This September/October, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER will hit the road for a North American headlining tour, featuring AFTER THE BURIAL, CARNIFEX, RIVERS OF NIHIL and UNDEATH as openers. Dubbed "Up From The Sewer Tour 2021", this will be the first trek in support of THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER's critically acclaimed album "Verminous", released in April 2020.
Trevor Strnad (vocals) comments: "IS THIS REAL LIFE? Yes, thankfully! We are beyond excited (and a little emotional) to finally announce our 'Verminous'-themed 'Up From The Sewer Tour 2021'! It's been a long, torturous year full of disappointments and cosmic cockblocks, and seeing this tour come into fruition is the light at the end of the tunnel we've been eager to share with you all. We are honored to have assembled our dudes in AFTER THE BURIAL, CARNIFEX, RIVERS OF NIHIL and UNDEATH for an evening of guaranteed fun, friendship, and ferocious heavy metal music. Get tickets now! Everyone is eager to be back at concerts and the tickets WILL MOVE FAST. Don't be left out in the cold!"
A special BLABBERMOUTH.NET presale will begin on Tuesday, June 8 at 12:00 p.m. (noon) EDT and end on Thursday, June 10 at 10:00 p.m. local time. When prompted, type in the presale code "BBMSEWER" to access tickets before the general public. General on-sale will be this Friday, June 11 at 10 a.m. local.
THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER "Up From The Sewer Tour 2021" with AFTER THE BURIAL, CARNIFEX, RIVERS OF NIHIL, UNDEATH:
Sep. 03 - Chicago, IL @ Concord Music Hall (buy tickets)
Sep. 04 - Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore (buy tickets)
Sep. 05 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave (buy tickets)
Sep. 07 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Intersection (buy tickets)
Sep. 08 - Fort Wayne, IN @ Piere's
Sep. 09 - Sauget, IL @ Pops (buy tickets)
Sep. 10 - Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater (buy tickets)
Sep. 11 - Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall (buy tickets)
Sep. 12 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex (buy tickets)
Sep. 14 - Seattle, WA @ El Corazon (buy tickets)
Sep. 15 - Portland, OR @ Bossanova Ballroom (buy tickets)
Sep. 17 - Berkeley, CA @ UC Theater (buy tickets)
Sep. 18 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco
Sep. 19 - San Diego, CA @ House of Blues (buy tickets)
Sep. 21 - Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues (buy tickets)
Sep. 22 - Mesa, AZ @ Nile Theater (buy tickets)
Sep. 24 - Dallas, TX @ GMBG (buy tickets)
Sep. 25 - Austin, TX @ Come and Take It Live (buy tickets)
Sep. 26 - Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live (buy tickets)
Sep. 28 - Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage (buy tickets)
Sep. 29 - Greensboro, NC @ Arizona Petes (buy tickets)
Sep. 30 - Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage (buy tickets)
Oct. 01 - Columbus, OH @ King of Clubs (buy tickets)
Oct. 02 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theater (buy tickets)
Oct. 03 - Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues (buy tickets)
Oct. 05 - Detroit, MI @ St Andrews Hall (buy tickets)
Oct. 06 - Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theater (buy tickets)
Oct. 07 - Montreal, QC @ Club Soda
Oct. 08 - Worcester, MA @ The Palladium (buy tickets)
Oct. 09 - Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom (buy tickets)
Oct. 10 - New York, NY @ Irving Paza (buy tickets)
"Verminous" was described in a press release as THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER's most dynamic, rousing and emotional release to date, and it achieves this without compromising one iota of heaviness.
Strnad stated about the effort: "I think this is the biggest evolutionary leap we've ever taken from one album to the next. We stoked the creative fires with 2017's 'Nightbringers' and it's gone much further now in 'Verminous'. It's a very colorful, moody, and charismatic album that experiments with new sounds and ideas without losing the cutthroat BLACK DAHLIA edge. There is a lot of minutiae to digest. Plenty of delicious little Easter eggs woven into the fabric of each song. Each one is a living, breathing entity that will stand on its own as some of the best music this band has ever created."
While the drums were recorded at The Pipeyard in Plymouth, Michigan by ex-bassist and longtime studio guru Ryan "Bart" Williams, the bulk of the album was recorded in New Jersey at guitarist Brandon Ellis's home studio, the Shred Light District, then mixed by Tue Madsen and mastered by Alan Douches. Produced by Ellis and the band, "Verminous" sees BLACK DAHLIA having a greater level of control over every facet of recording than on any previous release, enabling them to tweak and fine-tune all the small details right up until the point they sent it to Madsen in Denmark.
"To say we were anal-retentive would be an understatement," Strnad says. "Tue did an outstanding job. His mix is organic. Classic sounding. Not too slick. It's got an old-school 'real-life' feel to it rather than being the overly polished quantized-to-hell drek that is coming out these days. We wanted the album's sound to have its own personality, and he helped us achieve just that. Finally, Alan did a great job of smoothing out the final details with his mastering. He beefed it up into what you hear now."
The only other outside collaborators with which the band worked were soundscape artist Michael Ghelfi, who provided the sample that opens the record and "sets the pest-ridden vibe", and Juanjo Castellano, who painted the cover.
"It's amazing and classically death metal cover artwork," Strnad says. "I call it an evil underground sewer world, home to the verminous ones. If you look closely you can find all kinds of rats and bugs and critters scattered throughout. The amount of detail Juanjo put in there is second to none."
THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER is:
Trevor Strnad - Vocals
Brian Eschbach - Guitars
Max Lavelle - Bass
Alan Cassidy - Drums
Brandon Ellis - Guitars
Photo credit: David E. Jackson
