Black Dahlia Murder is a hard rocking group which really rock hard. Here have David been answering my questions for the group.

History?
Please tell me a little about every member in the band, interests, family, age and something bad about every one, and bands before this group?

-Well, Brian and I (David) are 20, Trevor is 22, and Cory and John are 19. We’re all have families and we all like horror movies. Of course, we’re all into music. Cory and John skateboard, I just started to ride BMX. Brian is into comics and tattoos and Trevor is really into buying CDs. I think it’s an illness really, his family planned an intervention once.

Do you have any groups beside of Black Dahlia Murder?

-Just some stuff we do for fun. Cory has a grind band called Decepticon that basically makes fun of everything. He does that maybe 3 times a year. That’s it really.

 
How did the name come up?

-Trevor had heard about the famous case and started to research it. Everyone liked the name, so it stuck. I wasn’t in the band at the time, so I can’t really get into too much detail. But from what I’ve heard, it was a LOT better than any of the other names they were throwing around.

You sound angry when you play, is it a way to get out your aggression?

-Actually, we’re usually pretty happy when we play. We’re doing something that we’ve all wanted to do for years. I think the only times we get angry is when the sound sucks or a string breaks or something else equally as stupid.

What do you think about the people who say that aggressive music grow up aggressive people?

-I think it’s stupid. Music doesn’t make people act a certain way. End of story.

 
Is your music something to torture people in Iraq with as they did with some calmer things like Metallica and so on?

-No, I think everyone would just start doing shots of jaiger.and headbanging.

You come from USA aren´t you, is there any good bands there now?

-Oh yes there are. It’s weird to see things change so much. For a while, we hand no good bands over here. The Red Chord, Beyond The Sixth Seal, Premonitions of War, Lamb of God, etc.. Our scene rules right now.

Are you only listening to the same music as you play or is it any other musicstyle you can listen to?

-We all listen to a lot of different stuff. Of course, we all love metal, but we all get down to our stuff. We listen to a lot of different shit in the van and I think it rules. It keeps things from getting boring.

What did you think about USAs role in the Iraqwar? What´s the bad and what´s the good part of it?

-War is stupid no matter how you slice it. That’s my feelings on the matter.

I look at your songtitles, it seems like you have some dark thinkings here and there? How does your lyrics come up?

-Really, Trevor just writes whatever he wants and works on them until they are perfect. I don’t know where he comes up with that shit, but I fucking love it. I guess it pays to grow up watching horror movies and listening to Autopsy.

What is the song When the last grave has empted about? And Elder Misanthropy?

-“When The Last Grave Has Emptied” is about zombies and “Elder Misanthropy” is about being immortal. Sort of like Highlander, but not so stupid.

What is most important to you when you do music, is it the music, the lyrics or is it to have a refrain that people remembers?

-We just write what we think sounds good, man. We’ll spend months on a song if we need to. Settling on something is one thing us in the BDM camp would never do. We’ll argue about songs if we have to.

Who does the songs, is it some in the band or do you do them all toghether?

-Usually, we’ll all sit down and go over ideas or riffs that someone came up and just work with them for a while. I think we all contribute somehow to the songs. Even if that means saying “I hate that, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” But luckily, we’re all good enough of friends that we don’t take it to heart.

 
How would you describe your own music with three words?

-Extreme anal bukkake.

Please rank your five favourite records, five favourite concerts and five most important things in life?

1.      Metallica – “Master of puppets”

2.      Suffocation – “Pierced from within”

3.      Danzig III – “How the gods kill”

4.      Miles Davis – “Sketches of spain”

5.      Cannibal Corpse – “The bleeding”

1.      Deicide/Behemoth

2.      Nile/Arch Enemy/Hate Eternal/Origin

3.      Deeds of Flesh/Severe Torture

4.      Rush

5.      The Red Chord/Premonitions of War

1.      Music

2.      Jaiger

3.      The writings of H.P. Lovecraft

4.      Vodka

5.      Classic horror movies

First, last and most expensive record ever bought?

-The first record I ever bought was a Metallica bootleg, the last I bought was the new Cult of Luna CD, and the most expensive was a Metallica Import. The Japanese version of “…And Justice For All”. $35 and all that was different was it had a Diamondhead cover on it. I was a dedicated kid. I just wish that when the bus fell, Lars would’ve died and not Cliff. The world would be a much better place.

 
How much does your records sell?

-It’s going to sell for around $10, even in the huge chains. We’re pretty happy about that because we hate how much CD’s go for nowadays. It’s stupid that people jack up the prices so much. I mean, everyone knows it cost like $2 per CD to have them made. We think people will see the price and be really stoked about it, hence being more inclined to buy it.(I meant how much will it sell 100.000 or 1.000.000 or so but this is a good answer too)

Have you got any reviews yet on the new album?

-Yeah, a few online webzines and such have reviewed it. So far all have been really good. We were a little nervous as to how people would react, because we have changed quite a bit since our last release. We’re starting to show a lot of more of our American death metal influences and we weren’t sure how that would go over. But so far, so good.

Which is the most peculiar review you ever have got?

-Really, I haven’t seen a review that really pissed me off or confused me or anything. I may have seen some I didn’t agree with, but everyone is entitled to their opinions. Just like how I hate The Beatles and everyone else in the world loves them. I just think they sucked a lot of ass, but hey. That’s just me.

Do you care about reviews?

-Yeah, I want to know what people are saying/thinking. Even if they hate us, I want to know.

How is a good concert with you?

-A good concert with us really depends on the venue. We’ve played quite a few shows where we couldn’t hear each other, so it was really hard for us to get into it because we were constantly trying to latch onto any familiar sound. But when everything is just right, we headbang like crazy and just have a great time.

How does the average fan look like? Do you have good contact with your fans?

-Our fans are pretty diverse, but I think hardcore kids are into us more than anyone. And they dress kind of like us. Tight shirts, jeans, studded belts, etc. I’d like to think we have excellent contact with our fans. We talk to anyone who comes up to us and in some cases, we talk to them for hours.

I saw in your guestbook that someone have given you some CD they said that you must listen to? Do you got many CD´s, demos, cassettes and so on? Do you listen to them all?

-We never get demos or anything. Usually, bands post in our guestbook asking us to check out their mp3’s.

Have it ever happened something with the bands you have listened to, have you helped them out in some way?

-Of course we’ve helped them out. We buy their merch.

 
What do you know about Sweden?

-I heard somewhere that the government pays for all the students to go to music school and learn an instrument. Which is probably why all the metal bands over there are amazing.

Have you heard any swedish bands worth to mention?

-Oh come on, we all know who the kings are.

How is it to be on Metal Blade, does it work out fine or? What´s the best and what´s the worst part of being on Metal Blade?

-Metal Blade is one of the best things that has ever happened to us. It gave us a chance to become a real band and do everything we’ve ever wanted to do. So far, everything has been great. They promote the hell out of us, they do a lot of shit for us, and everyone who works there is so goddamn nice.

Which are your futureplans for the band?

-Tour everywhere we can. Write more albums. Get endorsed by yeiger. I think it’s safe to say that this band is our full time job now, so hopefully we become the kings of the world before too long.

 
As a human being?

-I’m going to be in this band for as long as I can. After that, I’ll figure something out.

Wisdomword?

-Thrash ‘til death.

 
Something more to add?

-Don’t ever get heavy equipment. Your band will hate you.

 

Pictures taken fromBlack Dahlias Murders website