''Servitude'' is the tenth studio album by American

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

band the Black Dahlia Murder, released on September 27, 2024, through

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records (often shortened to Metal Blade) is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982 based in the U.S. state of California. The label primarily focuses on heavy metal. History Metal Blade Records was ...

. This is the band's first studio album since '' Verminous'' (2020), marking the longest gap between studio albums in their career, and their first after the death of former lead vocalist Trevor Strnad, with Brian Eschbach taking over vocals. It is also The Black Dahlia Murder's first album to feature guitarist Ryan Knight since ''

Abysmal ''Abysmal'' is the seventh studio album by American melodic death metal band the Black Dahlia Murder. It was released on September 18, 2015 through Metal Blade Records. It was produced by Mark Lewis, who also produced The Black Dahlia Murder ...

'' (2015), and their final to feature guitarist Brandon Ellis before his departure in February 2025. With a run time of 32 minutes and 49 seconds, It is the shortest The Black Dahlia Murder album to date.

Background

On May 11, 2022, the band announced that lead vocalist Trevor Strnad had died. While no cause of death was given, the phone number for the

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the United States, or Suicide Crisis Helpline in Canada, and formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, is a suicide prevention and crisis help line to a network of a large number of crisis ce ...

was provided at the end of the band's statement. A few months later, on September 14, the band announced that they would be holding a tribute concert on October 28 at

Saint Andrew's Hall Saint Andrew's Hall is a concert venue located in Detroit, Michigan, which was formerly the meeting place for the Saint Andrew's Society of Detroit. The Shelter lies underneath St. Andrews Hall and hosts various live music acts and DJs. It is k ...

in the band's hometown of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. It was also announced that rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Brian Eschbach would become the band's new lead vocalist and that Ryan Knight would be returning to the band as its new rhythm guitarist. In November 2023, it was announced that the Black Dahlia Murder had entered the studio to record its next studio album and would be releasing it in 2024. On June 13, 2024, the Black Dahlia Murder announced ''Servitude'' with the release of its lead single, "Aftermath". Eschbach spoke about the soundscape of the album: "We wanted that very aggressive Black Dahlia melodic death metal feel coming right at you. Lyrically, it's about a meteor that fucks up the whole planet, but there's still people living." On August 6, the second single from the album, "Mammoth's Hand", was released. An animated

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the single premiered later that day.

Track listing

Personnel

The Black Dahlia Murder * Brian Eschbach – lead vocals * Brandon Ellis – lead guitar, backing vocals, producer, mixing,

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* Ryan Knight – rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Max Lavelle – bass * Alan Cassidy – drums Technical * Mark Lewis – producer, mixing, drum recording engineer *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

– mastering

Charts

References

{{The Black Dahlia Murder 2024 albums The Black Dahlia Murder (band) albums Metal Blade Records albums Albums produced by Mark Lewis (music producer)