Knoxville, Tennessee death metallers WHITECHAPEL have released the official music video for the song “Hate Cult Ritual”. The track is taken from the band’s latest full-length album, “Hymns In Dissonance”, which came out on March 7 via Metal Blade Records.
Of “Hate Cult Ritual”, WHITECHAPEL frontman Phil Bozeman notes: “The sin of wrath: this song portrays the overwhelming rage of the cult. Planting the seed of evil within the core of the earth to be birthed from soil. All the rivers and oceans are diseased which nourishes their unborn lord, roaming the earth and murdering all opposers.”
Adds WHITECHAPEL guitarist Alex Wade: “I was inspired a lot by BLOODBATH when writing this one and felt like Phil nailed the vibe vocally contributing to that. There is a ferocity and evilness to this track that I think really sets it apart from the rest. No breakdowns, just pummeling riffs with evil chanting over the choruses.”
WHITECHAPEL, who formed in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 2006, has seen the core lineup — vocalist Phil Bozeman, guitarists Ben Savage, Zach Householder and Alex Wade, and bassist Gabe Crisp — intact since 2007, with the exception of drummer Brandon Zackey, who has been playing with the band since 2022. While “Hymns In Dissonance” follows 2021’s “Kin” chronologically, the new album is actually somewhat of a sequel to “This Is Exile” thematically, the three-word title “Hymns In Dissonance” representing that correlation.
The band started composing the new album at Householder‘s studio in June of 2023, following their headlining tour for “The Valley”. The collective stuck to a strict weekday schedule, the structure allowing for maximum creativity and minimum burnout. Householder produced “Hymns In Dissonance”, which allowed the musicians to seamlessly switch gears from preproduction to recording the full album without skipping a beat. The guitarist shadowed producer Mark Lewis a lot over the last five WHITECHAPEL albums and bringing that influence inside the band is a full circle moment for Householder and WHITECHAPEL.
“Hymns In Dissonance”, which features cover art by European tattoo artist Rob Borbas (Grind Design),was released on CD and digital formats as well as vinyl.
“There is nothing nice about ‘Hymns In Dissonance’, from the riffs, to the lyrics, to the overall vibe of the album,” Wade previously said. “We attempted to write our heaviest album to date. We wanted to put out something that was shockingly menacing and brutal.”
“The album follows the story of a cultist who is gathering worthy people to join his cult,” Wade further elaborated, “and there are moments in the storyline where the cult followers are singing an evil hymn to open a portal for the head cultist to enter.”
The band’s dynamic, brutal musicality serves as a soundtrack to the compelling lyrical story that Bozeman vividly imagines.
“‘Hymns In Dissonance’ is a mockery of the true nature of what hymns are,” Bozeman explained. “Hymns are melodious and harmonious. Dissonance is the opposite of melody and harmony. Dissonance represents evil. The tracks on the record are the hymns, which represent the seven deadly sins, beginning from track three to track ten. Tracks one and two are the introduction.”
“Hymns In Dissonance” track listing:
01. Prisoner 666
02. Hymns In Dissonance
03. Diabolic Slumber
04. A Visceral Retch
05. Ex Infernis
06. Hate Cult Ritual
07. The Abysmal Gospel
08. Bedlam
09. Mammoth God
10. Nothing Is Coming For Any Of Us
WHITECHAPEL will return to North American stages this spring on a month-long headlining tour. The “Hymns In Dissonance” tour runs from March 18 in Raleigh, North Carolina through April 19 in Atlanta, Georgia. Support will be provided by BRAND OF SACRIFICE, 200 STAB WOUNDS and ALLUVIAL.
Photo by Alex Morgan
Source: blabbermouth.net
![Häxenzijrkell – Live in Erfurt 2025 [Full Concert]](https://i0.wp.com/res.cloudinary.com/glide/image/fetch/https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FaQeldSHOibw%2Fhqdefault.jpg?w=300&resize=300,300&ssl=1 "Häxenzijrkell – Live in Erfurt 2025 [Full Concert]")
