Whitechapel: Possibilities Of An Impossible Existence – new video

‘Possibilities Of An Impossible Existence’, directed by Strati Hovartos, comes off one of my favourite this year's releases, WHITECHAPEL's self-titled fourth full-length. Issued through Metal Blade Records, ‘Whitechapel’ was produced by WHITECHAPEL and Mark Lewis who engineered and mixed the album as well. The album which debuted at number 47 on the Billboard's Top 200 Chart was received well by music critics and got even noticed by New York Times:

“They [WHITECHAPEL] build unforgiving walls of riff, and unpleasant ones too. Pleasure’s not the point, though. There is a militaristic certainty to WHITECAPEL's work, which activates the true thrills of masochism.”

“When metal historians look back at the era of deathcore, one band that will undoubtedly stand out from the rest is WHITECHAPEL. On top of being one of the biggest acts in the scene, and also having probably helped sculpt the genre, the Tennessee six-piece are one of the few acts really giving the oft-dismissed sub-genre a stamp of credibility – and their new, self-titled release promises to further solidify that,” [added Andrew Kapper, About.com – read the rest here]

The album's artwork was created by Aaron Marsh of Forefathers Group with art direction provided by WHITECHAPEL themselves (the cover being an image of the flag of the band's home state Tennessee). Enjoy, if you dare, the track ‘Hate Creation’ below and download the beast free of charge here (SoundCloud), and then look for their David Brodsky-directed video for ‘I, Dementia’ below the text. Buy WHITECHAPEL's music, T-shirts, necklaces and party packs here (Metal Blade). In related news, WHITECHAPEL will be re-releasing their full-length debut ‘The Somatic Defilement’ via Metal Blade Records in the spring of 2013.

WHITECHAPEL, formed in 2006 in Knoxville, Tennessee, named their band after an inner city district of London, famous for the infamous Jack The Ripper's killings and mutilations of aforementioned city's prostitutes. The group released their debut studio album, ‘The Somatic Defilement’ (in simple words: the polluting of the body), in 2007 through Candlelight Records; a concept album on which Jack The Ripper describes (through first-person narrative) his rapes and murders. Alex Henderson (of AllMusic-fame) described the three-guitarist-led sound as “a decent dose of bombast to those who like their death metal with some acknowledgement of technical metalcore” (more here). After signing with Metal Blade Records, WHITECHAPEL released their second full-length, 2008's ‘This Is Exile’; the album debuted at number 118 on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 chart, with the first week sales reaching 5,900 copies:

“The “heavy, choppy chromatic riffs wrapped around an indecipherable monster voice” style that fuels the genre is well utilized, but around every corner is a sneaky melodic lead, time-signature change, or smart production trick that elevates ‘This Is Exile’ above the usual death/metalcore sonic assault,” [was of opinion James Christopher Monger, AllMusic – more here]

Lyrics-wise, 2010's ‘A New Era Of Corruption’ dealt with social ills (devolution of society, violence, hate and corruption) and personal issues. Chino Moreno of DEFTONES and Vincent Benett of THE ACACIA STRAIN have contributed vocals on a couple of album's tracks. ‘A New Era Of Corruption’ has sold over 10,000 copies in its first week of release in the U.S. alone, and debuted at number 43 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.Following the release, WHITECHAPEL longtime drummer Kevin Lane left in favour of education, and new drummer Ben Herclorode joined in as his replacement. In 2011, the band released an EP entitled ‘Recorrupted.

WHITECHAPEL features: Phil Bozeman – vocals, Ben Savage – guitar, Zach Householder – guitar, Alex Wade – guitar, Ben Harclerode – drums and Gabe Crisp – bass