Portland, Oregon based one-man blackened doom metal act MIZMOR has announced an extensive European tour schedule, including festival appearances at Soulcrusher Fest, Damnation Fest, Amplifest and more. The 24-date tour kicks off in the Netherlands on October 12, before the final curtain drops in Portugal on November 9. A full list of dates and venues can be found below.
“I am beyond thrilled to finally bring Mizmor across Europe and the UK this fall”, A.L.N.states. “Though we’ve played fests in the Netherlands before, never in the 12 year history of the project have we actually toured the continent. I’ve eagerly awaited the moment when it finally made sense for us to do this. We will be debuting our new live lineup which features Mizmor mainstay Andrew Black of Litha on lead guitar (formerly bass), Jesse Shreibman of Bell Witch on drums, and Blake Ferrin (ex-Sorceress) on bass. We will be performing a mixture of songs from Prosaic, Yodh, and Cairn. Hope to see you there!“
Mizmor European Tour 2024 10/12 Nijmegen, NL – Soulcrusher Fest 10/14 Munich, DE – Kranhalle (Feierwerk) 10/15 Ljubljana, SL – Menza Pri Koritu 10/16 Torino, IT – Ziggy Club 10/17 Yverdon, CH – L’Amalgame 10/18 Rouen, FR – 3Pieces 10/19 Oignies, FR – Tyrant Fest 10/21 Warsaw, PL – Hydrozagadka 10/22 Cracow, PL – Klub Zascianek 10/23 Poznan, PL – Pod Minoga 10/25 Copenhagen, DK – Beta 10/26 Aalborg, DK – Lasher Fest 10/28 Brussels, BE – Witloof Bar (Botanique) 10/29 Bristol, UK – The Fleece 10/30 London, UK – Underworld 10/31 Glasgow, UK – Classic Grand 11/01 Manchester, UK – Damnation Fest 11/02 Brighton, UK – Dust 11/04 Bochum, DE – Die Trompete 11/05 Wiesbaden, DE – Kesselhaus (Schlachthof) 11/06 Prague, CZ – CKD Basement 11/07 Berlin, DE – Urban Spree 11/08 Leipzig, DE – Soltmann 11/09 Porto, PT – Amplifest
Founded in 2012, the content behind MIZMOR is that of the existential – primal and innate musings about cause, purpose, self, and god. It is the search for light and truth, or the fact that there is none. It comes from an embittered, burned, confused, and broken heart. It is the fight for survival when reason and foundation has turned to nothingness. It is the crashing down of towers of falsehood and the freedom that comes through a certain kind of grief.
Ultimately, MIZMOR is the manifestation of a long-felt depression whose end is not in sight and with the band’s latest album “Prosaic“, which has been released in 2023 via Profound Lore Records, another intimate and intense chapter of MIZMOR has been revealed and will now be taken to European shores! Listen and get the album HERE
Eivør performs on the world’s largest stages. She has serenaded crowds at the UEFA Champions League, bowled over The Game Awards with her songs from God of War: Ragnarök, starred in the hit Netflix series The Last Kingdom and opened for Heilung at a sold-out Red Rocks.
Still, Eivør’s new album stands out amidst her two-decades long discography as a bold new venture. ENN ties back to the traditional folk music that she grew up with in the Faroe Islands, while also branching out into dark electronics and cosmic orchestration.
“ENN is the most nuanced and experimental album that I’ve created to date”, Eivør says. “There is an unyielding tide of destruction at the core of the album’s journey, but there’s also hope and comfort to be found in its blue embrace”.
ENN comes out tomorrow, Friday, June 14, on Season of Mist. But you can chat with Eivør while listening to all eight glowing tracks today at 2 pm Eastern Time by joining the listening party over on her YouTube channel.
Tracklist 1. Ein Klóta (5:44) 2. Jarðartrá (4:47) [WATCH] 3. Hugsi Bert Um Teg (3:25) [WATCH] 4. Purpurhjarta (4:27) 5. ENN (7:11) 6. Lívsandin (4:35) 7. Upp Úr Øskuni (5:01) [WATCH] 8. Gaia (5:10) Total runtime: 40:25
Eivør Pálsdóttir grew up in a village of just 400 people, tucked away among the Faroe Islands. Her music has always been shaped by the extreme contrasts of this remote landscape, where impossibly bright summers suddenly fade under the cover of dark, heavy winters. She’s now recognized by fans across the world for her thunderous Nordic hand drum and ecstatic throat singing. But it was while on a retreat to the small mountain village of Tjørnuvík, with her partner, the classical composer Tróndur Bogason, that her new album began to head in an unexpected direction.
“Tróndur and I have written a lot of music together for my albums over the years, but never anything quite like this”, Eivør says about ENN‘s stunning opener. Despite being grounded by a stark but sturdy piano, “EIN KLÓTA / A PLANET” slowly sweeps you off your feet with her operatic falsetto. “It’s a song about change, about being carried further and further away from something that was once familiar and safe”.
Throughout her career, Eivør has covered lots of stylistic ground. As a young teenager, she played with various rock and jazz bands. By the time she turned 17, she had already released her first album of folk songs and nabbed two Icelandic Music Awards. But even she was surprised to discover that her forays into electronic beatmaking were the stems for her new album.
“Slowly, I realized this wasn’t a side project”, Eivør says. “Creatively, this is where I am right now”. Her new Prophet-5 synthesizer had hardly made it out of the box before she hammered out “HUGSI BERT UM TEG / STILL JUST YOU”, a celestial swoon of dream-pop that dances like the colors of the milky way. “Usually, I spend months or sometimes years writing a song, but this one came rushing out of me”.
As displayed by the video’s synthetic light show, lead single “JARÐARTRÁ/DUST TO DUST” is one of the most beat-oriented songs on ENN. But the steady electronic pulse stems from more natural springs. In English, the title translates as “Death Lust”, a primordial desire to return to the earth. While it sounds out of this world, the heaving bass line was actually born out of an old Faroese folk melody. “When I wrote this song, I envisioned the earth in its rawest elements: oceans, volcanoes, storms, soil”, says Eivør. “We all have echoes of these elements within us, but maybe we tend to forget that we are part of nature and its endless circle of decay and growth”.
ENN does mark a stylistic leap, but Eivør hasn’t forgotten where she comes from. “UPP ÚR ØSKUNI / RISE FROM THE ASHES” pays tribute to all the women who’ve supported her with what’s certainly the album’s most metal moment. “Sing to the darkness”, she growls from the pit of her throat, conjuring a devilishly anthemic guitar riff that’s bound to enchant the hordes at this year’s Hellfest.
“I imagined a coven of witches, past and present, chanting to each other across the chasms of time”, Eivør says about writing “UPP ÚR ØSKUNI / RISE FROM THE ASHES”. That mental image will forever be seared into our cultural memory by the song’s positively bewitching video, which was created by a wickedly talented team of women.
Most of ENN was written in partnership with the esteemed Faroese poet Marjun Syderbø Kjelnæs. “I greatly admire Marjun”, says Eivør. “When she sent me the poem that became the album’s title track, I got goosebumps all over”. As if her eerily echoing vocal melody wasn’t enough to send shivers down your spine, the story behind “ENN / STILL” is truly chilling. A woman wanders through her war-torn town, longing after her conscripted lover. But amidst the wreckage, her loving memories offer a glimmer of hope. After all, the song’s heavily throbbing heartbeat appeared, as if out of thin air, while Eivør was walking through the mountains near her home.
“It was one of those typical Faroese days when the light really imprints an otherworldly feeling to the landscape” she remembers. “You get this feeling of overwhelming beauty wrapped in gloominess and mystery”.
Though ENN opens by soaring off into uncharted territory, in the end, the album comes full circle. Eivør has been dwelling over its elegiac finale ever since Tróndur played it for her a few years ago. But the stuttering keyboard finally comes to rest on the soft and supple “GAIA”. The strings bend with the quiet force of gravity, as if lowering her back into the earth’s pull.
“I wanted ENN to close with a love hymn to the earth, our mother who brings us peace and solace in times of trouble”, Eivør says. “The album explores the links between humanity and nature; the primal urges of the heart, the undying desires of the human flesh and the endless struggle we choose to endure in order to achieve our goals. All of this goes on while our planet hurtles through space, setting the stage for our battlegrounds, but also our sanctuaries”.
On ENN, Eivor moves heaven and earth.
To celebrate the release of her star-turning new album, this fall, Eivør will shoot across Europe on a headlining tour with label mate Sylvaine in tow before linking up with Heilung in Australia and New Zealand.Don’t miss the chance to hear her perform “JARÐARTRÁ/DUST TO DUST”, “HUGSI BERT UM TEG / STILL JUST YOU”, “UPP ÚR ØSKUNI / RISE FROM THE ASHES” and other mesmerizing songs off ENN for the first time. Tickets are going fast!
“My band and I can’t wait to start this new chapter with you and perform later this year”, says Eivør. “These tours will bring ENN all over the world – from the United States to Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand and Australia”.
In preparation for their tour together, Eivør and Sylvaine put together a playlist of their favorite songs. Get in the mood with some of the choice cuts off Nova and the soundtracks to The Last Kingdom and God of War Ragnarök.
Eivør 2024 European Tour October 2 – Hamburg, DE @ Markthalle [LOW TICKETS] October 3 – Utrecht, NL @ Tivolivredenburg [LOW TICKETS] October 4 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique October 5 – Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall October 7 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom October 9 – Dublin, UK @ Opium [LOW TICKETS] October 10 – Glasgow, UK @ The Garage October 11 – Manchester, UK @ Club Academy [Venue Upgrade] October 12 – Bristol, ENG @ Thekla [SOLD OUT] October 13 – Paris, FR @ Le Trianon October 15 – Lyon, FR @ CCO October 16 – Lucerne, CH @ Schuur October 17 – Vienna, AT @ Szene [Venue Upgrade] October 18 – Budapest, HU @ Durer Kert October 19 – Warsaw, DE @ Progresja October 21 – Berlin, DE @ Metropol October 22 – Aarhus, DK @ Train October 23 – Copenhagen, DK @ Store Vega [LOW TICKETS] October 24 – Gothenburg, SE @ Pustervik October 25 – Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller October 26 – Stockholm, SE @ Kägelbanan [LOW TICKETS]
2024 Australia/ New Zealand Tour Dates Supporting Heilung
October 30 – Perth, AU @ Red Hill Auditorium November 2 – Adelaide, AU @ AEC Theatre November 4 – Melbourne, AU @ Palais Theatre November 8 – Sydney, AU @ Enmore Theatre November 13 – Brisbane, AU @ Riverstage November 16 – Auckland, NZ @ Kiri Te Kanawa
Of course, fans can support Eivør by buying merchandise at any stop along her tour. But you don’t have to wait! Her new line of ENN-themed apparel is now available for order online.
Eivør calls her Nordic home in the remote Faroe Islands a landscape of extremes. Sitting in the North Atlantic Ocean just above Scotland and southeast of Iceland, with a total population of about 50,000, the climate is “full of contrasts—very dark, heavy winters and bright summers.” Growing up in a small village there, of about 400 people, it’s those contrasts that have inspired Eivør’s music throughout her career, as well as the Faroe Islands’ intense and still-vibrant connection to its own folk music traditions. “A very strong part of Faroese culture is singing together—anywhere people gather, there will be singing,” Eivør explains. “When you listen to old Faroese traditional music, it’s sung acapella and takes you back to its Renaissance roots. It’s pure, expressive, and untamed.”
Often considered to be one of the most prolific and unique Nordic artists of her generation, Eivør has released 11 studio albums to date, crossing musical genres and always pushing the bounds of the expected. Awarded with the Nordic Council Music Price in 2021, Eivør’s musical journey continues to fascinate.
As a young teenager, Eivør was immersed in the tight-knit local music scene, playing with 20-something musicians in jazz bands as well as rock bands influenced by Portishead, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Sigur Rós and similar acts.
By 16, Eivør released her debut solo collection of Faroese-sung folk-pop. One year later, she left home to study classical singing in Reykjavík, Iceland—soon winning two Icelandic Music Awards for her sophomore album. She spent the ensuing years living in Copenhagen and building a career playing folk festivals, but by 2010, Eivør was ready for a change. Her daring Larva album eschewed the folksiness of her previous work for experimentation and electronics. “I needed to free myself from boxes,” she said. It was the beginning of a new chapter that continues with her richly atmospheric new album, ENN.
The process of ENN built on Eivør’s recent immersion into production and beat-making, but began with a return to classical music. She and her partner, the classical composer Tróndur Bogason, had decamped to a tiny Faroe Islands mountain village of 50 people, called Tjørnuvík with no agenda but to “write freely” for a possible side project. “Slowly I realized: I shouldn’t think about this as a side project,” Eivør said. “This is where I am at right now creatively.” The first track they worked on there became ENN’s melancholic closer, “Gaia,” which Eivør calls “a love hymn for the Earth” that reminded her of the Renaissance music she loved in her youth. On that trip, Eivør and Tróndur also wrote ENN’s opener, “Ein Klóta,” a song about “watching your world from afar” as it changes. “I felt I was making a concept album, in a sense, about the Earth, about our home, our planet. Then it developed into both nature but also human nature—both the outer and the inner landscape, and the struggles of the heart, the struggles between the Earth and humans.”
In recent years, Eivør has composed extensively for film, television and video games(The Last Kingdom, God of War) and the cinematic structures of those scores found their way in alongside the music’s propulsive beats, omnipresent rooting in Faroese folk, and the classical flourishes of her opera training. Some of the songs feel like vistas or panoramas moving unexpectedly. “After writing the first two more spacious tracks, the idea started to grow in my head of almost a space opera,” Eivør said. “I was like, what if this journey starts out in space, and you watch the Earth? And you’re so far away from everything that you ever knew? Where am I going? What is this adventure?” The result was a synthesis of her career to date—her curiosity about beat making and noisy expressiveness, combined with the purity of classical music and cinematic atmospheres—and that sonic biography plays out beautifully on ENN’s second track “Jardartra.” It begins with a lurching beat “almost like a heartbeat,” and Eivør wrote it from the Earth’s point of view, as if “Earth is calling on us in the midst of all our human greed and destruction and beckoning us to find our way back to her blue embrace.”
Most of the lyrics, sung entirely in Faroese, were penned in collaboration with the Faroese poet Marjun Syderbø Kjelnæs. Eivør calls the lyrics to the title track especially “hardcore.” The song is about war— “the wars that are going on in the world especially lately, but that have always been going on,” Eivør says, “and how to find a glimpse of light in this overwhelming darkness.” The guttural penultimate track, “Upp Úr Øskuni,” is a thrilling outlier mixing growling beatboxing with visceral throat singing (it’s certainly Eivør’s most metal moment). She considers “Upp Úr Øskuni” a beacon of female empowerment and solidarity.
Eivør says. “I wanted it to be wild and untamed. It’s quite witchy. When I wrote the song, I imagined a coven of witches from the past and the present all supporting each other, chanting to each other across the chasm of time.”
After independently releasing her music for many years, ENN marks Eivør’s debut for the metal label Season of Mist—and though her compositions sit outside of any one genre, she is happy to be embraced by the metal community. She identified a shared pagan sensibility in her television scores like The Last Kingdom. “I never felt I really fit into any box,” said Eivør. “I just have to do it my own way.” Recorded with her touring band in the Faroe Islands—where she now lives again, splitting time between her homeland and Denmark—Eivør called ENN “my most pleasurable and also most painful process. I felt that I was stepping into a place where I hadn’t been before, and that’s always scary because you don’t feel that you touch the ground. But it opens up your creativity and takes you to someplace new. It’s woven together all my experiences for the past 10 years, and it’s grounded me.”
Recording line-up Eivør: Vocals, Guitars Mattias Kapnas: Piano, Rhodes and Synths Mikael Blak: Bass & Synths. Guitars on ‘Upp úr øskuni’ Per I Højgaard Petersen: Drums & Soundscaping Strings performed by Lýra: 1st violin: Sigrún Harðardóttir 2nd violin: Sigrún Kristbjörg Jónsdóttir Viola: Karl James Pestka Cello: Unnur Jónsdóttir Choir on ‘Ein klóta’: Eivør, Tróndur, Hans Mols Mortensen, Greta Svabo Beck and Fred Ruddick
Recording studio Studio Bloch (Faroe Islands), Hljóðritið (Iceland), Jardin Acoustique (France) and in Eivør’s portable studio in various corners of the world.
Production, engineering and recording Produced & arranged by Eivør and Tróndur
Beat production by Eivør and Per I. Højgaard Petersen
Recorded and engineered by Theodor Kapnas at Studio Bloch (Faroe Islands)
Additional recordings and engineering by Fred Ruddick at Jardin Acoustique (France)
Strings recorded by Guðmundur Kristinn Jónsson and Gestur Sveinsson at Hljóðriti (Iceland)
MIDNIGHT VICE, the NWOTHM band from the Southeastern US metal capital of Tampa, Florida, is proud to announce their recent signing with RPM ROAR, a division of Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM). They also look forward to releasing their self-titled EP in the near future. Known for their homage to the 1980s metal legends, the band mixes crushing riffs, soaring vocals, and blazing guitar solos, creating a sound both familiar and fresh. Their style is marked by denim and leather, and a “take no prisoners” attitude.
“We are so humbly honored to be welcomed into the Reigning Phoenix family. The success and feedback of our debut was far beyond expected, but joining forces with a record label that is dedicated to amplifying a new era of heavy metal has undoubtedly been our biggest achievement thus far. We want to extend our gratitude to our friends, our family, and everyone at Reigning Phoenix who believed we could do this. We are so eternally grateful to be a part of something that is redefining the metal industry as we know it. Working alongside RPM will allow us to deliver a whole new era of Midnight Vice, providing us the resources that we need to make our next release even better than the last. We look forward to our long and fruitful partnership with RPM. Heavy metal never dies, and Reigning Phoenix is the living proof,” comments vocalist Tyler Gray.
MIDNIGHT VICE draws heavy influence from bands like IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST, SAVATAGE,CRIMSON GLORY, and many more. They bring a traditional yet energetic approach to their music, igniting the spirit within die-hard metal heads. “Heavy Metal is an undying force that inspires and empowers. It’s a power cage that no true fan will ever escape. Midnight Vice embodies that, and we stay true to the spirit of what our predecessor’s created,” states the singer.
RPM ROAR will release MIDNIGHT VICE‘s debut EP, including additional material in physical format, later this year. Stay tuned for more news.
MIDNIGHT VICE – Live: July 26th at Conduit (Orlando FL) with Anvil August 6th at Conduit (Orlando FL) with Haunt and Savage Master December 31st at the Whisky A Go Go (Los Angeles CA) with L.A Guns
Winding their way through and illuminating the belly of the underground Paris music scene over the last few years have been three natives to the city, Storm Orchestra. Today, they have revealed their euphoric new single, “Bright Soul”, and the news that they have signed to Mascot Records. You can watch the video HERE .
Their metallic alt-rock sets them apart from their contemporaries—a shimmering grandiose vision blended with marauding contemporary rock. The aggressive glammy guitar snaps and bites as it spirals around a thunderous, hard-rocking rhythm section that pulsates with an aura of glamour and charisma but also an overriding heaviness.
It’s music built for stadiums but made to connect with people. It blends the infectiousness of Nothing But Thieves, the captivating driving force of Royal Blood, and the melodic ambition of Muse.
The new song “Bright Soul” was mixed by Grammy-winning Adrian Bushby (Muse, Foo Fighters) and produced by Bertrand Poncet from Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! The song evokes human beings’ perpetual inner struggle. “Each of us has a dark side, crystallizing our fears, wounds, and traumas that can extinguish our inner flame at any moment,” they explain.
Singer Maxime Goudard’s talismanic wail confides, “I cannot hide it anymore, It’s pulsing in my veins, Calm my inner war, Without further delay, Escape from this vicious doubt, I battle for a way out… Where’s my bright soul? It’s always away, It’s leaving a terrifying hole,” over the rousing noise that lets the words run free.
The leitmotif is this inner question: “Where’s my bright soul?” Goudard opens up about his fear of letting his dark side take over the person he wants to be. His fierce determination to fight for the best in himself is symbolized by the powerful riff that opens and closes the track.
Music has the power to unite and rejoice in the moment, creating moments of real beauty. Having known each other since childhood, Maxime Goudard (vocals, guitar), Adrien Richard (bass) and Loïc Fouquet (drums) are bound together by the struggles and triumphs that have taken them to this moment, “First and foremost, we stand for packing people in a room and make them have the best time altogether with loud music. We also have social concerns, and we stand for equality, environment and the voices of the people,” says the band.
They explored these themes on their debut album, ‘What A Time To Be Alive,’ which last year caught the attention of Mascot Records—home to Black Stone Cherry, P.O.D., Calva Louise, Oxymorrons, Conquer Divide, 10 Years, VOLA and Defects.
As a then-unsigned band, they picked up an impressive combined 4M streams, ending the year in a triumphant fashion as the “Artist to Watch in 2024” by Spotify France and celebrities in the Top of the Rock: Best of 2023 and Deezer’s 2023 Rock playlists.
They’re seizing a moment, and all of this is driven by their high-intensity moshpit-inducing live shows. They’ve captured lightning in a bottle and are selling out clubs across France. It’s live where they truly get to express themselves, “It’s really emotional to play to a full house of people—our fans, friends and family, celebrating our music! The party goes on all night.”
As their profile has been building, they’ve begun infiltrating festival stages and have not held back in taking them by storm. “Last Summer, we played our biggest show to date, a festival in front of 10,000 people who probably didn’t know us at first. We had to get them to realize what Storm Orchestra is about, and before long, they were all singing along to our songs. It was challenging and intense, but we connected with a lot of new fans.”
They say about their live shows, “We always come to a show with the biggest smile and a crazy load of energy. We want people to get energized, to let off steam, and leave wanting more. We are always exhausted right after the set; if not, it means something went wrong!”
Talking about signing to Mascot Records they add, “Signing to Mascot is the biggest opportunity in Storm Orchestra’s career. Making music professionally has been a dream and a goal for many years. In the last few months, Mascot has been an incredible supportive force to help us make new music and reach new goals.”
Light and dark, euphoria and heaviness, glamour and aggression – Storm Orchestra are here to be your new favourite band.
American heavy rock band CARBELLION have announced their 1st ever “Petrol and Pints” UK tour during June 21-30, 2024. Carbellion will be touring in support of their latest album Weapons of Choice released digitally worldwide via Eclipse Records and on vinyl worldwide via QUMRAN Records.
Carbellion lead vocalist Cameron Kellenberger comments: “We are really stoked to make our trip across the pond and visit the UK for the first time. The tour dates take us from the bottom of England all the way up into Scotland and we can’t wait to bring our brand of American heavy rock live to our UK fans and friends. There’s tour specific merch, new material not recorded yet in the live set full of classics from our whole catalog, and some rowdy good times to be had by everyone. We are calling it the “Petrol and Pints” tour and it will not disappoint.”
See below for dates, venues, and get tickets at this location.
June 21 @ Loverocks Festival – Dorset, England, UK June 22 @ Bear’s Bar – Bournemouth, England, UK June 23 @ Cart & Horses (w/ Violet Blend) – London, England, UK June 26 @ Trillians – Newcastle, England, UK June 27 @ Bannermans – Edinburgh, Scotland, UK June 28 @ Wildfire Festival – Wanlockhead, Scotland, UK June 29 @ Grumpys – Stoke-on-Trent, England, UK June 30 @ The Carlisle – Hastings, England, UK
Weapons of Choice is the band’s third full-length album pulls from nearly twenty years of experience and lessons learned by fire to deliver the group’s most compelling release to date. The ten-song collection brings together the band’s strongest and most cohesive material, though its inception was rather unusual. Lyrically, the album finds Carbellion working to engage its audience. “I want to make people think,” Kellenberger states. “We’ve never been great at writing straightforward songs. Translating the thoughts and ideas in my head is a complicated process, but an exciting one. These songs are definitely fun and we write them with the intention of making people have a good time, especially with the live show, but this record more than any other also aims to make people think. Don’t take everything at face value. Nothing in this life is black and white. The truth is almost always somewhere in the middle.” “We started the record before COVID,” says Kellenberger. “The pandemic made us stop temporarily, but we found a way to work together digitally during that time. That allowed us to write the record, which we took to the studio as material was finished, so some songs were recorded two years before others, but it was a constant creation process”. Carbellion is taking stock of its place in the rock ecosystem. After nearly two decades and half a dozen releases, the Wisconsin bad boys feel they are just now hitting their stride.
THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER will release their tenth studio album, Servitude, on September 27th via Metal Blade Records, today unveiling the record’s first single and pre-orders.
“Before the tragedy, no one ever thought this band was going to exist without Trevor.”
That’s THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER‘s co-founder Brian Eschbach telling it like it is. With the tragic passing of the band’s frontman and co-founder Trevor Strnad in 2022, Eschbach, bassist Max Lavelle, drummer Alan Cassidy, and producer/guitarist Brandon Ellis were faced with a decision: Close the door on one of the most beloved death metal bands of the last twenty years, or carry on in their fallen brother’s charismatic spirit?
“Everyone that’s in the band now is someone that Trevor and I searched for,” Eschbach says. “We spent so much time on the road together that everyone understands the mission statement. We don’t really need to talk about it. We just need to make great music and try to make people happy playing it.”
After a period of profound grief and deep soul-searching, Eschbach moved from guitar to vocals, setting aside his lifelong identity as a live guitarist for the survival of the band. Former THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER member Ryan Knight returned to the fold to take Eschbach’s place on guitar. The new lineup made their debut in TBDM‘s hometown of Detroit in late October 2022 for a tribute show for Strnad.
Fast forward to right about now: THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER‘s new album is the one that many would have thought impossible. Servitude marks Eschbach’s recorded debut as THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER‘s lead vocalist and lyricist – and their first with Knight on guitar since 2015’s Abysmal.
“I just had to lean into it hard,” Eschbach says of approaching Servitude in a completely new role. “Honestly, writing the lyrics for this album was easier for me than writing the music for the three songs that I wrote music for. I’d pick a subject, research it, and just kinda dive in. Even though it’s not something I’d really ever done before, there was a natural flow to it once I started.”
You can hear the thrilling results on “Aftermath,” the ripping lead single, which envisions a post-apocalyptic cannibal scenario. “We wanted that one to be heard first because it’s one of the faster songs on the album, if not the fastest,” Eschbach says. “We wanted that very aggressive BLACK DAHLIA melodic death metal feel coming right at you. Lyrically, it’s about a meteor that fucks up the whole planet, but there’s still people living. Kind of like The Walking Dead, but with no zombies-so you get right to how people deal with it. And by the end, they’re eating each other.”
Watch THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER‘s video for “Aftermath,” created by My Good Eye: Music Visuals:
The members of THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER know that some will be skeptical of an album without Trevor’s inimitable presence. But many fans have already embraced the band’s decision to move forward.
“More than pressures or expectations from the fanbase, I feel their trust and support,” Ellis says. “We’ve always done what we do for them, and they’ve appreciated our consistency over the years. The global outcry following Trevor’s passing has shown us how important the band’s music has been to so many people, and how important it is that we continue in his honor. Under all that weight, I think we all knew what needed to be done.”
“We put in everything we had, and this is the album that felt right to make,” he adds. “I’m proud of it and proud of the five of us. You can never please everybody, but I know that this music will be a healing and positive force for those who embrace it!“
The guitars, bass and vocals for Servitude were recorded at Ellis’ home studio in New Jersey. The drums were recorded by Mark Lewis in Nashville, Tennessee where the album was also mixed. Servitude was mastered by Ted Jensen.
THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER Live: 6/14/2024 Z! Live Rock Fest – Zamora, ES 6/16/2024 Download Donington – Park, UK 6/17/2024 Limelight – Belfast, UK 6/18/2024 Opium – Dublin, IE 6/20/2024 Arch Club – Athens, GR 6/21/2024 Block 33 – Thessaloniki, GR 6/23/2024 Graspop – Dessel, BE 6/24/2024 Hirsch – Nuremberg, DE w/ Suffocation 6/25/2024 The Black Lab – Lille, FR w/ Suffocation 6/26/2024 Im Wizemann – Stuttgart, DE w/ Shadow Of Intent 6/27/2024 Mergener – Hof Trier, DE 6/28/2024 Club Vaudeville – Lindau, DE w/ Suffocation 6/29/2024 Jera On Air – Ysselsteyn, NL 6/30/2024 Hellfest – Clisson, FR 7/31/2024 Rockstadt Extreme Fest – Brasov, RO 8/02/2024 Dortmund Deathfest – Dortmund, DE 8/03/2024 Wacken Open Air – Wacken, DE 8/04/2024 Full Rewind – Roitzschjora, DE 8/06/2024 Lifestyle Café – Cham, DE 8/07/2024 Brutal Assault – Jaromer, CZ 8/08/2024 Party San Open Air – Schlotheim, DE 8/09/2024 Szene – Wien, AT 8/10/2024 Menza Pri Koritu – Ljubljana, SI 8/11/2024 Slaughter Club – Milano, IT 8/13/2024 Rockhouse – Salzburg, AT 8/14/2024 Kiff – Aarau, CH 8/15/2024 Summer Breeze – Dinkelsbuhl, DE 8/16/2024 Reload Festival – Sulingen, DE 8/17/2024 Chinasstraat – Gent, BE w/ Decapitated 8/18/2024 Motocultor – Carhaix, FR
THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER: Brian Eschbach – lead vocals Max Lavelle – bass Alan Cassidy – drums Brandon Ellis – lead guitar, backing vocals Ryan Knight – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s ASA unveil the long-overdue release of "Collective Failure" + first music video for title-track! Check it out and stay tuned for more news! Click image to watch the video
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
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Visionary artist KIMMO KUUSNIEMI's ANCIENT STREAMING ASSEMBLY (ASA) have released “Aurora Nuclearis”, a powerful 12-minute audiovisual experience, dedicated to the Late Keyboardist Esa Kotilainen. - Click image to watch the video
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 