** The Black Dahlia Murder’s Trevor Strnad details the band’s new album, Everblack, in this track-by-fucking-track run-down. Whether you’ve followed the Detroit-based outfit from their humble Motor City beginnings to the mountainous perch from which they gaze down lovingly and loathingly (that’s a word, shut up) at fans and critics alike, Everblack’s a monster of cross-genre brilliance. So, click play and read along. Sadly, Trevor didn’t include a bouncing dot to punctuate the description to the tunes. Next time, bros.
TRACK 1. “In Hell Is Where She Waits For Me”
The opening sequence of this song puts the listener at Elizabeth Short’s funeral, looking over the shoulder of her killer, who is silently (and anonymously) in attendance. It tells the tale of his brief love affair with The Black Dahlia and his motives for cutting her down in such a grisly, vengeful manner. I’ve wanted to do a song dealing with the actual murder for some time; I thought it would be nice gesture for the fans. When I heard that somber intro and thought immediately of funeral procession, I figured now was time as there was no better way to reassure fans that we haven’t strayed from our sound or intent (nor been negatively affected by the line-up changes) than to drop an actual Black Dahlia Murder song on them. It even has that old Unhallowed feel to it. The song is pretty manic vocally and is gonna be doozy to perform live. Better start my tongue push-ups!
TRACK 2. “Goat Of Departure”
This second song is a real blast heavy tune… fast paced and very melodic. In my mind this is a quintessential Brian Eschbach penned BDM song—nice powered wig (read: classically-influenced) riffage and an ultra-catchy chorus to boot. Lyrically, it deals with the origins of the goat as a symbol of evil and how the lamb came to represent the Christian… the goat of departure was cast out into the desert bearing the sins of man on his back… he was the original scapegoat. It talks about the beginning of the ‘horns’ hand sign that we metal heads know and love… the emblem of our very pride and joy.
TRACK 3. “Into The Everblack”
This song is fucking cool… part futuristic (the chugging syncopated verses) and part old school (the slow ominous chorus). Lyrically speaking the song is about death without salvation or any notion of heaven. It’s saying that when you die you are just dead and nothing happens… You rot and worms crawl into your face. There is a nod to Entombed’s Left Hand Path in the middle of the song where I have incorporated the headstone inscription from the album’s artwork. I thought it would be a cool gesture for any old school fans who were paying attention.
TRACK 4. “Raped In Hatred By Vines Of Thorn”
So obviously about The Evil Dead, a horror movie near and dear to many a metalhead’s heart. Horror and metal have had a long marriage and this is far from the first time a death metal band has commented on the subject (Deicide, Death, and Embalmer spring immediately to mind) but here we have focused on the particularly violent vine rape scene. In my version the woman is pregnant and her baby is eaten from inside of her before she is torn in two by the bewildered vines. Horror, Pain, Gore, Death… the whole nine yards, as they say!
TRACK 5. “Phantom Limb Masturbation”
This one is slightly influenced by the documentary called Whole. It is about sick people who harbor the desire to have their limbs removed in order to feel more “complete.” These people have some kind of incomplete body map and it causes them to view their limbs as unnecessary and uncomfortable. The character in the song fantasizes from the time he is young about having his arms crushed by a passing train or his legs bitten of by the jaws of a hungry shark in captivity… constantly dreaming of the day when he’ll have a reason to get the extraneous limbs removed for good. This is definitely the heaviest song on the record and has a somewhat Morbid Angel-esque quality to the verse riff that I absolutely love. This is where the slime has been living lately.
TRACK 6. “Control”
“Control” is a concise, catchy number by the amazingly talented Ryan Knight. Ryan has the tendency to write our most melodic songs of recent years, and this one is no exception. My goal here was to take the listener to one Jeffery Dahmer’s apartment… Room 213, to be exact, where he would attempt to zombify living victims in order to keep them as his brain-dead sexual companions. The motivation for his murders was that of control; he feared being abandoned so greatly that he would kill to maintain his company. He drilled into their skulls and poured various chemical concoctions in to dissolve portions of the brain with varying degrees of success. Jeffery Dahmer, this bud’s for you!
TRACK 7. “Blood Mine”
Another Ryan Knight rocker, this one takes the listener below the surface of the earth where a legion of vampires are farming captured human beings for their blood-crazed consumption. They force the terrified humans to reproduce and basically treat them as livestock. I think this is a banger for sure and the chorus is catchy as hell… Feed on the weaklings!!! Harvest this nectar of life!!!
TRACK 8. “Every Rope A Noose”
This is definitely the wildcard song of the album… it has a vehement black n’ roll feel that was something we hadn’t attempted before. The lyrics are written in that total nihilistic black metal attitude… fuck everything and kill yourself.
TRACK 9. “Their Beloved Absentee”
One of the most melodic numbers, this is one of the best song on the album in my opinion. I love the soaring melodies and chunky NYDM style passage near the end. This one is about how God is a twisted and perverted voyeur that enjoys to silently watch as us humans suffer and slowly destroy ourselves.
TRACK 10. “Map Of Scars”
This last song is very dramatic and frosty affair, steeped with Swedish sounding black metal guitar work and an ultra-heavy symphonic intro and outro. The lyrics deal with two girls who have a penchant for mutual mutilation… they masturbate in blood and are covered from head to toe with gnarly scars as a result of their wild and shameful fetish. It talks of their fall from innocence to their corrupted world of promiscuity and filth where they currently writhe.
** The Black Dahlia Murder’s new album, Everblack, is in stores June 11th on Metal Blade Records. Order it HERE or face being metalknapped, blindfolded, thrown into a rusty van, and dropped in the middle of Brightmoor. Trust us, it’s not worth it.
