Is Metal Not Serious Enough Today? Whitechapel Vocalist Weighs In

Whitechapel vocalist Phil Bozeman laments that "nothing is scary and serious anymore" when it comes to metal.

His comments came in a wide-ranging interview on The Garza Podcast, which is hosted by Suicide Silence guitarist Chris Garza. Topics covered in the conversation include the first wave of deathcore, of which both Suicide Silence and Whitechapel were an integral part of, as well as the MySpace era of music and more.

Tying a bit into the idea of early deathcore, Bozeman expresses a desire to return to a bit of Whitechapel's roots on their next album, which will be their ninth.

The vocalist notes that Whitechapel's stylistic eras can be broken down within the catalog in sets of three. The first three records engaged one specific sound, while the next three took a bit of a different turn. The latest pair, The Valley and Kin really widened the palette and, although fans may expect Kin's successor to tread a similar path, Bozeman says they're in for something more in line with the band's first trio of releases.

"I feel like I want to break the cycle. I just have an itch to write heavy shit again," he says (transcription via Metal Injection), and he uses that as the segue to comments about the state of things today.

"That's one thing with the internet nowadays. Nothing is scary and serious anymore. Everything's a meme, everything's a joke. I miss like the scariness of shit. [Late Suicide Silence vocalist Mitch Lucker] was scary live. Terrifying, and none of that really happens anymore," Bozeman argues.

"The only bands that really kind of still have that are like Meshuggah or Behemoth," he continues, "If you watch Behemoth, you're not gonna meme that band. That band's terrifying live. I just want that back. Now everything's just like, in the comments section just who can come up with the funniest joke."

"I'm not saying that I don't like to laugh," he clarifies, "Of course I do, but when it comes to music I like the seriousness of shit. I like serious, scary… whenever I watch a band, I want to feel intimidated."

It's a fair argument — a common gripe is that the mystique that permeated music in the pre-internet era is sorely missed. It has certainly become more difficult to find artists that genuinely intimidate you, so if that's what you crave most, there's a void compared to the pre-internet era.

"That's not my personality. I'm not like a wacky cartoon noises guy. I like fuckin' just evil, menacing, terrifying, scary, intimidating kind of shit. Just dark. I love shit like that. I've always loved shit like that," Bozeman says of his own tastes and personality.

Watch the full interview below.