See what I did there? No? Let me explain.

In November last year deathcore giants Whitechapel announced that they would release their seventh studio length album ‘The Valley’. The album, which has once again been produced by Mark Lewis (Cannibal Corpse, The Black Dahlia Murder), references the Hardin Valley outside Knoxville, Tennessee, where singer Phil Bozeman grew up.

Recently Whitechapel released the second single from that album, ‘Black Bear’. There is one word that can describe this track – and that’s ‘groove’. As you can expect from any Whitechapel song it’s heavy, chugs and has Bozeman’s growl front and centre. But on this track it brings a nu-metal groove the band has not previously experimented with. In their last release, the band showed willingness to venture away from their tried and tested formulas – I’m interested to see how much further the push their sound on this album.

In relation to the lyrical content of the song Bozeman has stated “It’s all about me as a child, and some of it is me looking back on that time from the perspective of now. Also, it’s my interpretation of my mom’s struggles and her different personalities. She had a journal that contained very disturbing and sometimes evil writings, and some of her quotes and a lot of that journal is in the lyrics.”

‘The Valley’ is slated for release on 29 March. Check out Whitechapel’s newest offerings below and be sure to head over to their site to order your copy.