Whitechapel’s Phil Bozeman Wishes Metal Was More Serious: “I Want to Feel Intimidated”
Ever listen to metal and think “oh shit, this is dark” or feel like the music was particularly serious? Probably when you were a younger metalhead, right? Well Whitechapel frontman Phil Bozeman, who’s definitely not unfamiliar with writing killer metal that treads some dark themes, feels like today’s metal is missing that edge. And he’s not too thrilled about it.
While guesting on The Garza Podcast (transcribed by Metal Injection), Bozeman lamented the current state of metal in today’s deeply online age. In an internet culture rife with memes and TikTok trends, he fears our little corner of the music world doesn’t carry as much weight as it used to.
“Here’s the thing with our albums, it comes in threes. Our first three were the albums that people today are saying like, ‘I wish they sounded like A, B, and C,’ which is [The Somatic Defilement, This Is Exile, and A New Era Of Corruption]. Then the next three were [the self-titled, Our Endless War, and Mark Of The Blade]. Those were all like…. that was like our sound changed but it didn’t change, but it changed. Now we’re on this next cycle of three which is The Valley, Kin, and [the next album]. I feel like I want to break the cycle. I just have an itch to write heavy shit again.
“We’ve always been heavy, but not like the first three albums heavy. Like that grimy, you hear it and you’re just like ‘fuck, that is disgusting.’ When you get older, when you’re in a band, you experiment and you want to try something new, and you do it and you get that out. I’m proud of it. It doesn’t mean that I hate it. It’s just that I’m feeling very nostalgic. Your roots call you back eventually sometime in your life. That’s just the mode I’m in. I just want to make something menacing and evil and just like, scary.
“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. [Former Suicide Silence vocalist Mitch Lucker] was scary live. Terrifying, and none of that really happens anymore. The only bands that really kind of still have that are like Meshuggah or Behemoth. 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. 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.
“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.”
What do you think? Is metal missing its edge? Can it ever get its groove back?
What we do know for sure is Whitechapel puts on a hell of a show and they’re heading out on tour with Meshuggah and In Flames. You can find the full list of tour dates below.
Whitechapel tour dates:
11/21 SOMA – San Diego, CA [Tickets]
11/22 Hard Rock Live Sacramento – Wheatland, CA [Tickets]
11/24 Paramount Theatre – Seattle, WA [Tickets]
11/25 Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre – Vancouver, BC [Tickets]
11/27 Midway Music Hall – Edmonton, AB [Tickets]
11/28 Grey Eagle Event Centre – Calgary, AB [Tickets]
11/30 Burton Cummings Theatre – Winnipeg, MB [Tickets]
12/1 The Fillmore Minneapolis presented by Affinity Plus – Minneapolis, MN [Tickets]
12/2 The Sylvee – Madison, WI [Tickets]
12/3 GLC Live at 20 Monroe – Grand Rapids, MI [Tickets]
12/5 The Hard Rock Live Northern Indiana – Gary, IN [Tickets]
12/6 The Andrew J Brady Music Center – Cincinnati, OH [Tickets]
12/8 The Paramount – Huntington, NY [Tickets]
12/9 MGM Music Hall at Fenway – Boston, MA [Tickets]
12/10 The Wellmont Theater – Montclair, NJ [Tickets]
12/12 Toyota Oakdale Theater – Wallingford, CT [Tickets]
12/14 Wind Creek Event Center – Bethlehem, PA [Tickets]
12/15 HISTORY – Toronto, ON [Tickets]
12/16 Place Bell – Laval, QC – (w/ Voivod) [Tickets]
