Out of the nine studio albums they have released to date, the last eight have charted on the U.S. Billboard 200, with their fifth album Ritual peaking at No. 31 in 2011, marking them as one of the most popular contemporary American extreme metal bands. Their ninth and latest album Verminous was released on April 17, 2020.
Current Line-Up:
Brian Eschbach – lead vocals (2022–present), rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2001–2022)
Ryan Knight – rhythm guitar (2022–present), lead guitar (2009–2016)
Max Lavelle – bass (2012–present)
Alan Cassidy – drums (2012–present)
Brandon Ellis – lead guitar, backing vocals (2016–present)
The Black Dahlia Murder began its inception during late 2000 and gained the final band lineup in January 2001. The group released their demo entitled "What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse", and a four-track EP, "A Cold-Blooded Epitaph", the latter of which the group released on Lovelost Records. After appearing in concerts such as the Milwaukee Metal Fest, The Black Dahlia Murder signed to Metal Blade Records in 2003.
Bassist Ryan "Bart" Williams left his former band, Detroit's Today I Wait, to tour with the Black Dahlia Murder. After touring with the band on their co-headlining gig with Throwdown and their European dates with Liar, he joined the group full-time, replacing former bassist David Lock. Frontman Trevor Strnad said that Lock was fired for incompetency. Williams was one of two engineers (the other being Walls of Jericho's Mike Hasty) on the band's first full-length album, "Unhallowed". The band then went on a tour in late 2004 supporting Unearth alongside with Terror and Remembering Never throughout the United States.
The band's second album "Miasma" was released on July 12, 2005, and peaked at No. 118 on the Billboard 200. After touring for "Miasma", drummer Zach Gibson left the band along with Pierre Langlois. While Gibson went on to join Abigail Williams, Langlois left the band for a more secure lifestyle, and the band finished their search for a replacement drummer when they found former All That Remains drummer, Shannon Lucas.
Their third album, entitled "Nocturnal", was released on September 18, 2007. The album debuted at No. 72 on the Billboard 200. Their longtime lead guitarist, John Kempainen left the band and was replaced by Ryan Knight during the beginning of 2009. In May 2009, The Black Dahlia Murder released their first DVD, "Majesty". The DVD contains a documentary and live footage from the Summer Slaughter tour and their tour supporting Children of Bodom in late 2008. The DVD also contains all of their music videos and behind the scenes footage.
The Black Dahlia Murder released Deflorate on September 15, 2009, via Metal Blade Records. The album sold 12,000 copies in the United States in the first week of the release, debuted at position No. 43 Billboard's Top 200 charts, No. 5 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart, No. 4 on Billboard's Top Hard Music Albums chart, and No. 50 on HITS Top 50 Albums chart. They toured with Children of Bodom and Skeletonwitch in support of the album. After their 2010 headlining tour with Goatwhore and Arkaik, the band began writing and recording their next full-length album.
In February 2011, The Black Dahlia Murder completed the songwriting process for their fifth studio album, entitled "Ritual". It was released on June 21, 2011, in North America.
In April 2012 during the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival on the first night performance, Trevor Strnad officially welcomed new bassist Max Lavelle into the band after former bassist Ryan Williams parted ways. On November 7, Shannon Lucas announced via a YouTube video that he would be stepping down as drummer of The Black Dahlia Murder to pursue other aspirations. Alan Cassidy of Abigail Williams filled in for Shannon's touring duties.
In early 2013, despite the news of the departure of two band members (drummer Shannon Lucas and bassist Bart Williams), plans were announced for an upcoming album release, to be entitled "Everblack". Tentative plans estimated its release to be early summer 2013; likely June. On April 10, 2013, the iTunes Store was updated with official release and availability information, including cover art, a full track listing, and an official U.S. release date of June 11, 2013. The album has 10 tracks in total. On the same day, the band's first single from "Everblack" was made available for purchase and download, titled "Into The Everblack". The album itself was then released on June 11 and peaked at No. 32 on the U.S. Billboard 200.
On November 28, 2014, The Black Dahlia Murder released a 7" EP titled Grind 'Em All featuring 3 short grindcore covers of punk rock songs: a cover of "Ripped Up" by Left for Dead, of "Rebel Without a Car" by Sedition and of "Populous" by Gyga. The covers were originally recorded almost 10 years earlier during the era of "Miasma". The EP was released as part of Record Store Day's Black Friday event via A389 Recordings (rather than the band's label, Metal Blade Records), made available for purchase on the band's online merchandise store and also streamed in its entirety via Exclaim!. The album art for Grind 'Em All was designed by Szymon Siech.
Lead guitarist Ryan Knight confirmed in early 2015 that the band will deliver a seventh studio release that year, followed by extensive touring, and that he is planning to start working on a solo album afterwards. Vocalist Trevor Strnad stated that the band's new album, titled "Abysmal", will be "more raw and natural sounding" and feature "more dynamic and developed songs" than their previous work. "Vlad, Son of the Dragon", the first song from the album, was released online on June 24, followed by "Receipt" on July 22 and "Threat Level No. 3" on August 19. "Abysmal" was produced by Mark Lewis and Ryan Williams and released worldwide through Metal Blade on September 18.In early February 2016, it was announced that Knight had left the band. He was replaced on lead guitar by Brandon Ellis of Arsis.
The band's 8th album "Nightbringers" was released on October 6, 2017, to critical and commercial acclaim, charting at 35 on the Billboard 200.
The Black Dahlia Murder released their ninth studio album, "Verminous", on April 17, 2020.
On May 11, 2022, it was announced that the band's frontman Trevor Strnad had died. While no official cause of death has been given, the phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline was provided at the end of the statement.
On September 14, 2022, The Black Dahlia Murder announced a tribute concert taking place for Trevor Strnad on October 28 at Saint Andrew's Hall in Detroit, Michigan, supported by Darkest Hour and Plague Years. It was also announced that Brian Eschbach will be stepping down from guitar and taking over as lead vocalist as he states in an interview with Decibel Magazine; "I know Trevor would keep this band going if I went down a deep, dark path and weren’t here.". In Brian's place, Ryan Knight will be returning to the band as the rhythm guitarist.
The Window
The Black Dahlia Murder Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This sick hunger is my vice.
My lust to drip my rotten seed upon
Their cooling flesh so fare,
Of their gurgled screams I could never hear enough.
Bless their puny hearts and their sweet naiveties,
Praise those little lemmings,
But rats unto the piper.
Their innocence my blade's eager to meet.
May my song of hatred lead them forever downward.
I fill the mouth with semen
While the head still blinks and shakes,
Ten seconds is the window,
Another child has met his fate.
I hold the grisly treasure skyward,
Have a laugh into its face,
Bless all Earth's most precious children
With my blackened love insane.
I've come to revel in the horror
No words nor nightmare could describe,
The erotic waves of lurid rapture,
That moment when they realize.
Bless those little wonders and their curiosities,
Praise those little maggots but lambs unto my slaughter,
A blessed life so cheap,
Their perfect flesh will be the ideal treat,
May my song of worship bring them ever closer.
I fill the mouth with semen while the head still blinks and shakes,
Ten seconds is the window,
Another child has met his fate.
I hold the grisly treasure skyward,
Have a laugh into its face,
Bless all Earth's most precious children
With my blackened love insane.
I'm insane,
How they'll be hunting for us nightly,
Tirelessly combing to no end,
Your shameful death to be in a shroud of mystery.
You'll never see the light of day again,
Slitting their bellies open wide,
So wide.
A great delight to look inside.
I sit upon their chests until they cease,
Expressionless ejaculating whilst they die.
I fill the mouth with semen
While the head still blinks and shakes,
Ten seconds is the window,
Another child has met his fate.
I hold the grisly treasure skyward,
Have a laugh into its face,
Bless all Earth's most precious children
With my blackened love insane.
The lyrics of The Black Dahlia Murder's "The Window" depict the disturbing thoughts and actions of a serial killer who targets young and innocent children. The opening lines reveal the killer's twisted desires as he states that he sodomizes the young and dying, admitting that this sick hunger is his vice. He takes pleasure in the act of ejaculating onto their lifeless bodies and hearing their gurgled screams. The killer's thoughts turn to the children's innocence, which he attempts to take away by praising their little curiosities and joys in life. He considers them to be rats that blindly follow the piper and puny little lambs to the slaughter. He revels in the thought of leading them further down a path of corruption with his song of hatred.
The second verse further explores the killer's obsession with defiling the children's bodies and taking pleasure in their last moments of life. He revels in the act of filling their mouths with semen while they still blink and shakes with fear, and takes the time to admire the grisly treasure he has created. The murderer sees himself as blessing the children with his insane love as he takes away their innocence, a love that is blackened with malice and depravity. The chorus repeats as the killer revels in his madness and the horror that he causes, admitting that the thought of being hunted by society only intensifies his twisted joy.
Line by Line Meaning
I sodomize the young and dying,
I engage in sexual acts with children who are close to death or in the process of dying.
This sick hunger is my vice.
My twisted desire for sexual violence against children is an addiction that I cannot control.
My lust to drip my rotten seed upon
Their cooling flesh so fare,
I crave the perverse satisfaction of ejaculating onto the dead or dying bodies of my victims.
Of their gurgled screams I could never hear enough.
The sounds of my victims in pain and terror are a source of pleasure for me.
Bless their puny hearts and their sweet naiveties,
Praise those little lemmings,
But rats unto the piper.
I view the innocence and vulnerability of children as an opportunity to subjugate and exploit them.
Bless those putrid beasts,
Their innocence my blade's eager to meet.
I take pleasure in causing harm and destruction to innocent children, using them as fodder for my sadistic desires.
May my song of hatred lead them forever downward.
I will use my actions to traumatize and inflict pain on my victims, ultimately leading them toward a downward spiral of despair and destruction.
I fill the mouth with semen
While the head still blinks and shakes,
Ten seconds is the window,
Another child has met his fate.
I will engage in sexual acts with a child up until the moment they die, typically within ten seconds of the act.
I hold the grisly treasure skyward,
Have a laugh into its face,
Bless all Earth's most precious children
With my blackened love insane.
I take pleasure in my perverse acts, holding the body of a dead child up to the sky and laughing at my twisted actions. I view my attraction to children as love, but it is a twisted, blackened version of what true love actually is.
I've come to revel in the horror
No words nor nightmare could describe,
The erotic waves of lurid rapture,
That moment when they realize.
I take pleasure in the horror that I inflict upon children, and no written or spoken word could adequately express this pleasure. I enjoy the moment when my victims realize the extent of my sadistic behavior.
Bless those little wonders and their curiosities,
Praise those little maggots but lambs unto my slaughter,
A blessed life so cheap,
Their perfect flesh will be the ideal treat,
May my song of worship bring them ever closer.
I view children as vulnerable and naive creatures who are easily manipulated and controlled. I take pleasure in their curiosity and willingness to trust me. I see their lives as cheap and disposable, with their bodies representing the ultimate reward for my perverse desires. My actions are a form of worship to my twisted version of love, drawing me ever closer to my victims in my pursuit of satisfying my addiction.
I'm insane,
How they'll be hunting for us nightly,
Tirelessly combing to no end,
Your shameful death to be in a shroud of mystery.
You'll never see the light of day again,
Slitting their bellies open wide,
So wide.
A great delight to look inside.
I sit upon their chests until they cease,
Expressionless ejaculating whilst they die.
I am fully aware of the insanity of my behavior and the inevitable consequences of discovery. I relish the thought of law enforcement pursuing us, even as I commit my violent acts. I will take pleasure in delivering a shameful death to my victims, and will ensure that their deaths remain a mystery. They will never leave my grasp, and I will savor the moment of opening up their bodies and examining their insides. I will sit upon their chest and engage in one final perverse act as they take their last breath.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: MAURICE WILLIAMS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind