Knoxville’s premiere “Death Core” band comes to the Hi-Tone this weekend, so get your corpse paint and metal studs ready. For those not in the know, “Death Core” is some sort of ugly hybrid of heavy metal, combining influences from both the Death Metal and Hardcore factions of heavy music. Whitechapel are one of the torchbearers of the genre, and the band was a headliner on the Scion Rock Fest that was held downtown two years ago (Handy Park is still recovering). While all this death stuff might seem frivolous to more traditional music fans, Whitechapel aren’t just shredding and screaming into the dark. The band has produced five studio albums, and their 2010 album A New Era of Corruption debuted at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 200 Chart. Whitechapel has been signed to premier extreme music label Metal Blade since 2008, an entity that’s been cranking out records since the early ’80s for bands like Slayer, Corrosion of Conformity, King Diamond, and other interesting acts your mother probably wouldn’t want you listening to.
White Chapel
Local acts on Saturday’s bill include What We Do In Secret (WWDIS), a band that may or may not be referencing the seminal Germs track “What We Do Is Secret.” What We Do In Secret call their brand of music “inspirational hardcore” (are all these sub-genres getting confusing yet?), which means they deliver a positive message, even if you can’t understand exactly what the vocalist is saying. WWDIS released The Migration late last year, and the band has been playing regional dates in support of the EP. The onslaught begins at 7 p.m. Consider this your official warning.