On Oct. 29, metal band Whitechapel is releasing their eighth studio album, Kin. This will be the first album with their newest drummer, Alex Rüdinger. In anticipation of this album, they uploaded a gory and heartbreaking video for one single, “A Bloodsoaked Symphony.”
When first listening to the song, it appears as though it is a tale of pure rage and anger. When closely examining the lyrics, however — and seeing the characters of the video — it becomes evident that this song is a tale of grief.
The video opens with a happy older couple — perhaps in their 60s or 70s — then moves to band members dragging wheelbarrows through dark and haunting caves and smearing blood on their screaming faces.
Less than halfway through the video, we learn that this couple represents the singer’s parents: “Mother / I pray / That your voice sings me to sleep,” accompanies shots of the smiling woman and her now decaying body. Similar camera angles accompany the man, with the lyrics “Father / I pray / That your hand is warm again.” With both parents, though, the singer asks for guidance in his own grief regarding their loss: his bloodsoaked symphony.
This video reveals how the album likely connects to their 2019 album, The Valley, which was about lead vocalist Phil Bozeman’s mother’s struggles. The fast-paced shots, puddles of blood and black eyes in this video are evocative of an American Horror Story title sequence, but the jarring themes of the song make it much more personal.
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