With the release of their sophomore Metal Blade Records
effort 'Miasma' (the follow up to 2003's 'Unhallowed'), Detroit (Michigan)
based melodic death metal/metalcore outfit The Black Dahlia Murder have
certainly been a busy group.
The last sixteen months have seen the band constantly
on the road across the globe with a diverse array of acts, and after
much talk, are finally making their way down to Australia for the first
time.
Relaxing in his apartment (after stuffing down a huge
burrito by all accounts!) after a six week stint on the road with Hatebreed,
Exodus, Napalm Death, First Blood and Despised Icon (which was dubbed
'Monsters Of Mayhem') in North America, I caught up with Brian Eschbach
to talk about life on the road, the not so stable line-up within the
band at the moment and their impending visit to our shores.
"The 'Monsters Of Mayhem' tour was great. There were
lots of different people showing up. There was an assortment of all
sorts of thrashers at the shows and it was a great time. Everyone was
cool on the tour. The standout memory for me personally was the great
fun we had drinking with Gary Holt (Exodus guitarist). So all in all,
it was a great tour. I think we fitted into the bill by being so gratified
in the first place. I mean you have your old school thrash (Exodus),
you have your hardcore (Hatebreed) and then you have the godfathers
of grind (Napalm Death). So I think it was pretty easy for us to get
thrown in there. The 'Monsters Of Mayhem' tour looked seemingly un-diverse,
but actually it was a pretty diverse line-up I think."
Aside from their month long jaunt through the US on the
'Sounds Of The Underground' tour (running from July through to August,
with acts such as Machine Head, Converge, Vision Of Disorder, Horse
The Band, As I Lay Dying, In Flames, Trivium, Cannibal Corpse, Gwar,
Terror, Behemoth, The Chariot, Through The Eyes Of The Dead and Evergreen
Terrace on the bill), The Black Dahlia Murder also enjoyed a successful
run with Throwdown, The Red Chord and The Agony Scene back in February/March.
"That was actually the first US tour with this line-up.
That was a cool tour. That was another pretty diverse bunch of acts
on the one bill. It was pretty much right down the middle - equal part
hardcore and metal acts. We were a little more of a sore thumb on that
tour but I think we did alright in turning a few people onto our music."
With the mention of their current line-up brought up in
the conversation (currently consisting of vocalist Trevor Strnad, guitarists
Brian Eschbach and John Kempainen, bassist Bart Williams and drummer
Pierre Langlois), and knowing the dramas surrounding their constant
changes in the past, I had to ask Eschbach just how well the current
incarnation of the band were holding up.
"It's pretty gruelling on the road sometimes, and
since the release of 'Miasma', we've hardly been home for any great
length of time. Sometimes it is a hard road, and other times it's not.
It takes a certain type of person to do this full time. If you can go
without a lot of things, you can do this touring thing very easily.
But if you're after security, it's not particularly the right place
to be in. We made the couple of newer members (Williams and Langlois)
we found join the band as permanent members back in April. Prior to
that, they had been playing with us for the whole year pretty much.
So since April, things were looking pretty solid for the band. That
was until recently. We'll be probably looking for another drummer pretty
soon because Langlois' not exactly into doing the whole road thing.
Our previous drummers (Cory Grady and Zach Gibson) were let go because
they weren't taking the band as seriously as the rest of the other band
members were. This time it just happens to be different. We're extremely
happy with the way Langlois plays. We wished that this was something
that he really wanted to do, but it would seem that he would rather
go home and be a civilian. It hasn't been made official yet, but between
all of us in the band, it's been the hot topic of conversations with
him. I think after being on a pretty regular tour schedule, he knows
what this life is like, and he doesn't really want that. We'll just
have to see what happens."
After doing numerous runs across the US, The Black Dahlia
Murder are finally setting their sights on Australia with six dates
planned across the country.
"It's taken us a while but we finally came across
the right people to help us put the tour together. Touring Australia
for us is huge because it's not normally the sort of place that we would
normally tour, or even be a destination that a lot of bands ever get
to tour for that matter. We feel very privileged to find that people
have even heard of us down there, let alone having enough people know
about us to warrant us playing down in Australia. I have no idea what
to expect, except that it's going to be something good. We'll be taking
it all in. All of our friends that have gone down there have always
told us that it's amazing in all aspects. Especially the weed! (Laughs)
I'm kind of looking forward to that. I'm definitely going to try that
out when I get down there! (Laughs) We're just really excited and can't
wait to get down there."
As for the shows themselves, Eschbach isn't about to promise
too much apart from the obvious.
"There's nothing all that unique about our show,
other than the fact that we'll be playing our songs! (Laughs) We don't
have a light show as such, or synchronised outfits or moves. It'll all
be pretty relaxed."
After returning home from their Australian tour, The Black
Dahlia Murder plan to take time off from the road and start focusing
on new material.
"After we're finished doing the dates down there
in Australia, we'll be off the road until we put out a new album. We
plan to head into the studio in March. At this point, we have a lot
of ideas, along with a couple of songs pieced together. It's hard to
tell people that they shouldn't expect anything too different, because
that's exactly what I would have told them leading up to the release
of 'Miasma' after 'Unhallowed'. But then a lot of people have told me
countless times that they're two extremely different albums. So I don't
think I would be able to give you a good statement anyway! (Laughs)
I think there's an element of progression from our last album in a sound
sense. But again, it's hard to tell you much at this stage. We're just
doing what we do and trying to create better songs. Hopefully there
will be some progression there. We just hope to write some songs that
we really like and songs that fans will enjoy once the new album is
out. That's all we can do."
I would like to thank Brian Eschbach for his generous
time, and Darren Cherry at Stomp Records Distribution for making the
interview possible.
For more information on The Black Dahlia Murder, check
out - http://www.theblackdahliamurder.com
