**Summer Slaughter with Cephalic Carnage, The Red Chord, Decrepit Birth, Decapitated and the Faceless www.myspace.com/summerslaughter

**Warped Tour with Whitechapel www.myspace.com/whitechapel

**Mayhem Fest with Lamb of God www.lamb-of-god.com

**The Cool Tour with As I Lay Dying, BTBAM and the Acacia Strain (see below….)   www.cooltour10.com

**Ozzfest….. maybe? Goatwhore, Kingdom of Sorrow and Skeletonwitch will be there…  www.ozzfest.com

**The new Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza record Danza III: A Series of Unfortunate Events drops Tuesday, July 6^th and track 2 from that album is the title of this edition of WhatTheFuckIsKatieBrutalUpTo  - definitely pick it up, it’s pure Danza and fun as shit, I’ve been crankin it for over a month now…     www.myspace.com/tonydanzatapdanceextravaganza

**Check out Super Black Object for something completely different… they remind me a bit of Mexico’s Hacavitz… dark and raw and creepy… www.myspace.com/superblackobject

**Scott Hull’s (Pig Destroyer, Agoraphobic Nosebleed) This Comp Kills Fascists II also slays….  www.myspace.com/thiscompkillsfascists

**I also pulled out The Abominable Iron Sloth again after a recent conversation… so easy to get into The Id Will Overcome…  www.myspace.com/theironsloth

Plus, I just got three new tracks from the Acacia Strain (Wormwood out 7/20) which I’m currently allowing to deafen me, and I’m seeing Faith No More for the first time ever on Monday in Brooklyn at the Williamsburg Waterfront www.freewilliamsburg.com

So while I think it’s awesome that we’re observing the birthday of our country this weekend, I think it’s also worth noting that metal is still fucking kickin it too.  Do yourself a favor and hit a show, buy a t-shirt, pick up an album… it’s summer. Let’s celebrate.

Yippee-Kay-Yay, motherfuckers.

It’s almost impossible, once you’ve started listening, not to plow through the record.  The menacing attack that inevitably hits in each track finds itself smoothly interrupted by melodic guitar breaks from time to time, an approach not often taken by Whitechapel in previous recordings. While still holding true to the sounds that got them to this point, the addition of these melodies to their otherwise brutal sound emancipates Whitechapel from the strictly deathcore genre in which they’ve thrived, proving that all three guitarists Ben Savage, Alex Wade and Zach Householder and bassist Gabe Crisp are now not merely chug-masters, but are truly honing their artistry as musicians. The melodies serve their purpose, beautifully interspersed, giving a little relief and then providing the path towards a deeper plunge into the merciless pummeling: Whitechapel dole out the punishments all over this record. Kevin Lane absolutely annihilates his drums, which actually take the beating in stride… I need to ask him how big his toms are. They sound deep, dark and huge. I can hear a little Randy creeping into Phil’s voice, but perhaps that’s just the Richmond air I’m smellin these days… he still has his thick gutterals going full blast.

“Devolver” is brilliant.  ”Breeding Violence” makes me wanna bounce up and down, making that track the one I’m most excited to see Whitechapel play live this summer, especially with Phil’s intoxicating vocal cadence. I always love an Acacia Strain riff, which is apparently green-lit since Vincent shows up on “Murder Sermon.”  ”The Darkest Day of Man” – “it’s only getting worse” – has a fabulous d-tune on the downswing, and the guest vox on “Reprogrammed To Hate” woke me right up (not that I was asleep, mind you) – most certainly the gnarliest vox Deftones‘ Chino Moreno has put down in recent years.  In “End of Flesh,” I’m pulled by the lolling guitars, antagonized by Kevin’s rolling double kicks and enticed by Phil’s vocal vomiting.

Whitechapel have certainly created something of which to really be proud. “A New Era Of Corruption” drops today from Metal Blade Records, go buy that shit.  They’re currently doing the European festival circuit (with As I Lay Dying) and will back in the states for the Warped Tour in July.  Can’t. Wait.

myspace.com/whitechapel

aneweraofcorruption.com