1. Hey bro. Thanks for the intie. First off tell us a brief story of the bands history, and tell us the current line up. You recently signed up with a label, tell us about that too.
Well basically Whitechapel was formed in February of 2006. We wrote 6 songs in March and went in the studio and recorded our demo. Fast forward to November 2006, we decided we needed to renovate our sound and needed just a tighter and more technical sound in the drumming department so we let our old drummer Derek Martin go, he was a great guy and a wonderful friend but we just needed something more. We added our current drummer Kevin Lane and he has been killing it ever since. He's become one of the family and an amazing drummer, we wouldn't want anyone else.
We had been talking to Siege Of Amida Records before we picked up Kevin, we were going to sign with them earlier but we had the line up change so we waited and redid the contracts and officially signed with the label in late November. They've been great so far, Jamie and Darren are both amazingly nice guys, definitely there to help you with whatever you need as a band, not like some bullshit bigger labels. We've got some heavy hitting label mates too such as Knights Of The Abyss, Diskreet, The Red Death, The Partisan Turbine, etc. etc. so we've been very happy with the way things have been going.
2. Whitechapel has all elements of gutturals, slams, breakdowns and etc.you guys sound so cool haha. Describe your bands sound on your own word, and what bands influence you guys?
Honestly we just try to write sonically the heaviest music we can, period. We also enjoy throwing in a little technicality and catchy hooks, because that's what makes music entertaining are the hooks in the songs. Bands that influence us are Aborted, Despised Icon, Ion Dissonance, Devourment, The Acacia Strain, Blood Has Been Shed, Impaled, Hate Eternal, etc. etc. I could go on forever but those are the ones that just stick out to me right now.
3. As I said your slams and breakdowns are pretty cool and diverse too. How do you guys create those parts and what do you care when you create them.
As I stated before we're pretty much just writing the heaviest music we possibly can. There's a lot more to writing a heavy breakdown than most people think. You have to factor in the tightness of the starts and stops, the chords used, etc. etc. Having a lot of stops and starts in breakdowns give them a thick punch and creates a heavier sound, instead of just letting an open chug ring out for forever. We also use a lot of dissonant chords when doing breakdowns (i.e. The Acacia Strain, Blood Has Been Shed, Ion Dissonance, etc.), those seem to work well for creating a really heavy atmosphere in songs.
4. Describe vocals style bro, and what kind of vocals do you use and what bands influence your vocals style? And you have strong points that others dont have?
Phil has a really wide variety of vocals styles that he uses. He doesn't limit himself to one high and one gutteral like most death metal/deathcore bands do which is what makes a majority of them boring in my opinion. Phil can do many styles, straight gutterals, powerful lows, his regular highs, his nasal highs, the list can go on forever. He really treats his vocals just like another instrument in the band. He takes his main influence from Impaled and Exhumed, but he also takes influence from Beneath The Massacre, The Acacia Strain, Hate Eternal, etc. etc. I think our strongest point in the vocal area that sets us apart from most bands is Phil's lyrical patterns. He's a genius when it comes to writing his lyrics and lyrical patterns and I believe that's the most key element in creating our heavy, but catchy at the same time sound.
5. What kind of gear do you guys use?
We are endorsed and use exclusively Vader guitar cabinets, Grindstix drum sticks, and Phattie drums. We also use Peavey, Mesa, and Marshall guitar amplification, Mesa and Fender bass amplification. Ibanez 7 string guitars tuned to drop A (low to high: AEADGBE) and a Warwick 5 string bass. D'Addario 7 string strings and Warwick 5 string bass strings.
6. Your grinding parts are pretty cool as well as slow parts. So what bands can you compare yours with?
I don't know about comparing to any bands, our grindier parts are more techinical than our heavy slam parts. Examples are the beginning of our song Articulo Mortis, etc.
7. In my opinion Whitechapel is one of new style death metal bands just like Waking The Cadaver, The Partisan Turbine and etc. so what do you think about that?
Yeah we are definitely part of this new age of "Deathcore" bands that are popping up. I think it's cool it's blending two of the heaviest forms of music, death metal and the breakdowns and shit of metalcore, to create a new sound that fans of both genres can get into. The genre gets ragged on a lot by old school death metal dudes but it's straight, we like what we write, have a blast playing it, and will continue to play it until we decide to sell out and play poppy music to make some real money hahaha ;).
8. What kind of releases and merch will you have?
Our debut full length "The Somatic Defilement" comes out on Siege Of Amida Records on July 31st in the US and Europe. It will be distributed by Candlelight Records in the US. You can check out all of our latest merch at http://www.indiemerchstore.com/whitechapel. Go check it out and buy something to support us!
9. Hows your scene where you live? Any new bands worth mentioned?
The scene is awesome, it's smaller than most cities but it's better that way, we know all the kids personally and they know us, it makes local shows a lot more fun. The scene definitely has a strong hardcore and metal pull in it. Some good upcoming local bands you should check out (on myspace, duh, you know how to do it) are Goatblaster, A Different Breed of Killer, Mike Kelso, and Human Fuse.
10. You have side projects besides Whitechapel?
No side projects for us currently, but who knows, we might get bored on the road and write and record some poppy acoustic stuff to keep us sane from all the metal hahaha, keep a look out for that.
11. Thanks for the intie bro. Any last words you would like to add?
Thanks so much for letting me do the interview, it was a pleasure, and i'd just like to add that we are touring the US and Europe this summer starting June 1st so go to our myspace at http://www.myspace.com/whitechapelmetal or our official website at http://www.whitechapelmetal.com to check and see if we are playing near a city near you! Go get some merch from our webstore and be sure to pick up our full length "The Somatic Defilement" in stores July 31st!!