Whitechapel Reveal ‘Mark of the Blade’ Album Details, Stream Title Track
Deathcore merchants Whitechapel are set to release their sixth studio offering, Mark of the Blade. The album will boast 11 tracks filled with the band's pummeling riffs and bowel-scraping vocal bellows with a few new elements like clean vocals in places and will be out on June 24 through Metal Blade.
The album cover is quite polished, once again brandishing the band's cleaner logo with a line stricken through the highly legible typeface, accenting the horizontal lines of the letters "H," "E" and "A." Whitechapel's trademark buzzsaw with three star cut-outs inside the blade is present with another blade, a sword, pointing upward behind it. A snake is coiled around both blades, weaving in and out of the star inlets with its head tightly wrapped around the top of the sword, bearing foreboding fangs in its widely agape mouth.
As for what lies inside, "It's the most dynamic record we've done, in the sense that one song can be very aggressive while the next one will be softer and sentimental," stated guitarist Alex Wade. "At this point in our career and as we grow older, we are taking a more open-minded approach to creating our music, allowing what we think sounds good to evolve naturally, rather than to just write what is expected of us."
The title track, streaming here, is an instant Whitechapel classic, displaying the pristine production courtesy of Mark Lewis who has previously worked with Whitechapel as well as Cannibal Corpse, the Black Dahlia Murder and more. The guitar work is bright and punchy, cutting through the band's bottom-heavy approach while retaining plenty of crushing low end. Employing a powerful groove, this one will undoubtedly see fists fly in the pit when performed live.
Whitechapel will be kicking off the 'Decade of the Blade' tour on May 4 to commemorate the band's 10th anniversary. Support on the trek will come from Fit for a King, the Plot in You and Enterprise Earth and will come to a close on May 22. The band will head back out on the road as part of this summer's Warped Tour, which will run from June 24 through Aug. 13. For a full list of tour stops, head to our 2016 Guide to Rock + Metal Tours.
Whitechapel, Mark of the Blade Track Listing
01. "The Void"
02. "Mark of the Blade"
03. "Elitist Ones"
04. "Bring Me Home"
05. "Tremors"
06. "A Killing Industry"
07. "Tormented"
08. "Brotherhood"
09. "Dwell in the Shadows"
10. "Venomous"
11. "Decennium"
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