Whitechapel

Hailing from Knoxville, Tennessee, the uncompromising deathcore band Whitechapel takes its name from the London district where Jack the Ripper committed most of his murders, merging grindcore, hardcore, and melodic black metal into a menacing blend. The group surfaced in 2007 with the punishing The Somatic Defilement and followed with several underground releases before reaching wider audiences via 2014's Our Endless War. Further momentum came with Mark of the Blade in 2016, The Valley in 2019, and Kin in 2021, all of which performed strongly in the United States and overseas.

Phil Bozeman, Brandon Cagle, and Ben Savage founded the band in 2006; guitarist Alex Wade, bassist Gabe Crisp, and drummer Derek Martin soon joined, and the expanded lineup recorded a self-produced demo that year. A European contract with Siege of Amida and a distribution arrangement through Candlelight led to the 2007 issuance of their first full-length, The Somatic Defilement. Later in 2007, Savage and Martin departed, with Zach Householder and Kevin Lane stepping in on guitar and drums.

After inking a deal with Metal Blade, Whitechapel delivered This Is Exile in 2008 and A New Era of Corruption in 2010. Lane exited in 2011 and was replaced by Ben Harclerode, who debuted on the remix EP Recorrupted that same year. The self-titled album appeared in 2012, and the fifth studio set, Our Endless War, arrived in 2014, entering the Billboard Hard Rock Charts at number one and earning widespread praise within metal circles. Fans embraced the 2015 crowdfunded live CD/DVD Brotherhood of the Blade as another standout.

Early in 2016 the musicians worked with producer Mark Lewis (Black Dahlia Murder, Cannibal Corpse) on eleven tracks that expanded their deathcore approach with both clean and harsh vocals. Mark of the Blade, released that June, again topped the U.S. hard rock charts. Whitechapel pursued an increasingly melodic death-metal direction on The Valley in 2019 and Kin in 2021, both of which also charted successfully.