Whitechapel

POLISHED BRUTALITY

For 20 years, Knoxville's Whitechapel have stood for refined Deathcore and Death Metal. With their ninth album, "Hymns Of Dissonance", the Americans returned in 2025 to the uncompromisingly brutal sound of their early days. In 2027, they will come to Europe with the "Burn Forever Tour" to knock fans out with their blastbeat hymns. Support comes from Sylosis, 200 Stab Wounds and Tribal Gaze. 

"Hymns In Dissonance" - the title of Whitechapel's current album says it all. "There is nothing beautiful about HID, from the riffs and lyrics to the album's overall melody. We tried to write our heaviest album yet. We wanted to put out something shockingly menacing and brutal," guitarist Alex Wade says about his band's latest work. "The album follows the story of a cultist who gathers people to join his cult. There are moments in this story when the cult members sing a hymn to open a portal through which the main cultist can enter." The band's dynamic, brutal musicianship provides the perfect soundtrack to the gripping story that vocalist Phil Bozeman vividly imagines himself: "'Hymns in Dissonance' is a mockery of the true nature of hymns," he says. "Hymns are melodic and harmonious. Dissonance is the exact opposite of melody and harmony. It represents evil. And the tracks on the record represent the seven deadly sins." The critic from Metal Hammer magazine writes about the band's latest output: "We have only just got used to Whitechapel opening a new, quieter chapter in their career with 'The Valley', continued on the 2021 release 'Kin'. Anyone expecting a continuation of that will not only be surprised by 'Hymns Of Dissonance', but completely steamrolled by it!" He sums up the merciless death-metal storm as follows: "Across ten tracks, they unleash every conceivable shade of rage. The blastbeat machine fires relentlessly, while Philip Bozeman's diabolical vocals swing between growling growls and hissing shouts." There is truly no room for sentimentality.

SYLOSIS: Since 2000, the band from Reading, England, have stood for uncompromising riff storms and technical precision. In February 2026, Sylosis released their highly anticipated, career-defining new work "The New Flesh" through Nuclear Blast. It is a monumental testament to destructive riffs, striking melodies and refined brute force. The band's seventh studio album is a powerful snapshot: deadly, uncompromising and metal through and through. The band explains: "We couldn't be happier with what we've created here. It's our heaviest album to date, but also our most diverse and collaborative. We've already played many of these songs live, and it's been great to see how positively the audience has responded to them. It really feels like the next step for the band. We can't wait to see you all again."

200 STAB WOUNDS: After an EP and an album for the cult underground label Maggot Stomp, the rising Death Metal newcomers 200 Stab Wounds from Cleveland were signed by Metal Blade Records in 2024. The long-player "Manual Manic Procedures" was eventually released on the renowned label. The record is a brutal piece of old-school Death Metal with a modern twist. The tracks are definitely not for the faint-hearted and have brought classic gore music back into the collective consciousness of the metal community. Stormbringer.at writes: "In just over 29 minutes, it is above all the dynamics and pressure that leave an impression. 200 Stab Wounds are far from as blunt in the caveman death style as, for example, their colleagues Sanguisugabogg, instead varying the torture tempo within individual songs when the opportunity arises, sprinkling biting solos into open wounds or creating a threatening horror-film atmosphere with a synth-guitar interlude." At times, it sounds as though Cannibal Corpse and Jungle Rot were crossed in a genetic research lab, later blended with Skinless and, after a lengthy process of mutation, unleashed upon humanity as a wonderfully ugly hybrid.

TRIBAL GAZE: This project came about out of boredom in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic. Tribal Gaze quickly developed into a serious band and released their first album as early as 2022. At a concert, A&R legend and talent scout Monte Conner took notice of the Texans and helped them secure a deal with Nuclear Blast. The first result of this collaboration is "Inveighing Brilliance" (2025), offering Old School Death Metal with Hardcore elements that settles somewhere between Obituary, Gatecreeper and 200 Stab Wounds. With a keen sense for punchy, concise songs, Tribal Gaze get the neck muscles moving. The reviewer at Metalfactory.ch writes: "Tribal Gaze return from the scorched earth of Texas with 'Inveighing Brilliance', a Death Metal monolith defined by violence and relentless brutality. The five-piece conjure visions of primal fury and nihilistic clarity with a sound rooted in the rawness of Oldschool Death Metal, sharpened by modern elements."