“Verminous” is The Black Dahlia Murder’s most dynamic, rousing and emotional release to date, and it achieves this without compromising one iota of heaviness. Set to be released on April 17th via Metal Blade Records, the album sees the band take further leaps forward in what frontman Trevor Strnad has described as “the biggest evolutionary leap we’ve ever taken from one album to the next”. We speak to Trevor to find out more on that statement during what is probably one of the craziest times in recent world history which has impacted everyone including The Black Dahlia Murder themselves.
Andrew: So crazy times at the moment, how are you holding up with what’s going on at the moment?
Trevor: I’ve been pretty good, I’ve been doing a lot of press which kind of helps occupy my mind and we have the new record in the wings here so just trying to keep focused on that. Otherwise I’m pretty much a homebody when I’m home from tour so kind of used to this hermit life.
Andrew: I guess a big part of being in a band is the touring thing and I guess that’s all been put on hold at the moment right?
Trevor: Yeah our Testament tour is not looking real good considering a few of the guys have the virus which is very shitty for them. I’m really pulling through for Chuck (Billy) and Steve DiGiorgio, it looks like Chuck is on the up which is good but yeah it hurts, the Testament tour was obviously something we were looking forward to, they are total legends and one of my first metal bands so it’s definitely a big blow to not be on tour as the album is dropping. Also the plague is going to prevent people from going to the record store on release day too so that also kinda sucks but in good news, the pre-sales are doing very well and people seem excited about it so I’m happy.
Andrew: Yeah I think with all the things that has been happening and the music industry alone has been hit quite hard with everyone being put on hold, it’s a good time to check out new music and music that’s coming out and stuff like that so I suppose there’s an upside to that as well.
Trevor: Yeah we have some of the pre-orders going out already and people are receiving the album so they have nothing but time to sit there and listen to it so it’s kind of good. Also we have a lot of content on the horizon to put out during this time and now being twice as effective because people have nothing else to do.
Andrew: Well let’s get into the new album then, “Verminous”. I’ve listened to the couple of tracks that you have put out so far, I’ve yet to listen to the album but I will be sinking my teeth into it very shortly but so far from what I’ve heard is great but there was a quote you put out when the album was announced where you basically said it was the biggest evolutionary leap that you guys had ever taken. Would you be able to elaborate more on what you meant by that?
Trevor: Yeah sure, I definitely see a growth between every record that we’ve done and every time we come back in 2 years or in this case it was like 2 and a half years of touring, the guys are just better. They are better players, better song writers and I think having Brandon (Ellis, guitars) come in to the fold definitely changed the outcome of what “Nightbringers” would be but now he is like fully spreading his wings in the band and he’s really taken the reigns and he’s all over this record. I think it’s still recognisable as The Black Dahlia Murder but there’s a lot of new ideas and new different corners of the metal genre that we’re kind of mining from, doing some new things rhythmically and doing some more clever song writing tactics. Really it was hard to choose the singles because it’s hard to summarise the album in just a couple of songs because it is the most varied record we’ve done and that’s kind of like there hasn’t been a spoken plan really but it’s something that I’ve noticed as the years have gone on is that we’re trying to make more variety between the songs, make them have their own individual personality that’s very strong and I think that we’ve done that to a higher degree than ever before. So it just kind of feels like we did some new stuff on this record but it’s still very much us I feel like, very aggressive but we tried to be a bit more anthemic and just a bit more colorful I guess. More drama within the songs, more emotive parts and more gripping kind of parts hopefully.
Andrew: Well it still sounds like The Black Dahlia Murder to me, at least in the title track alone. That’s a very aggressive track and still has the signature sound that you guys are known for but do you think part of the evolution that you guys have taken over the years has been in part a change in the song writing process or do you think there has been an intentional effort to sort of go in different directions?
Trevor: I think it’s just come with time and age and experience. We don’t really have any discussion about what we’re going to do going into a new record, every record is just the next batch of songs that we wrote basically. But I do think it’s been an underlying thing to straddle that line between classic Black Dahlia and also trying new things and pretty much the albums have progressively gotten harder to play every time but that’s kind of like a selfish need to put in more chops to make songs that emote and we still try to focus on making everything will come across live very clearly. So we have that in mind when we’re writing too but I think the focus has kind of shifted from being the most brutal band to doing some really dynamic stuff within the confines of death metal, trying to make really lasting songs that have a lot of impact. So really the formula hasn’t changed too much, it’s just the minutiae of the songs, the very small details and like little song writing tactics that can be employed that are smarter. It’s just a batch of songs that we couldn’t of written before now, it’s like a culmination of our experience and the new blood in the band too, the excitement there and it feels like a very creative era for us.
Andrew: Do you think that technology plays a part in becoming more detailed in the recording process as well?
Trevor: It did, it really did. We jumped into it using pro-tools to make demos before the “Nocturnal” record that we did and that was just for a lack of a drummer. We were at home, we were supposed to be writing and we didn’t have any means to do it and we didn’t have a drummer yet and while we were searching, Bart who really was new at the time in the band, he taught Brian how to use pro-tools and that began what we do now which is sending songs through the mail to each other. We have people living all over the place, we have 3 guys out on the east coast and 2 guys in Michigan so we’re kind of used to this whole text message chain and email chains and sending files back and forth. But it has really raised the bar for the song writing I think, it’s a huge jump from our first 2 records to “Nocturnal” in terms of the amount of detail you can put in the songs and seeing them more fully realized than ever before.
There’s something to be said about when we all used to write together though, it was fun when it went right but a lot of times you’re just 5 different people playing 5 different songs if you know what I mean [laughs]. It’s not always fruitful to be creative in front of everyone so it has changed and the songs are solely written by Ryan and Brandon at this point but I do feel like they’ve really gotten way better and just more detailed and we’ve embraced this technological era. When I get a demo, it has both guitars, it has programmed drums that sound pretty good because you can make your drum samples sound pretty damn realistic these days, and starting with a high quality demo like that, for me I feel like I have to rise to the occasion and do my best work with that. It just feels better to start with a way better beginning product compared to like the 5 of us trying to play a song that we just learned and recording it on a boom box and then listening to that and then writing over it. That was the primitive way that we did the early records, there was a big change at the time but we’ve been doing this whole modern approach for quite a while now and it’s something that we’re very comfortable with now.
Andrew: You mentioned living in different areas and that’s something I’ve found to be quite common among bands and I guess technology does allow for bands to do that. But do you think there is a benefit to that because you’re not spending so much time together in close proximity that you’re able to be more creative with your own personal ideas?
Trevor: Yeah I think it kinda works both ways, like I do miss the camaraderie of having a normal practice schedule with the guys and kind of like the ability to blow off a lot of steam at practice, it’s kind of cathartic. But now we only practice together as a band for a couple of days before every tour, but people have to do their homework. Everyone in the band is responsible for their own instrument and they know that’s going to require practice at home basically, so it’s a necessary evil but I remember looking at other bands that had members from all over the place and thinking, ‘How in the world is that possible?’ But I totally get it now, it worked. But it is nice to get back with the guys after not seeing them, I mean they’re my best friends and it feels good to reunite with them and I think the time apart is good for us because we are often so close together for so long on tours, especially van tours or tours where you gotta fly every day like out in Australia for example. I love Australia but the schedule is grueling when you have to fly every morning and get up at 5 in the morning. So yeah I find myself more excited to reunite with the guys after not seeing them for a while so that’s cool in some respect.
Andrew: Yeah definitely. Speaking of touring in Australia we last saw you I guess it was almost 2 years ago with Aborted which was a fantastic tour, how did that run go for you guys?
Trevor: Oh it was killer man, great turn outs. Aborted is one of those bands that, I love them so much but I hate playing with them because they’re so good! They are a hard act to follow, if I watch them for too many songs before I go up there, I’ll scare the shit out of myself! But it’s also good to tour with a band that lights a fire under your ass if you know what I mean, you feel like you try to keep up with. But we’ve been really good friends with them for a long time, we’ve done a tour in the States with them, we’ve done a tour in Europe with them where we shared a bus so they’re old friends and Sven is a great guy. I think they’re really in their best form ever right now dude, people still sweat to “Goremageddon” which is a great record of course, it’s a classic but you can’t discount what they’re doing right now, they’re killing it!
Andrew: That was the first time I had seen them live and I was blown away by how great they were so made me a huge new fan at the same time which is great.
Trevor: Yeah and I think their last handful of records have just been like so solid. I just think they’re great and on a great trajectory and we had a blast together, we’re just a bunch of nerds all of us together so just have a lot of jokes doing a lot of impersonations and just being idiots.
Andrew: So when all this blows over and I guess you’re working on it right now but what are your plans for the rest of the year if you have any insight into how this is all going to play out? Do you have plans to get back on the road again?
Trevor: Yeah man we’re just planning as if this is all going to blow over hopefully by the summer. We still have our dates for the festivals in the summer in Europe – the Europe ha ha [laughs], but we’re praying those are going to go on still but beyond that we’re assembling a headliner for the US for the Fall and the package so far is awesome! I can’t reveal anything about it yet or they’ll cut my head off at this point but it’s definitely going to be cool and it’s going to be the Verminous tour that we’re hoping to do. So that’s just the game, we’re going back to Europe I think in the Winter, we’ve already talked about coming to Australia so global domination is in the cards for sure and I see us grinding it out on tour for the next 2 or 3 years pretty much.
Andrew: Well fingers crossed that everything works out well and we get to see you guys out on the road again. I know it’s crazy times at the moment but hopefully we’ll all pull through this together.
Trevor: Yeah man I think we’ll come out the other side stronger for it but I really appreciate the well wishes and thanks for the kind words and support, truly.
