Alright Whitechapel fans, I hope you have June 19th circled on your calendar as that’s the date that their latest album comes out! The self-titled release features 10 tracks of brand new ferocious metal from the Knoxville, Tennessee band. In anticipation of this release, Bloody-Disgusting caught up with guitarist Zach Householder to learn a bit more about the new album, what the future plans for the band are, and what Zach’s thoughts are about horror. Check out the interview below.

You can pre-order Whitechapel here. The band will also be on the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival tour. Check out here for all information and tour dates.

Bloody-Disgusting: Tell me about the new self-titled album. What do you think it offers listeners that previous Whitechapel albums haven’t?
Zach Householder: As always, we try to grow and change with every album. I think this album is our most mature piece of material in that it goes even more outside the box than what previous Whitechapel albums have offered. We concentrated on just writing songs that flowed and doing what felt as opposed to trying to cram a bunch of riffs together and make a song.

BD: What made you guys decide to release the album with the same name as your band?
ZH: We didn’t want to give anything away with an album title this time around and with simply having a self titled, it just leaves more to mystery and lets the imagery of the songs develop in the listeners heads so the can associate anything they want with them and create they own connection with them.

BD: Any crazy stories from the recording sessions?
ZH: Besides being pressed for time to record (as we always are) there wasn’t anything really crazy that happened. Our producer, Mark Lewis, spent a few nights out on the town with us during the recording process and lets just say it was always entertaining when he’s around. Lots of laughs to be had, haha.

BD: Coming to the topic of touring, you’re set for the entire Rockstar Mayhem Energy Festival this summer, a fall US tour with Hatebreed, and then a European tour with The Devil Wears Prada and August Burns Red. So 2012 is pretty much packed for you guys! Are there any hints at what might be going on in 2013?
ZH: There’s nothing I’m allowed to say at the moment but to be honest, we’re just going to see where this new album takes us and go from there. Hopefully there will be a few surprises here and there.

BD: In regards to horror, Whitechapel is the district made infamous for the Jack The Ripper murders. Are you guys into horror? If so, what are some of your favorites?
ZH: I think Phil and I are probably the biggest horror fans and as for some of my favorites, I love the Evil Dead movies. Something about how Sam produced them and though he didn’t have a huge budget, he still made them creepy with creativity and i feel that’s what a lot of horror movies lack now-a-days. I’ve even got Evil Dead tattooed across my knuckles along with a few portraits from the movies on my upper right arm. Along with that, the Alien trilogy (Alien, Aliens, and Alien 3) scared the crap out of me as a kid. I love the imagery of the aliens and which is why I’m extremely fond of HR Giger today. Last but not least, the first Poltergeist movie is one of my favorites as well…it was just plain scary to me as a kid.

BD: Metal and horror have always seemed to go hand in hand. Why do you think that is?
ZH: Metal is about creating something that pushes the boundaries of our human senses and so is horror. Granted, metal is quite popular now-a-days but so is horror. A lot of people ask why we talk about the things we mention lyrically in our songs and i always answer that it’s the same as a horror movie. You create an image and a theme and go from there.

BD: Aside from the upcoming release of your album and a TON of touring, any other surprises in the works for your fans?
ZH: I’m sure they’ll be something to talk about eventually…whether it be how badly our new album stinks or how much or an awesome tour we have lined up soon, haha. Either way, everyone should just be on the look out!

Whitechapel track list:
01. Make It Bleed
02. Hate Creation
03. (Cult)uralist
04. I, Dementia
05. Section 8
06. Faces
07. Dead Silence
08. The Night Remains
09. Devoid
10. Possibilities of an Impossible Existence

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