Whitechapel's June 2010 release "A New Era of Corruption" achieved a remarkable Top 50 entry on the US Billboard charts.  Not a common occurance for a Death Metal band.  The Metal Blade artist is currently on the Vans Warped Tour, and we had a chance to catch up with guitarist Alex Wade for an interview.

Download link for "A New Era of Corruption"

LoudTrax.com:   Congratulations on the success of your new album, A New Era of Corruption! What can you tell us about the writing and recording process this time around?  How long did the whole process take, including songwriting and recording?

Alex Wade:  We took about the whole year of 2009 with the writing process, at home as well on the road.  The recording process took about a month down in Florida with producer Jason Suecof.  It felt alot easier this time around than This is Exile because we had more time to write material.  We didn't have to write anything in the studio, we went in prepared.  We changed some stuff around and cut some songs from the track listing but all of the songs were written when we went in.  It was nice feeling prepared.
 
LoudTrax.com:    If I'm not mistaken, some of the material was written on the road during your last tour; is that an experience you'd like to try again? Why or why not?

Alex Wade:  Definitely not, it's really hard to write on the road unless you have a tour bus and can set up in the back lounge, which we don't get the luxury of very often, so for the next record we are going to make it a point to take a few months off from touring to write the record and then go in and record it rather than writing a piece at a time here and there.
 
LoudTrax.com:    How are songs normally put together for your albums? Does the music come before the lyrics? Are most of the songs based on collaborations?

Alex Wade:  Songs start with the guitarists writing and riffing together, and then we take the riffs we like best and think will work well together and put them together to make songs.  Sometimes someone will write a whole song and we'll use all of it or maybe just part.  Phil puts his lyrics and vocal patterns to the songs after they are done so he kind of has a canvas so to speak to lay out his vocals on, rather than pre-writing lyrics and trying to just shove them into a song.
 
LoudTrax.com:   Many bands says their new album is their best one to date. How would you rate this one compared to the previous albums? What are some the tracks that stand out to you so far?
 
Alex Wade:  Hahaha hate to sound cliche but this is definitely our best release as well. The song writing and production just came together so well on it. My favorite tracks on the new CD are Reprogrammed to Hate, The Darkest Day of Man, and Breeding Violence.
 
LoudTrax.com:   As mentioned earlier, A New Era of Corruption is a great success; it debuted in the top 50 albums on Billboard! Now, considering how �un-commercial�, your music is, what was your reaction to see it do so well in its� first week of release?
 
Alex Wade:  We were extremely excited to see the first week sales hit 5 digits (10,600) and to be in the top 50 on the Billboard 200.  We never thought we would be able to accomplish something like that when we started this band 4 years ago.  Especially playing extreme metal.

 
LoudTrax.com:   Do you think this will bring up new opportunities for you? For example different touring opportunities, late-night talk show appearances (after all, Slayer did recently perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live).

Alex Wade:  I sure hope so, the more album sells you have the better tours you do get and we would love to be on a late-night talk show.  I love watching old videos of Slipknot and Deftones playing those and it would be awesome to play something like that.
 
LoudTrax.com:   Who were some of your favorite guitar players growing up and who has had the most influence on your playing style?
 
Alex Wade:  I'm definitely more of a riffer.  I couldn't solo my way out of a paper bag so I like guitarists who can write sick riffs and well formulated songs rather than super shreddy dudes.  My favorite guitar player of all time is Stephen Carpenter from Deftones.  I just love how his riffing is so simplistic but yet so captivating and atmospheric at the same time.

 
LoudTrax.com:   You were part of the Mayhem tour and now part of Vans Warped. If Whitechapel were to create its own touring festival, what bands would you like to put on the bill?
 
Alex Wade:  Slipknot, Deftones, Lamb Of God, Meshuggah, Suicide Silence, and Whitechapel.  That would be the most insane tour ever hahaha.

LoudTrax.com:  Your music is so intense and so brutal, how do you guys �chill� from that after the show is done? How do you unwind?

Alex Wade:  Nothing too special, some dudes like to play Xbox 360, other dudes enjoy some brews.  We aren't a super crazy party band so it never gets too wild.  We're pretty mellow and just like to get on stage and deliver an awesome show and then get off and hang out and do it again the next day.

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Thanks to Sarah Lutz at Metal Blade Canada for hooking up this interview.