“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.
Side A:
01 Evening Ephemeral
02 Panic Hysteric
03 Aftermath
04 Cursed Creator
05 An Intermission
06 Asserting Dominion
Side B:
07 Servitude
08 Mammoth's Hand
09 Transcosmic Blueprint
10 Utopia Black
