A few weeks ago, we broke the story that The Black Dahlia Murder is in the studio working on new material. Eventually, we learned the album that they are working on will be called Everblack and is scheduled for release this June.
It's been about two months since the news broke and the band is currently on a European tour, which also means European interviews. Frontman Trevor Strnad was asked about the sound of the new album in a new interview with KaaosTV and here is what he said:
"The writing was still taken care of Ryan [Knight] and Brian [Eschbach] — the guitar players. It was split pretty much 50/50 — pretty much like 'Ritual' [2011] was; half the songs by Ryan, half the songs by Brian. I think what Max [Lavelle, bass] brought to this record is a really, really crushing bass sound that's a little bit new for us, like a little bit more overdriven and distorted and it's really energetic and heavy as fuck. And Max killed it in the studio; he did great.
[New drummer] Alan [Cassidy] also did great. He didn't really have as much time to study the songs, because he came into the band so quickly, you know what I mean?! We needed him to come on tour with us to take Shannon's [Lucas] place, and things worked out so great with him that we asked him to stay. But he had to learn the songs for the album really fast. He was at home in Wyoming playing drums for 10 hours a day, he said, getting prepared for the album. He brought a lot to the drums; he's a got a really awesome style, I think his fills are bit more busy than Shannon's. I think that there's gonna be some stuff that makes him really stand out and will get people excited about him. 'Cause I know right now people are, like, 'Wow, they suffered a huge loss, losing Shannon.' Shannon is a great drummer, definitely, but he's gonna like what Alan has done on this record, too; it's really impressive stuff and I definitely feel like we found the right guy for the band. So his playing is exciting and people are gonna take notice, for sure, as soon as that record drops. And I'm excited to get it out for that reason, you know — to kind of say to everyone, 'We're back.' [laughs]"
So, Trevor confirms that former Abigail Williams drummer Alan Cassidy is their new guy. Elaborating on how Everblack compares to their 2011 release, Ritual, Trevor has nothing but high praise:
"I think that it kind of took what we learned with 'Ritual' and pushed it even further, I think. The biggest change for me, writing 'Ritual', was having more surprises in the songs and more dynamics — buildups, some quiet parts, samples, different kinds of instruments incorporated into the album. That has all carried over to this new one. And better solos, more solos, more time to solo. Ryan's guitar work on this album is mindblowing. He shocks us, pretty much, every time we come back to do an album with what he's learned and he really sets the bar high for himself. So there's definitely some fretboard fireworks on this one. I don't know, man. People that liked 'Ritual', I think they're gonna love the new one; it's just us taking it further — darker music, more melody…. The melody that was really prevalent in 'Ritual' is there. But there's also some heavy stuff, too — some slow, Morbid Angel-esque kind of slimy stuff. So I think people are gonna be really happy with it… [It's[ a good mixture of all things Dahlia. We [wanted to] keep it kind of raw with the mix — not too polished. Keep things sounding 'real' — like 'Ritual' was; I think that was a good move."
You can watch the entire KaaosTV interview right here:
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This is at the top of my list of anticipated summer releases. The band have been announced as being part of this summer's Warped Tour. That should be an interesting crowd.
[via Blabbermouth]
