THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER on Robbs MetalWorks 2024

There is a particular degree of uncertainty that has become common place in the past decade. There is the ever-looming presence of gun tragedy, geographic catastrophe & mental calamity. And, despite it becoming common place in our daily lives there is still loss that shakes us to our core. SO, when the world wide metal community learned of the suicidal passing of The Black Dahlia Murder vocalist, Trevor Strnad in May 2022 is was indeed shocking; not only had Michigan's TBDM become one of the most prevalent melodic death metal bands of the past 20 years, but had more distinguishly built their strong careers off a string of SOLID recordings (9) dating back all the way to 2003,...with Trevor standing right in the center of it all. The question now was could the band survive (much less thrive) & how? The delivery of the band's 10th official release, the aptly titled, 'Servitude' (via Metal Blade Records) answers that question with a resounding, 'YES'! With the transition of founding guitarist, Brian Eschbach to vocals/frontman AND the seminal return of guitarist, Ryan Knight to the fold the band was both able to maintain their identity AND deliver a record that would keep any would be TBDM fan clamoring for more. 'Servitude' is both a nod to the speedy death metal riffs that gained the band its notoriety AND the HUGE guitar licks that always made their songs the MOST seamless of the genre. However, NOW guitarist, Brandon Ellis is truly coming into his own on this recording (just listen to 'Mammoth's Hand'), while Brian (who always did back-up vocals) is, not only correctly filling Trevor's shoes, but doing it convincingly & sublime. SO, when the band came through San Antonio on October 24th, 2024, in support of 'Servitude' I knew I wanted to sit down with Brian at this pivotal juncture of the band's career & get ALL the scoop. In the interview below you see us discuss the following: the continuation of the band, moving to vocals, the return of Ryan Knight, the band's return to the stage, the writing/recording for 'Servitude', Trevor joining the band, working with Metal Blade, video work & plans for 2025! I hope ALL the RMW Familia (& BDM fans) ENJOY this one, as it will definitely go down in the history books. LONG LIVE TBDM! ~ El Mero Metal #theblackdahliamurder #robbsmetalworks #servitude