The Black Dahlia Murder

“Before the tragedy, no one ever thought this band was going to exist without Trevor.”

That’s The Black Dahlia Murder’s co-founder Brian Eschbach telling it like it is. With the tragic passing of TBDM’s frontman and co-founder Trevor Strnad in 2022, Eschbach, bassist Max Lavelle, drummer Alan Cassidy and producer/guitarist Brandon Ellis were faced with a decision: Close the door on one of the most beloved death metal bands of the last 20 years, or carry on in their fallen brother’s charismatic spirit?

“Everyone that’s in the band now is someone that Trevor and I searched for,” Eschbach says. “We spent so much time on the road together that everyone understands the mission statement. We don’t really need to talk about it. We just need to make great music and try to make people happy playing it.”

After a period of profound grief and deep soul-searching, Eschbach moved from guitar to vocals, setting aside his lifelong identity as a live guitarist for the survival of the band. Former TBDM member Ryan Knight returned to the fold to take Eschbach’s place on guitar. The new lineup made their debut in TBDM’s hometown of Detroit in late October 2022 for a tribute show for Strnad.

Fast forward to right about now: The Black Dahlia Murder’s new album is the one that many would have thought impossible. Servitude, the band’s tenth full-length, marks Eschbach’s recorded debut as TBDM’s lead vocalist and lyricist—and their first with Knight on guitar since 2015’s Abysmal.

“I just had to lean into it hard,” Eschbach says of approaching Servitude in a completely new role. “Honestly, writing the lyrics for this album was easier for me than writing the music for the three songs that I wrote music for. I’d pick a subject, research it, and just kinda dive in. Even though it’s not something I’d really ever done before, there was a natural flow to it once I started.”

You can hear the thrilling results on “Aftermath,” the ripping lead single, which envisions a post-apocalyptic cannibal scenario. “We wanted that one to be heard first because it’s one of the faster songs on the album, if not the fastest,” Eschbach says. “We wanted that very aggressive Black Dahlia melodic death metal feel coming right at you. Lyrically, it’s about a meteor that fucks up the whole planet, but there’s still people living. Kind of like The Walking Dead, but with no zombies—so you get right to how people deal with it. And by the end, they’re eating each other.”

Second single “Mammoth’s Hand” is a slower, groove-driven song partly inspired by a scene from Don Coscarelli’s 1982 swords n’ sorcery epic, The Beastmaster. “We usually like to give some idea of what kind of diversity is gonna be on the album with the first two tracks we release,” Eschbach offers. “Ryan Knight wrote the music for this, and the slow rhythm made me think of these barbaric warriors riding mammoths out in the snow or that scene from The Beastmaster when the Jun horde takes the village.”

The album’s third single, “Panic Hysteria,” is a very modern, classic TBDM waltz in the time-honored Swedish style. “It’s actually about rock n’ roll,” Eschbach explains. “I was reading quotes from Frank Sinatra, who really didn’t like rock n’ roll, and was pretty eloquent about it. I quoted him a couple of times in the song. That was a fun Sunday writing those lyrics. I’m not gonna lie—vodkas and Shirley Temples were involved.”

The members of The Black Dahlia Murder know that some will be skeptical of an album without Trevor’s inimitable presence. But many fans have already embraced the band’s decision to move forward. “More than pressures or expectations from the fanbase, I feel their trust and support,” Ellis says. “We've always done what we do for them, and they've appreciated our consistency over the years. The global outcry following Trevor's passing has shown us how important the band's music has been to so many people, and how important it is that we continue in his honor. Under all that weight, I think we all knew what needed to be done.”

“We put in everything we had, and this is the album that felt right to make,” he adds. “I'm proud of it and proud of the five of us. You can never please everybody, but I know that this music will be a healing and positive force for those who embrace it!”

The guitars, bass and vocals for Servitude were recorded at Ellis’ home studio in New Jersey. The drums were recorded by Mark Lewis in Nashville, where Ellis and Lewis also mixed the album. Servitude was mastered by Ted Jensen.

“Following Trevor’s legacy, Servitude of course marks the beginning of a new era of The Black Dahlia Murder,” Ellis says. “With Brian now taking up the torch, his personality as an inspired lyricist and vocalist shines bright—he knows well what the music needs. Ryan Knight's return to the band adds a third but familiar guitarist to the writing team, as well as allowing for a twin lead guitar element that the band never previously had. This all opens new terrain creatively. Where some doors have closed, new doors have opened.”

After the dust settles and the apocalypse runs its course, art will still persist in the wake of insanity. Society may crumble, but music endures and even thrives. The Acacia Strain document this deconstruction from the front row. The metal institution—Vincent Bennett [vocals], Kevin Boutot [drums], Devin Shidaker [guitar], Griffin Landa [bass], and Tom “The Hammer” Smith, Jr. [guitar]—survey humanity’s fate with seasick grooves, thrash precision, doom vulnerability, and vocal convulsions in 2020 throughout a series of five digital and physical two-song seven-inches. These releases ultimately comprise their eighth full-length offering, Slow Decay [Rise Records]. 

Unveiled in three-week increments, the music and the rollout itself adhere to 
a calculated vision.

“The whole concept is reality breaking down around us,” explains Vincent. “We’ve done our time on earth, broken through the boundaries of what reality actually is, and we’re now witnessing our collective descent into madness. Lyrically and sonically, everything reflects that. You’re getting the vision piece by piece. The whole theme is a slow dive. By the same token, it organically becomes one record instead of just one big push out of the gate. As soon as you think you’re getting the hang of it, we throw out a wrench with the full-length. There’s no evidence to suggest we’re aren’t actually in a living hell. The things happening around us could be out of a comic book or a movie. The idea is, ‘This can’t be real’. Maybe something happened. Maybe we’re all dead and we don’t even know it. Maybe we’re just living in some augmented reality hellscape of actual planet earth.”

Founded in 2001, such ponderousness always crept between the cracks of the band’s menacing maelstrom of metal and hardcore. As such, they engendered diehard fandom within a cult audience and put up unprecedented numbers for an extreme act. The 2010 opus Wormwood spawned standouts “Beast” [3.8 million Spotify streams] and “The Hills Have Eyes” [1.4 million Spotify streams]. Meanwhile, 2014’s Coma Witch staked out a spot in the Top 35 of the Billboard Top 200. In 2017, Gravebloom soared to the Top 5 of the Billboard US Independent Albums Chart and yielded “Worthless,” which exceeded 1.7 million Spotify streams to date. Along the way, they toured with the likes of Architects UK, Hatebreed, and Crowbar in addition to selling out countless headline gigs. 

Capping off 2019, they surprised fans everywhere with the seven-song conceptual EP, It Comes In Waves. Not only did it tally 1 million total streams in less than a month, but it engendered some of the best reviews of the group’s career. In a 9-out-of-10 star review, Metal Injection claimed, “It’s 30 minutes of doom, death metal, atmosphere, and storytelling that is hands down the best thing they’ve ever done,” and Decibel dubbed it, “the most interesting and varied record of The Acacia Strain’s nearly-twenty-year career.” 

With It Comes In Waves as a launchpad, they ramped up this momentum in 2020.

“We fully experimented on It Comes In Waves,” Vincent continues. “It made us grow musically. When we got back in the studio, we didn’t follow a typical formula. We integrated the sound of It Comes In Waves into what we normally would’ve done. Slow Decay is a culmination of everything that The Acacia Strain is mashed into twelve solid songs.”

Throughout September 2019, The Acacia Strain recorded at Griffin’s studio alongside producer Randy LeBoeuf [Kublai Khan, Left Behind] in Des Moines, IA. Even though they tracked drums at the same spot for It Comes In Waves, it marked the first time they cut a whole record in Iowa and worked with Randy. Additionally, they expanded the soundscapes with wooden frog and other “weird percussion instruments.” 

As a whole, they also perfected their patented approach.

“We were able to write emotional doom songs,” states Vincent. “We’re trying to evolve, and we hope people evolve with us.”

They introduced this chapter with the seven-inch D in February. “Feed A Pigeon Breed A Rat” slips from an ominous ticking into a crushing chug as the vocalist screams, “It feels like hell.” Meanwhile, the accompanying “Seeing God” [feat. Aaron Heard of Jesus Piece & Nothing] teeters between a gnashing riff and guttural growls.

“These two tracks bridge the gap,” he goes on. “‘Feed A Pigeon Breed A Rat’ is about how certain parts of society are just ignorant to the norm. Sometimes, you have to follow the rules in order to survive though. ‘Seeing God’ is the beginning of the explanation of what’s to come. It’s a style of death metal we’ve hoped to do for a long time. We’ve also wanted to showcase guest vocalists, and Aaron killed it.”

In March, the E seven-inch touts “Solace and Serenity” and “The Lucid Dream” [feat. Jess Nyx]. According to Vincent, “Those two songs plunge you deeper into this world.” April’s C seven-inch boasts his two personal favorites: “Crossgates” and “I Breathed in the smoke deeply it tasted like death and I Smiled” [feat. Zach Hatfield of Left Behind]. The latter hinges on a hulking beat as it builds towards a hypnotic and haunting refrain warped and wrapped in a delicate doom-scape.

“It’s about a very emotional time in my life,” admits Vincent. “I recorded it last, so I could make sure I was emotionally available to record it. The time didn’t break me, but what I was going through shines through.”
During May, A unleashed “Inverted Person” and “Chhinnamasta” as June’s Y delivered “One Thousand Painful Stings [feat. Courtney LaPlante of Spiritbox & iwrestledabearonce] and the finale “EARTH WILL BECOME DEATH.” LaPlante’s inclusion widened the scope yet again.

“Courtney’s got a beautiful voice,” the singer affirms. “What she did really blew us away, and it added another dimension.”

These seven-inches ultimately form on Slow Decay and a statement for The Acacia Strain.

“I want people to know we’re still here,” Vincent leaves off. “2021 will be 20 years of The Acacia Strain. We’re still making music, growing, doing new things, and encourage others to do the same.  We want everyone to be more creative and aware of the way they do things. It’s art after all. There’s more out there than what’s in front of our faces. I’ve been doing this since I was 19. The band is my life; I’m going to keep pushing.”

Birthed in 2019 and fostered in the decrepit streets of Houston, Texas, Corpse Pile dropped a small handful of self-released demos and singles before signing with Maggot Stomp. After releasing their 2024 debut EP, “Hardgore Deathmetal”, Corpse Pile cemented themselves as one of the heaviest bands in the rise of modern brutal slamming death metal. 

Fresh off tours with Peeling Flesh and labelmates Snuffed on Sight and Bodybox, Corpse Pile have begun work on a follow-up release along with planning more touring for 2025.

CORPSE PILE:
Jason Frazier: Vocals
Landry Arredondo: Guitar
Davis Snyder: Bass
Alex Covarrubias: Drums