Full Album Stream: “Extinguish the Light” by Whore of Bethlehem

A few years ago, we had the good fortune to meet guitarist Phil King at Maryland Deathfest, and he clued us in to his Texas death outfit Whore of Bethlehem. The band had just released debut album Upon Judas’ Throne, a colossal and eviscerating listen that was a perfect complement to that weekend’s brutality. We kept in touch with Phil by email, interviewed him for a web piece about his band and their 2014 record, and recently found out that Whore of Bethlehem have been signed to Black Market Metal Label for the release of their second rager, Extinguish the Light.

Today, Extinguish the Light is released to the public. Take it in and let it fuck your shit up. Also, read up on Phil’s latest thoughts on the band and the record. Let darkness reign!

Have you had some lineup changes in the past couple years? How has that informed these new songs?

We have had some lineup changes over the last few years. The biggest was a change in our drummer, we now have Sam Axelrad [of Austin tech-death firebrands Cathexis] behind the kit and he’s a monster as you’ll hear on the album. The other spot that changed hands was bass. We had Ellis Smith for a year or so in there, but after we parted ways we brought in Alan Berryman [also of Cathexis]. Overall the lineup we’ve had now has been around for almost two years and we’re all really pleased with how it’s working together.

Did you approach writing or recording Extinguish the Light any differently from the way you worked on Upon Judas’ Throne?

We think Extinguish the Light is a lot more mature. Upon Judas’ Throne has some songs on it that were written from the inception of the band back in the late 2000s. As such a lot of the songs and the themes of those songs were a bit more all over the place and less cohesive, like a band finding its way, so to speak. With this album we’ve been writing ever since the release of Upon Judas’ Throne, but the lineup changes made things a bit more complicated. When Sam joined the band he picked up the Judas material very quickly, and started applying his own ideas to the new songs that are on Extinguish the Light. While we writing the songs for Extinguish the Light we were also getting Alan and Sam up to speed on current material so that we could play shows and fests as we went so as to keep the momentum going and keeping the band relevant by playing shows. It all came together beautifully and it feels great to have it finalized!

I got to meet you at MDF a couple years ago… Have you been to other music festivals since then? What shows (festival or not) have you seen that have most impressed you recently?

Yes! Some we’ve played like Colorado Gutfest and Building Temples From Death Fest, and a couple of us ventured back to Maryland Death Fest a year or two ago as well. Show wise we’ve been very fortunate to play with a lot of heavy hitters in Austin, allowing us to not only enjoy but be a part of some of the really impressive shows in town. The last show we played was actually on the Morbid Angel and Suffocation tour package this past June before we hit the road on tour, and that was amazing. We also played with Marduk, Arch Goat, Goatwhore and many others over the last couple years and it’s been a real pleasure and humbling experience to share the stage with some of our major inspirations.

How did you get in contact with Black Market Metal Label? How did that partnership come together?

This is an interesting story. Originally I had contacted FullBlast!PR about doing a campaign for the album Extinguish the Light, but it would turn out that was no longer around and Chris, then of FullBlast!PR had started a label called Black Market Metal Label and wanted to talk to us about adding us to the roster. After sending them the album and talking with the awesome dudes over there we came to an agreement that was amicable to all parties and we’re very happy to be working with them. It came to fruition literally 8 to 10 hours before I sent off the first round of pressings for the album, it was that close to the wire!

How do you feel now about being finished with creating Extinguish? What do you hope people hear in it when they listen?

I touched on it a little earlier, but it’s really a cathartic experience for us to have this album finished and out for the world to consume. Half of the songs on the album we’ve been keeping close to our chest and never played live until the album was pressed to keep the enthusiasm high so we’re very excited to be playing these songs. It also let’s us free up from the complications of the last few years in terms of staggered writing with learning and teaching of songs while trying to finish an album. We’re free to start writing the next one, which is already obviously underway.

When people hear the album we’re hoping they find that blackened groovy death metal pocket that we love. We feel there is something in there for every metal head, whether it be black, death, or classic because those are our roots. We’ve taken the inspirations over the many years and crafted it into our own sound, which at this point has been set in stone. Extinguish the Light is definitely the type of material fans can expect from us in the future.