The Black Dahlia Murder: Американская мелодичная дэт-метал группа

American melodic death metal band

The Black Dahlia Murder is an American melodic death metal band from Waterford, Michigan, formed in 2001. Their name is derived from the 1947 unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short, often referred to as Black Dahlia. Currently, the band consists of lead vocalist Brian Eschbach, bassist Max Lavelle, drummer Alan Cassidy, and guitarists Brandon Ellis and Ryan Knight. The Black Dahlia Murder has undergone various lineup changes, with Trevor Strnad and Eschbach remaining the only constant members, until the former's death in 2022, which then saw Eschbach take over lead vocals and Knight (who was the band's lead guitarist from 2009 to 2016 and rejoined the same year) replacing him on rhythm guitar. Following the release of a 2001 demo album and a 2002 EP, the Black Dahlia Murder signed to Metal Blade Records in 2003, who released their debut studio album Unhallowed that same year. Out of the nine studio albums the band have released to date, the last eight have charted on the U. S. Billboard 200, with their fifth album Ritual peaking at No. 31 in 2011, marking them as one of the most popular contemporary American extreme metal bands. Their ninth and latest album, Verminous, was released on April 17, 2020.

The Black Dahlia Murder began its inception during late 2000 and gained the final band lineup in January 2001. The group released their demo entitled What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse, and a four track EP, A Cold Blooded Epitaph, the latter of which the group released on Lovelost Records. After appearing in concerts such as the Milwaukee Metal Fest, the Black Dahlia Murder signed to Metal Blade Records in 2003. Bassist Ryan "Bart" Williams left his former band, Detroit's Today I Wait, to tour with the Black Dahlia Murder. After touring with the band on their co headlining gig with Throwdown and their European dates with Liar, he joined the group full time, replacing former bassist David Lock. Frontman Trevor Strnad said that Lock was fired for incompetency. Williams was one of two engineers (the other being Walls of Jericho's Mike Hasty) on the band's first full length album, Unhallowed. The band then went on a tour in late 2004 supporting Unearth alongside Terror and Remembering Never throughout the United States. The band's second album Miasma was released on July 12, 2005, and peaked at No. 118 on the Billboard 200. After touring for Miasma, drummer Zach Gibson left the band along with Pierre Langlois. While Gibson went on to join Abigail Williams, Langlois left the band for a more secure lifestyle, and the band finished their search for a replacement drummer when they found former All That Remains drummer, Shannon Lucas. The group played at Ozzfest 2005.

Their third album, entitled Nocturnal, was released on September 18, 2007. The album debuted at No. 72 on the Billboard 200. The Black Dahlia Murder announced via their MySpace profile that they were going on a U. S. tour with Cannibal Corpse to promote their new album Nocturnal and celebrate the 25 years that Metal Blade Records had been in business. They were joined by label mates The Red Chord, Aeon, The Absence, and Goatwhore. In January/February 2008, the band embarked on a U. S. headlining tour with 3 Inches of Blood, Hate Eternal, and Decrepit Birth, followed by another alongside Brain Drill and Animosity. They were on Hot Topic's "Summer Slaughter Tour" with Kataklysm, Cryptopsy, Vader, Whitechapel, and Despised Icon. Their longtime lead guitarist, John Kempainen left the band and was replaced by Ryan Knight during the beginning of 2009. In May 2009, the Black Dahlia Murder released their first DVD, "Majesty". The DVD contains a documentary and live footage from the Summer Slaughter tour and their tour supporting Children of Bodom in late 2008. The DVD also contains all of their music videos and behind the scenes footage. The Black Dahlia Murder released Deflorate on September 15, 2009, via Metal Blade Records. The album sold 12,000 copies in the United States in the first week of the release, debuted at position No. 43 Billboards Top 200 charts, No. 5 on Billboards Independent Albums chart, No. 4 on Billboards Top Hard Music Albums chart, and No. 50 on HITS Top 50 Albums chart. They toured with Children of Bodom and Skeletonwitch in support of the album. After their 2010 headlining tour with Goatwhore and Arkaik, the band began writing and recording their next full length album.

In February 2011, the Black Dahlia Murder completed the songwriting process for their fifth studio album, entitled Ritual. It was released on June 21, 2011, in North America. as well as headlined the 2011 Summer Slaughter tour, both in support of Ritual. Before the record's release, the track "Moonlight Equilibrium" was posted to the Metal Blade Records website on April 29, 2011, to critical and fan acclaim. The covers were originally recorded almost 10 years earlier during the era of Miasma. The EP was released as part of Record Store Day's Black Friday event via A389 Recordings (rather than the band's label, Metal Blade Records), made available for purchase on the band's online merchandise store The album art for Grind 'Em All was designed by Szymon Siech. Vocalist Trevor Strnad stated that the band's new album, titled Abysmal, will be "more raw and natural sounding" and feature "more dynamic and developed songs" than their previous work. and "Threat Level No. 3" on August 19. Abysmal was produced by Mark Lewis and Ryan Williams and released worldwide through Metal Blade on September 18. In early February 2016, it was announced that Knight had left the band. He was replaced on lead guitar by Brandon Ellis of Arsis.

The band's 8th album Nightbringers was released on October 6, 2017, to critical and commercial acclaim, charting at 35 on the Billboard 200. The Black Dahlia Murder released their ninth studio album, Verminous, on April 17, 2020. On May 11, 2022, it was announced that the band's frontman Trevor Strnad had died. While no official cause of death has been given, the phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline was provided at the end of the statement. On September 14, 2022, the Black Dahlia Murder announced a tribute concert taking place for Trevor Strnad on October 28 at Saint Andrew's Hall in Detroit, supported by Darkest Hour and Plague Years. It was also announced that Brian Eschbach would be stepping down from guitar and taking over vocals, as Eschbach himself said in an interview with Decibel magazine: "I know Trevor would keep this band going if I went down a deep, dark path and weren't here." In Eschbach's place, Ryan Knight returned to the band as their rhythm guitarist. In November 2023, The Black Dahlia Murder entered the studio to begin recording their tenth studio album for a 2024 release.

The Black Dahlia Murder headlined the 2008 Summer Slaughter Tour with Kataklysm, Vader, Cryptopsy, The Faceless, Despised Icon, Aborted, Born of Osiris, Psycroptic, and Whitechapel. In late 2008, they joined a U. S. tour with Finland's Children of Bodom and Raleigh, NC's Between the Buried and Me. They were initially announced as " with special guests" at the start of the tour, though it was later confirmed by Revolver Magazine that they were on tour. They appeared on the Hot Topic Stage in the 2009 Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival. In late 2009, they embarked on a U. S. tour with Finland's Children of Bodom and Skeletonwitch. The band headlined the Bonecrusher Fest tour of Europe in Spring 2010 alongside 3 Inches of Blood, Necrophobic, Obscura, The Faceless, Carnifex and Ingested. In August 2010 they played at the Hevy Music Festival near Folkestone, UK. The band played the entire Warped Tour 2013. As a tribute to the 10th anniversary of the Nocturnal album, they headlined the 2017 Summer Slaughter Tour, performing the album in its entirety.

Year Song Director 2003 "Funeral Thirst"2006 "A Vulgar Picture" "Miasma" Joe Lynch "Statutory Ape"2007 "Everything Went Black" "What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse" 2009 "Necropolis" 2011 "Moonlight Equilibrium" Dave Brodsky 2013 "Goat of Departure" 2015 "Receipt" Robert Graves 2016 "Threat Level No. 3" Adam Avilla 2017 "Nightbringers" Vince Edwards 2018 "Kings of the Night World" Marshall Wieczorek 2020 "Child of Night" Vesa Ranta & Kaira Films