METALTALK • OCTOBER 2021
BEN SAVAGE
WHITECHAPEL Whitechapel will release their highly anticipated new album Kin on 29 October 2021. Ben Savage, lead guitarist and founding Whitechapel member, discusses Kin and their previous album, The Valley, which saw the band begin their transformation from their oncedeathcore sound to a more melodic Metal sound One thing which stands out about Whitechapel is that they have had the same lineup, apart from drums, since Zach Householder joined in 2007. “I guess we’re all fans of each other,” Ben told MetalTalk. “Well, we are all friends, a brotherhood.” The youngest in the band, Ben loved to see concerts when he was young. “I had seen Alex and Zach perform. They were in a very popular local band. There are deep roots with us, and we just let us be ourselves.” With three guitarists, Whitechapel uses this sound to its maximum. “We all complement each other. It fills in the cracks with our songs.” Live, it does sound extra powerful. “With recordings, we have left and right panned and centre guitar parts. We can pull off re-
cordings live and keep the power and energy.” The three guitarists, Ben Savage, Alex Wade and Zach Householder, are joined by Phil Bozeman on vocals, Gabe Crisp on bass, and Alex Rüdinger, now the band’s permanent drummer. The previous album, The Valley, was very well received and showed significant development of the band’s style. Hickory Creek was a great song to play live. “That was a big one,” says Ben. “I always look forward to playing that one. It is definitely a good vibe.” An acoustic Hickory Creek version was released earlier in the year, which had all clean vocals and marked a significant change from the band’s deathcore background of the early days. Ben is happy with how that was received. “Our fans, they respect the stories and the intent set in The Valley,” he says. “So having an acoustic Hickory Creek just felt like a nice little easter egg or a little cherry on top from The Valley.” The Valley was a concept centred 4
around Phil Bozeman’s childhood. With that album, the Whitechapel sound went in what some have called unorthodox direction but is, in reality, a natural way bands develop as they grow over time. “The Valley was a vital record for us,” Ben says. “Probably the most important of our career because it bears the seed of what became Kin. We knew we wanted part two of The Valley story. “From that perspective, we could make the structure to the music fit that heavy subject matter. We could get more dramatic with the songs, having a very beautiful sounding part, and build to this cathartic climax. “We could explore more, and we wouldn’t have been able to do that if we hadn’t released The Valley. With the power of that story and everything involved, it really helped.” Kin finds the band still nicely brutal in places. The Ones That Made Us is a real eardrum blasting heavy beauty. History Is Silent has a nice acoustic mellow build-up, before Phil sings “sad to
