The Black Dahlia Murder’s Trevor Strnad Talks Fall Tour + More

The Black Dahlia Murder’s Trevor Strnad was a recent guest on Full Metal Jackie’s weekend radio show. The vocalist talks about the Indiemerch tour, death metal misconceptions + more. Check out the interview below.

Trevor, why is it important for you to showcase the underground scene by bringing Iron Reagan, Harm’s Way and Maruta on tour?

I’m really excited about the lineup that we’ve put together with Indiemerch. We’re trying to show different walks from the extreme world. And these are all bands that have a lot of buzz right now. So I am really excited to get them all together in one tour. I think it is going to be really hard to resist for people. I’m very excited. You know, Harm’s Way is just super, super ugly. Metallic Hardcore, the singer is literally a terrifying individual. So I am excited about that. Iron Reagan, I’ve seen a couple of times now. Just totally ramped up thrash madness. So, Maruta, of course, now is reformed and on relapse and have a new album with their tech grind brand of madness. So I’m very, very excited about this. These are all bands I really like a lot and I’m excited that they’ve signed on to hang out with us. They are going to give us a hell of a run for our money each day. I’m pretty sure about that.

“Receipt” off the new album comes from a hard time in your life. What was the scariest part about opening up and committing it to a song that will be a reminder years from now?

I guess it’s just that letting people into I’m a human being and I’m not the super positive guy you see in the press always. You know what I mean. I have my dark hours, too. You know it's going to serve as a reminder, too, but also it’s a triumph. It’s a time when I was really like scared about the future. I was really depressed. You know, I was really feeling the pressure of the situation here. You know where we have lots of fans waiting for us to make new music, etc. And yeah, it was a dark time. But at the same time, I think kind of showing your vulnerability to people is also attractive. Also there are people that are the same all the time. So maybe just something that they can relate to I think is cool.

What is the biggest example on Abysmal that really shows how this band has evolved since the last album?

That’s a tough one. Maybe the title track "Abysmal." It’s a little bit relaxed as far as the pace goes compared to some of the stuff that we do. But I think it has the most emotional kind of content. It elicits a response in that way. So I think that that’s the strongest suit of the record, is having music that is more emotive than anything we have done in the past. Stuff that will resonate with the fans and hopefully make them feel something instead of just blowing their heads off.

How does revisiting bands that you love like you did last fall with the Grind Em All EP affect you when you're making new music of your own?

I think it was kind of a separate thing. It didn’t really change the course of what we would do with Abysmal. But Grind Them All was just something fun. You know, we actually had the song sitting around recorded for almost ten years. So it was something that was cool to finally have it out and see the light of day and getting the fans to see another side of the band. It was just kind of a fun thing but I don’t think it affected things too much really. It was kind of a placeholder to keep people interested in things while we were secretly working on the new album.

Trevor, based on your lyrics and music, what's the biggest misconception people have about you?

I guess that we are bad people. I think that's the common one about death metal as a whole, that the people that write it are some kind of deviants. I admit, when I was young and looking into it, that was the opinion I had of it too. It had sort of a snuff-ish kind of contraband quality to it. I knew that it was definitely something my parents weren't going to approve of at all. It had me wondering about Cannibal Corpse's sanity as individuals. But then you realize it's a tongue in cheek thing, the violence and the macabre. It's like a horror movie, the same reason people are attracted to it I think. It's like a car crash you can't look away from.

What else is to come for the rest of the year?

We have a second half of the Indiemerch Tour formulating that will be full U.S., major markets. There are a lot of people complaining about the first half not coming to them, do not worry yet. There are a million dates to come and another awesome lineup, which we'll be revealing soon. Then we have some European stuff shaping up for wintertime and just beyond that? Tour, tour, tour, man. We're going to go everywhere. Hopefully go to some new places this year and we'll be highly visible during the Abysmal cycle.

Many thanks to Trevor Strnad for the interview. The Black Dahlia Murder’s Indiemerch Tour kicks off on Oct. 1 in Syracuse, N.Y. For their complete tour dates, click here. Their 'Abysmal' album is available now at iTunes. Full Metal Jackie’s weekend show can be heard on radio stations around the country — for a full list of stations, go to fullmetaljackieradio.com.

Listen to The Black Dahlia Murder's "Vlad, Son of the Dragon"