By Kelley Simms

Deathcore band WHITECHAPEL takes its name from the district in East London, England where the infamous Jack the Ripper serial murders took place in 1888. Forming in 2006, the Tennessee sextet has just released its fifth full-length album, Our Endless War, via Metal Blade Records. The band, consisting of vocalist Phil Bozeman, guitarists Zach Householder, Ben Savage and Alex Wade, bassist Gabe Crisp and drummer Ben Harclerode, are out to prove that they can stand on its own two feet within the oft-criticized “core” genre.

“I honestly believe that someone who listens to this particular music or this genre can definitely distinguish us between other bands,” Bozeman said. “I don’t think that I’m the best vocalist by any means, but I feel that when people hear my voice, they’re going to know it’s me just by the style and the sound. Even with the music, I feel that our song structures and the way we write, people can distinguish us between other bands. And that’s something that’s hard to do. This music is hard to be original with and to really put a staple on it. I feel we do a really good job of that.”

As the lyricist for the band, Bozeman’s penmanship is easily misconstrued as being ultra political. The line “Let’s take back our justice for all!” in the title track from the new album is only one interpretation of what he’s trying to convey. Bozeman assures me that his inspiration comes from the injustices that plague our great but misunderstood country.

“My lyrics are not necessarily just directed toward the government. The lyrics can come off sounding political, and I can completely understand why, but there’s other stuff behind it, too. There’s so much that goes on, like kids going into schools and shooting them up. It’s happened so much in the past ten years or so. That song (“Our Endless War”) is just saying, ‘All the good people lets come together, get all the horrible people out of here and lets take back our nation.’ This is based upon our America because I’ve never lived in any other country so I haven’t experienced any other culture. But even stuff with our healthcare system. Now we’re pretty much forced to have health coverage or you’ll get fined.

I feel like our nation is becoming the laughing stock of the world. We’re all about the reality television and all the ridiculous stuff we’re known for. I feel we’re losing control of this country. Other countries look at us like we’re stupid Americans. People in America will do anything for a quick buck. People don’t respect each other anymore. People are so mean to each other now. I don’t remember it being like this in the ’90s when I was growing up. I remember people were always outside having a good time. Technology has a lot to do with it, too. That’s where our song “Worship the Digital Age” comes into play. Everyone is distracted by either television, smartphones, tablets or their computer. You can’t walk into a public place and not see someone on their phone. Technology is the dominant force, especially in America.”

Despite having one of the coolest names in metal, it’s also interesting knowing the history behind it. Who came up with the band name and what drew you to it knowing its history?

“I think it was me, actually,” Bozeman said. “I was writing lyrics and stuff and I didn’t want something that was absolutely obscene or disgusting. I read about Jack the Ripper and I saw the name of the district called Whitechapel and thought that could be cool. We didn’t really think about it, but afterwords we thought it just sounded like a white church. I personally haven’t seen the area but some of the guys in the band have actually been there.”

A staple of the band is their symbolism of the saw blade that appears on its 2012 self-titled album cover as well as being decorated on the flag that appears on the new album. “It’s basically the Tennessee flag and the saw blade refers to “metal,” the grungy, metal side of it,” Bozeman said. “We just incorporated where we come from and the style of music we’re playing. The symbol just fits really well. That’s the symbolism behind the blade; it’s us, where we come from and what we’re doing.”

Where the band comes from is embedded in its DNA, and this message is what they convey on the first single, ‘The Saw is the Law.’ “ It’s just about what we do, who we are and what we devoted our lives to,” Bozeman said. “It’s sort of an ode to ourselves. If you look at it in a certain way, it does seem like it’s kind of pretentious. But we don’t think that we’re better than anyone else, but we’re proud of where we come from and we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished. That’s pretty much what that song kind of represents.”

Almost nudging a decade of existence as a band, Whitechapel are at a crucial point in their career. Bozeman states that the band is exactly where they want to be.

“I feel like we’ve definitely established ourselves,” Bozeman concludes. “We are where we want to be. We don’t have unfair expectations to ridiculous limits. We don’t think we’re going to go out there and be a diamond-selling band, (selling 10 million albums). I don’t think that’s even something that’s even been accomplished in this particular genre. It’s a constant building process. As long as we’re having fun and enjoying what we’re doing, that’s all that really matters. Obviously, we’d like to improve and grow, but it is what it is right now and we’re happy where we’re at.”

'Our Endless War' lyric video:

'The Saw Is The Law' lyric video: