the name of the game is just to get out there and play shows, make new fans and keep growing the band. We’re approaching 20 years as a band and it’s crazy to say we’re still able to do this,” expresses Alex. “We’re still grinding and want to make new fans and get our music out there to the people that haven’t heard it before. We’ve got a lot of plans for shows this year so it’s going to be a busy time for us!”
Hymns In Dissonance is out now via Metal Blade Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS118 here:
Like WHITECHAPEL on Facebook.