Posts Tagged ‘Trevor Strnad’
Friday, June 22nd, 2012
SickDrummer.com, Perseverance Holdings and our friends at Relapse Records are among the sponsors of the DEATH TO ALL TOUR which kicks off tonight in that most metal of cities San Francisco, CA. The tour celebrates the life and music of CHUCK SCHULDINER of DEATH. With DEATH and later CONTROL DENIED Chuck blazed an innovative trail in music and has been followed by nearly every death metal that followed in his shadow. This is not an exaggeration, but widely acknowledged and not just by his peers and loved ones, but by many bands both from yesterday and the present. Performing music from a career spanning set list with be an all-star group of Chuck’s former band mates and giants of death metal like GENE HOGLAN (Individual Thought Patterns/Symbolic), SEAN REINERT (Human), STEVE DIGIORGIO (Human/Individual Thought Patterns), Scott Clendenin (The Sound of Perseverance), PAUL MASVIDAL (Human), Shannon Hamm (The Sound of Perseverance), and Bobby Koelble (Symbolic). Handling vocal duties will be by Steffen Kummerer of OBSCURA and Charles Elliott of ABYSMAL DAWN/BEREFT who are both greatly influenced by Chuck. Some of the guest artists who will join certain shows are RICHARD CHRISTY of CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED (ex-DEATH), Alex Skolnick and Chuck Billy of TESTAMENT, Paul Ryan of ORIGIN, Craig Locicero of FORBIDDEN, Travis Ryan of CATTLE DECAPITATION,Trevor Strnad and Ryan Knight of THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER and Emil Werstler of DAATH/CHIMAIRA. GORGUTS will open most of the shows.
Not only will this be a celebration of Chuck’s life, but will help make a lasting impression for the future at every show. Each night is a benefit show to raise awareness for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund which provides support to career musicians in need of support while facing illness, disability or age related issues. This cause hits especially close to home for Chuck’s family and friends and one he’d gladly support. Please come out to this rare opportunity to pay tribute to a legend, see an amazing collection of talent and hear some songs that haven’t been performed anywhere since DEATH was active as a band. Please come out to support this tour and support live music, especially underground bands.
DEATH TO ALL 2012 TOUR DATES:
6/22/2012 – The Regency Ballroom – San Francisco, CA
6/23/2012 – House of Blues – Los Angeles, CA
6/26/2012 – House of Blues – Chicago, IL
6/28/2012 – Irving Plaza – NYC, NY
6/30/2012 – The Beacham – Orlando, FL
*Postponed until 2013* 7/01/2012 – The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
*Postponed until 2013* 7/03/2012 – House of Blues – Dallas, TX
Tags: abysmal dawn, alex skolnick, Bereft, cattle decapitation, Charles Elliott, Charred Walls Of The Damned, chimaira, chuck billy, chuck schuldiner, control denied, daath, death, emil werstler, forbidden, Gene Hoglan, Gorguts, individual thought patterns, Obscura, Origin, Paul Masvidal, Paul Ryan, Richard Christy, Sean Reinert, Steffen Kummerer, Steve DiGiorgio, symbolic, testament, the black dahlia murder, The Sound of Perseverance, Travis Ryan, Trevor Strnad
Posted in The Bunker | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
Global Flatline (Century Media)
The first death metal masterpiece of 2012 has arrived and just for laughs it tells tales of the end of life as we know it. Would you expect anything less from ABORTED and their twisted mastermind Sven DeCaluwé? With few exceptions, I have been anticipating this album above all others for the first quarter of new metal releases. If you are like me and you have waited patiently for ABORTED to drop a new record, your faith will be rewarded in blood and body parts. They are back to satiate your hunger for all things gore and eardrum damage inducing aural punishment!
The opening track “Omega Mortis” is a portend of what’s to come with panicked news reports talking of the war, zombies, plagues and famine decimating the earth. The eerie music sets the tone for the mountainous riffs that are about to fall on your head. The title track lurches to life like a real monster ripping his restrains off and murdering the entire lab. As soon Ken Bedene’s (ex-ABIGAIL WILLIAMS) insanely fast double kick beats lift off and the main riff kicks in, it becomes a musical clusterfuck, in a good way. Svencho decries the state of mankind and its swift descent into oblivion over the course of a little over three minutes of crazy blast-beats and grooves. As usual Sven’s vocals are harsh, yet he is one of the most understandable vocalists in all of metal. This to me is a plus since he is a gifted wordsmith. Track three is the single, “The Origin of Disease”. The song is a non-stop blast and gore fest with Julien Trunchan of BENIGHTED joining in for some sick duel lead vocals. In addition to some cool distorted bass lines from JB Van Der Wal, the track features some stunning work from guitarist Eran Segal who shines throughout the album. Segal is joined by Bedene’s old band mate Mike Wilson who also jams out, contributed some songs. “Coronary Reconstruction” gets a savage face-lift and is now more brutal than the EP version. The shift between Sven’s shrill scream and low howls is terrific and the solos by Segal are some of the many highlights for me here. He has really stepped up and asserted himself in the band as a writer and as a player. “Fecal Forgery” and “Of Scabs and Boils” both have a certain grindcore flavor with the later occasional revealing crust/grind beats and almost punk rock chords. Don’t worry though, the bands penchant for breakdowns, quintuple-time endings and the occasional bass drop are all still intact. My favorite track on the album is “Vermicular, Obscene, Obese” and features Trevor Strnad of THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER. The two master level front men working against each other is just madness. The track is so rough that when it breaks in to a brutal, near hard rock type groove, it just works. “Expurgation Euphoria” is slow and demented sounding like a bad trip. The piano part at the end is really haunting and lonely. Coming right back with “From A Tepid Whiff”, we have the other top track from the EP, ratcheted up with 100% evil density. “The Kallinger Theory” is another grind and groove workout. Other top tracks include “Our Father Who Art Feces” featuring Keijo Niimimaa from ROTTEN SOUND, “Grime” featuring Jason Netherton of MISERY INDEX and the nihilistic guitar-epic closer “Endstille”. Everything you love about this band is present on this recording from the songs, Jacob Hansen’s production and the gross artwork. Even the bonus tracks rule! What a treat for old and new fans a like.
GRADE: A
by Keith (Keefy) Chachkes
Tags: abigail williams, aborted, bassist JB Van Der Wal, benighted, blast beats, Century Media Records, death riffs, deathmetal, drummer Ken Bedene, Global Flatline, gore, Grindcore, guitarist Eran Segal, guitarist Mike Wilson, Jason Netherton, Julien Trunchan, Keefy, Keijo Niimimaa, metal reviews by Keefy, misery index, rotten sound, shredding solos, Sven DeCaluwé, the black dahlia murder, Trevor Strnad
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011
Metal Army caught up with THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER’s front man Trevor Strnad late this summer at The Summer Slaughter Tour. On the heels of the excellent Ritual album (Metal Blade) Trevor was all smiles in talking about their new music and headline spot on the tour. Compared with the wise cracking joker from their DVDs and the devilish front man from their live shows in person Trevor is a different animal. He was thoughtful and rather humble for a guy who’s band is one of the premiere acts in modern death metal. He also answered a burning question for me I was dying to know. Awesome! The band is on tour this fall with ALL SHALL PERISH and CANNABIS CORPSE.
 Ritual was released this August on Metal Blade Records.
MAA: How has the tour been?
TS: Awesome! It’s almost over now, but it’s definitely been a real victory for the band and everybody that has been a part of it. A lot of great turnouts. We’ve averaged 1000 or 1100 every night. It’s awesome to be back on it for the second time, let a lone begin the headliner which is awesome. Everything is going really well right now. And it synced up perfectly with Ritual‘s release and everything so its awesome.
MAA: Ritual has been out a little while now. How are the new songs going over live?
TS: Great so far! We have been playing five of them. People seemed to be taking to the new songs really well. We made sure when we were writing them we made sure they were gonna come across. That is something we keep in mind. It’s definitely a challenge to play new songs after playing the same ones forever. Actually every time we write a new album it takes a minute to get into the zone and stuff. But now we’re getting to the end of this tour and we’ve been playing these songs. I’m happy. I’m happy with the reaction and how the album is doing. It’s awesome. This is an exciting time for us right now.
 Trevor tore it up big time for TBDM's headling set at Summer Slaughter this year.
MAA: The record definitely explored some new terrain for the band? What was the writing process like compared to other albums?
TS: It was pretty similar, but this time there was just a lot more time actually. The other records were all written pretty rapidly just to kind of fit into our schedules. This time we had a big break, like six months off to decompress from so much touring and spend some time on the songs. Just when they were coming together there was a level of excitement there. We had some discussions about what we wanted to do with the songs talked about making the record, which is not something we have typically done before. We were talking about incorporating new elements into THE BLACK DAHLIA sound. Trying to bring forth the aspects of the band that are great and try to magnify the things that make people like us in the first place. Like more of the horror aspects from the first record and Nocturnal. We’re happy guys. It took more elbow grease, but I think it shows. I think it shows. It’s the fifth record you know? We wanted to do something cool. Not just to put it a record, but to really make the fans really pumped again and remind them what it’s all about. I think its been a definite success in that regard so I’m happy.
 The devil is always in the details for this band.
MAA: The band worked again with Mark Lewis again. What does Mark bring to the table other producers do not bring?
TS: Compared to to the other guys we have worked with I think Mark Lewis and Jason Suecoff, they are just friends above anything. We have a lot of laughs with those guys. There is a definite trust there. They know their way around extreme metal, which is important. That was key for us being a really fast band. We wanted to go somewhere where we could get a killer guitar sound. Which initially it was hard to pick for us since all of the bands that influences our guitar sound are European. We’ve definitely found a good team in those guys. They are serious when its time to be serious, working hard and getting good takes. But the environment is always friendly and we also have time for a lot of laughs too.
MAA: What is the band on The Summer Slaughter tour you most enjoy watching play?
TS: FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE! They are awesome. I have all their stuff. I picked up their new CD the first day they had it at the table. I was like “yeeeeeessssss!” (laughs) They have been really cool guys as well. It’s really fun to watch em! So fucking fast, the drumming. So fast and so brutal. And he sang for HOUR OF PENANCE! Talk about a talented motherfucker man!
MAA: Better or Worse: Touring in the summer America or Touring in the summer in Europe?
TS: I think I like it in the states better. I do like it better in the summer here. Winter in Europe its just cold as shit. A lot of the European venues are older and don’t have any heat. But I like touring America in the summer.
MAA: Better or Worse: Necromanced back to life by a satanic cult or bitten by a walker in a zombie apocalypse?
TS: I think it would be worse to be bitten by a zombie! (laughs) I’d will go the other way!
MAA: I’ve waited my entire career to ask you that question Trevor. Thanks for your time!
TS: Right on! Thanks man!
(Special thanks to Trevor Strnad, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, Metal Blade Records and Return to the Pit)
by Keith (Keefy) Chachkes
Tags: apocalyptic vocals, bassist Bart Williams, Blackened Death Metal, brilliant song titles, Cannibal Corpse, drummer Shannon Lucas, Grindcore, guitarist Brian Eschbach, guitarist Ryan Knight, Jason Suecoff, Keefy, mark lewis, metal blade records, metal interviews by Keefy, necromancy, occult and mystical lyrics, prog, Ritual, Swedish melodic death metal, the black dahlia murder, The Summer Slaughter Tour, thrash, Trevor Strnad, zombie apocalypse
Posted in Feature Interviews, Interviews | No Comments »
Friday, June 17th, 2011
Ritual (Metal Blade Records)
THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER is back with a new record and in a total non-shocker, it’s great. All of the bells and whistles one might expect to hear are in place, even though I certainly wouldn’t call it a formula per se. These guys know what it takes to make this music and what the fans demand and they have delivered a ton on both fronts. I must confess that I’ve always felt their albums were missing something that kept me from repeated listens and die-hard fandom. Friends of mine talk about them the way hippies often speak of that very first high way back in the sixties. I always liked them, but felt they were just shy of an upper echelon group. On the other hand I love seeing them in a live setting and I suppose to me they had never translated that extra awesomeness to their recorded output. Until now.
Starting off with “A Shrine to Madness”, a gentle string section ushers in the song. At the one minute mark everything goes bleak and the music announces to the world that this is not your bros’ BDM old record. Not one bit. An over the top blackened death metal riff leads the charge as the sounds just pummels your ears. As per usual head Murder-man Trevor Strnad’s apocalyptic vocals are high up front in the mix and strictly brutal. Alternating between manic screeching and his lowest gutter sounding bellows, just on this first alone song he has reached a new level of vocal grotesquery. In addition to the typical tops of butchery, murder and gore many of the songs have occult and mystical lyrical references. Shannon Lucas just drills the drums to death and of course there is plenty of shreddy goodness from mainstay Brian Eschbach and more recent addition Ryan Knight on the guitars. Second track and single “Moonlight Equilibrium” takes a typical BDM style song and turns it on its ear. It is chock full of beautiful Swedish melodic death metal riffs and leads that had my head back in 1995 mentally. As on most of the songs in Ritual they make many left turns musically and add unexpected progressions to a joyously prog-band level. The marching thrash rhythms will have you grinning from ear to ear as once again Lucas just destroys his kit. This may be his finest hour since joining BDM in 2007, even though he has always been strong. His growth as a player is just one indicator of where the band has come from and where they are heading. Perhaps the most brutal track on the album is next in the form of “On Stirring Seas of Salted Blood”. Razorwire riffs and chugging rhythms push the track that includes several sonic nods to old CANNIBAL CORPSE and DEICIDE. This comes complete with a real standout bass line from Bart Williams who also shines much brighter than ever before. Once again the guitar solos are maddeningly complex and I bet guitar dudes are gonna blow a gasket trying to learn this stuff. The track goes through several stylistic changes, but are all killer. I’ll bet good money that the last forty seconds or so are going to be a riot of chanting and moshing live. Another track full of insane musicianship and chops is “Conspiring with the Damned”. Strnad truly creeps me out sometimes vocally and is among the best in the genre at this aspect. “The Window” sees the band delve into uncharted waters of even more thrash and prog inspired realms, until the crushing breakdown just reboots the entire listening experience. Other tracks like “Carbonized in Cruciform” and the Lucas and Williams led “Den of The Picturesque” has a distinct NAPALM DEATH grindcore flavor to them. More of the bands penchant for brilliant song titles is on display with “Malenchantments of the Necrosphere”. The song is equally heavy, evil and gnarly as it sounds. The solo break in the middle will have you confused with with the fluid and lyrical solos of Michael Amott of ARCH ENEMY before the proggy sickness floods back in. Practically ever member of the band stepped up their game and it shows in the songs. I think this is the first truly skip-free effort from BDM for me personally. They really captured the sound of a band at the height of its powers and I enjoyed every track.
GRADE: A
by Keith (Keefy) Chachkes
Tags: apocalyptic vocals, Arch Enemy, bassist Bart Williams, Blackened Death Metal, brilliant song titles, Cannibal Corpse, drummer Shannon Lucas, Grindcore, guitarists Brian Eschbach and Ryan Knight, Keefy, metal blade records, michael amott, napalm death, occult and mystical lyrics, prog, Ritual, Swedish melodic death metal, the black dahlia murder, thrash, Trevor Strnad
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Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
OTEP/I WRESTLED A BEAR ONCE/STRAY FROM THE PATH
The Palladium
Worcester, MA
Many of my friends into brutal music ask me what’s the deal with OTEP is and why I am a fan. I’ve often said of their band either you get it or you don’t. Some try to dismiss OTEP the band as well as Otep Shamaya the person as a leftover from the “Nu Metal” era of the 1990’s. I’d say rapping is only a fragment of the entire picture of what the band can do and metal heads are supposed to be more open minded than most. Especially when you consider just about every growling guy or girl singer who doesn’t use any melody is by definition, rapping. The main draw of OTEP for me is the music and the intelligent and challenging lyrics. Some people just like brutal music and I get that but I am a fan of words as well and she is a genius in that department. I think the evolution of the band has been very interesting and despite an auspicious major label beginning, they are still a decidedly underground enterprise. Surprisingly they are not on any of the major summer tours and the upstairs (small) stage at The Palladium barely contained the energy of the show even though the room was just ¾ full.
I missed opener BURY YOUR PAST so the first band I caught was Long Island’s STRAY FROM THE PATH. They play a fairly typical style of what I like to call bro-core: hardcore influenced metal with a lot of breakdowns and scream-y vocals. The crowd seemed really into to them and the band is definitely very high energy on stage. I didn’t think they had a lot of standout cuts, but the song “Damien” had some good riffage. They also had cool shirts with their logo in the form of a New York Islanders Hockey Jersey which even I, a die-hard New York Rangers fan couldn’t hate. If you are a fan of EMMURE and DESPISED ICON you will love SFTP. Otherwise nothing to see here, move along.
I WRESTLED A BEAR ONCE was next and they threatened to steal the thunder of the headliner. Since they have toured extensively through the northeast they have built a huge following and the heads were out tonight en masse. Singer Krysta Cameron referred to New England as “Bear Country” several times during the set. She led her band through a spastic mash-up of music that touched on virtually every genre and no less than five styles per song. If IWABO wasn’t very talented this could never work. Between their lyrics and constant humorous samples (the one from “Clerks” got me right where I live) they delivered every song with the kind of tongue in cheek comedy you just don’t hear anymore. Listening them careen from grindcore, 80’s style dance pop, lounge jazz, a country hoe-down, Broadway musicals and back to metal in a few short minutes is fairly stunning. I’m pretty sure at one point one of their patented interludes was the theme from TV’s “Three’s Company” or at least the guitar part was dead on. The entire band is really good both technically and as performers, but I’d be remiss not to single out the star power of Krysta. Her range is ridiculous and brings to mind Bjork, Mike Patton and Trevor Strnad all at the same time. Her own stage presence is amazing be it dancing around the stage, giving a shout out to her “bloody vagina”, burping and farting into the microphone or just making fun of metal by addressing the crowd in a death metal voice between songs, you have to love this girl! As they closed their set with “Tastes like Kevin Bacon” I was already looking forward to seeing them again.
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Tags: "Clerks", Bjork, Despised Icon, emmure, Evil J, I Wrestled A Bear Once, Krysta Cameron, metal, Mike Patton, Otep, Otep Shamaya, Stray From The Path, Trevor Strnad, Worcester Palladium
Posted in Live Show Reviews, Reviews | No Comments »
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