The Black Dahlia Murder’s Ryan Knight on ‘Servitude’- V13.net

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On May 11th, 2022, the world of heavy metal lost a true icon with the passing of The Black Dahlia Murder frontman Trevor Strnad. His death sent shockwaves around the world of heavy music and beyond, with Robb Flynn and Matt Heafy amongst musicians from the heavy metal scene paying tribute.

On October 28th, 2022, the band performed their first show since Trevor’s passing as founding member and guitarist Brian Eschbach stepped away from guitar, taking up the band’s frontman position. Following several singles and just under two years since the show, the band returned last month with Servitude, their new album, the first since Eschbach stepped up to the mic and the first since the loss of their iconic frontman.

In our latest Cover Story, V13 sat down with guitarist Ryan Knight, who also returned to the band following Strnad’s death. The guitarist spoke about his return to the fold, the death of his friend, and how the band decided to keep going.

Hey Ryan, thanks for your time. First of all, how’s life treating you at the moment?

“It’s good. Can’t complain. I’m ready for Fall, though.”

Me too. Right, before we go on to the album, I want to go back a bit and just fill in a bit of a picture of the last few years. You left the band in 2016, which I read was to follow different things in your life. I also got the impression that, although it was an amicable split, you left with unfinished business. Was that the case?

“Leaving the band was not an easy decision, but I just felt like it was something I needed to do at the time. My daughter at the time was smaller and I just was getting burnt out a little bit. It was almost like being on a really fun ride and you’re just having so much fun but you’ve got to get off this for a minute. It’s hard because I always felt like my solo could have been better, I could have written better songs. There’s always this thing I feel when you’re a musician so there’s always going to be some unfinished business but here we are back again.”

Between then and now, what was your relationship like with the band? Did you still keep in touch?

“Yeah, I was talking to Brian probably every other month and then me and Trevor would always converse back and forth online and stuff. So I was in touch pretty much the entire time I was out.”

What do you remember about finding out about Trevor’s death?

“Man, at the time I was doing IT work at a big university in Nashville, Tennessee, where I was living, and one day I was at work, and I got a call. I looked at my phone and it was Kareem, who is our old tour manager, who now runs Nightshift Merch merch. He does all our merch and everything, while not necessarily odd, I just don’t get many calls from Kareem, it’s one of those things.

I can’t speak for all the other guys, but I’m still in disbelief, even though it’s been a little over two years. It’s one of those things. It’s very hard to process. Trevor comes up in our thoughts all the time and we’re even to the point where we are like ‘Man, Trevor would hate this or Trevor would love that,’ almost like he’s like still around to some degree. It’s just insane.”

From there where did the conversation develop about you rejoining the band and, given what you’d said about wanting to do other things, what made it the right decision to come back for you?

“At the time I was living in Nashville, Tennessee, and after everything, Brian called me a month later, I think Brian called me in June of 2022. He said, hey, you know, I think I’m gonna switch over to vocals if you want to come back and guitar? The band is from Michigan, the Detroit Metro area, my wife is actually from the Detroit Metro area and we were considering moving here anyway because we have a bunch of family here and we didn’t have any in Nashville. We’re already considering moving to Detroit so I guess we’ll just go ahead.

Obviously, I’d rather play guitar any day of the week so I pretty much had a job built in the second I got here. Right now, I live like four or five miles right down the road from Brian so it feels like it was a natural thing. We had been in Nashville for five years. I had a new career that I liked a lot, but it was maybe just like a change for us as well. We were just about to have our son, so we knew we would need more family support. So it felt almost like a natural thing that happened when the band decided they wanted to get back together.”

“We’re even to the point where we are like, ‘Would Trevor would hate this or Trevor would love this?’ almost like he’s like still around.”

Losing somebody who was a larger-than-life character, not just within the band, but within the wider metal community, were you involved in that conversation about the band continuing?

“From what I remember. I know that they were thinking to themselves, ‘Is the band over now? What should we do?’ I don’t know if they all got together, but I definitely think that Brian called up Brandon to give him the idea of ‘What if I just put down the guitar and switched over to vocals?’ Brian has done a lot of backup vocals in the past. I think he said ‘What if we call Ryan and see if he will come back in?’ I’m sure they probably took that idea to Max and Alan afterwards to see what they thought. I think that’s how it all came about.”

The reaction to the band continuing, it would be understandable that it was something that’s going to split fans but, right from the announcement of Trevor’s passing right through to you announcing the band was continuing, the outpouring of love from across the world has been crazy. It’s not just a local thing. it’s worldwide. How much does that motivate you to carry on knowing that that support is there?

“It’s everything, it’s a hundred per cent. I think that everybody in this band is pretty honest with themselves especially when it comes to matters regarding the band. I really think that if we felt that the support from the fans wasn’t there, I don’t think that we would be here right now. Losing someone like Trevor, who you’re never going to be able to replace, there’s always going to be some people that won’t accept it, which is completely fine and, to be honest, it’s to be expected. There are going to be some people who won’t accept it and that’s fine. There may even be some people that don’t accept it now who may grow into it and then there’s going to be the people that want us to continue on.

Thankfully from what I’ve seen, I’ll probably say it’s 90 to 95 percent all positive, which is the number one reason why we’re pretty much here. Even continuing, if we just got the feeling that no one wanted it to happen then I don’t know… It’s hard to say, the band has been around 23 years and this will be the 10th record. I feel like maybe we would have done a record, but it’s much easier to do when you feel the support of people behind you. I feel like even outside of our fans, I feel like there are people that probably maybe aren’t even a fan of the band that we’ve like felt support from so it’s been like everything.”

The outpouring from across the industry, not just Black Dahlia fans, but musicians as well, the love for Trevor was massive. On the flip side of that though, like you said, there are the people that will be ‘It’s not the same, it’s not Trevor, blah, blah, blah,’ how do you deal with that negativity?

“It sucks because you want everyone to be on board, but I mean anytime someone criticizes your band or your music it sucks but, 10 albums in, I feel like we have like thick skin as far as that is concerned, but it still sucks. I know that for a lot of people, there’s an emotional thing behind all of this too. For some people, the band means so much to them in various ways and they can’t accept it without Trevor because he’s the guy, whether they connected with him or the lyrics and that is understandable.

I get how there would be people who may even still follow the band, but they may not have an interest in the new stuff which is completely fine. I get it but it’s been great that so many people are still on board and have agreed with us that this is the only way for us to continue. Getting a new vocalist, no matter how good or capable, I just don’t think it would work for us with the fans.”

The first show as the new version of the band was October 22nd. Was that your first gig back with the band?

“Yes, that was the first one. First gig with the band since December 26, 2015.”

What do you remember about it?

“For the most part, it felt pretty natural being back up there. It was a little nerve-wracking because I hadn’t played live with the band in so long at that point. So the nerves were kicking in but, at the same time, I felt pretty comfortable because it was here in Detroit our home and a venue we had played many times. The show was packed and it was just good vibes overall. I felt like I could have caught up there and just blown it and people wouldn’t have bothered. I was nervous, but I didn’t feel super stressed. As far as being back up there with the guys, it felt pretty natural, other than Brandon, I’ve played so many gigs with the other three guys.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxeWZSWnKnI

What did it feel like playing those songs with Brian for the first time fronting the band? Did that feel different?

“A little bit. It’s weird looking over and seeing Brian with a microphone and not a guitar but at this point, I’m pretty much used to it. But yeah, a little odd, but it feels right to me.”

From October 22 to now, can we talk about the timescales between writing and recording what the conversations were about doing a record and what you wanted to achieve with it?

“Pretty much around the end of 2022, not long after we played that one show here in Detroit, the band wanted to get a new record out because by that point it had been like a little over two years since Verminous, the prior record, had come out. Since the whole COVID thing, the band didn’t even really get the tour much on that record. I feel like maybe, it’s hard for me to say, but I feel like maybe the band felt like that record was out but it just got swept under the rug because of the state of the world and everything.

So, I think we just felt like as a whole, it was just better that we sooner rather than later just get some new music out. Especially now that Brian is on vocals and we just felt like time is of the essence. We knew that, if we were gonna do a new record then 2023 is already out as we had to write this thing and record it, so 2023 is already gone. That meant the soonest it would even come out is 2024 so I feel like we made a decision right then and there at the end of 2022 to get started on this thing and get it done.”

“It’s great that so many people are still on board. Getting a new vocalist, no matter how good or capable, I just don’t think it would work for us with the fans.”

In terms of style-wise and theme-wise, what was your vision for what you wanted it to be?

“It’s weird because I feel like this is my fifth record with the band, when we when we write a new record, we never sit down really and talk about it. We always feel like it’s time to do a new record so everyone goes to their home studio and starts writing and demoing. We don’t ever talk about the direction of it. The reason for that is I think, as far as the songs go anyway, we all know how to write a Black Dahlia record at this point so we just go for it.

The only thing we discussed was the art direction. I know that, as far as the lyrics go, Brian wanted to stay true to the band writing basically stories whether they be horror-themed or sci-fi or fantasy or whatever the theme may be. He just wanted to keep true to what Trevor did but, other than that, other than discussing the artwork direction you know we just go for it.”

Having worked with both Brian and Trevor, what would you say the main differences are?

“I think vocally they’re very different. Trevor’s style is almost, at this point, it’s iconic. It’s very, at least to our band, it is very recognizable. I remember the first time I heard the band on the first record, or even before that, but right on the first record, I thought it was two different people. I had no clue it was the same guy doing those vocals. That right there tells me that this guy was doing something that not a lot of people were doing. I think Brian’s got more of the lower-mid-range sound. Brian almost reminds me sometimes on this new record he reminds me of the first couple black eye albums, which I’ve seen people comment on.

His vocals to me are more of a lower mid-range. He almost reminds me a little bit more like some of the European bands. Like a Tomas Linburg or the guy that sings for The Crown or Dimension Zero. He has that vocal shredded quality, which I like a lot. I think it fits our sound. I think they have different styles although sometimes when I’m listening to the record, it also sounds very similar. He has his own thing.

The lyric writing, Trevor was known for his lyric writing. Brian will tell you right now he doesn’t have the vocabulary that Trevor had. Trevor was an English major. I think he left the band maybe one semester short of having an English degree. Trevor was an absolute genius when it came to knowing everything about death metal. The guy would sit there reading death metal lyrics which was another reason why you can’t just replace a guy like that. I think it’s better to have Brian who has his own thing and knows what to do than it is, like I said, for us to replace with some new guy who’s just trying to mimic Trevor. I just don’t think it would work.”

You described the album as a new chapter and how, with Brian shifting to vocals, it felt like it opened up many doors for, creatively for you…

“First, I think now that we have me and Brandon in the band and we have this two lead guitar player thing that we’ve never had, that’s like a big is not even going to be fully realized on this record. You’ll hear some of that, but I think it will take us another record or two to realize that maybe we can make the songs a bit more elaborate. Also, a cool thing about that is we can take some of the older songs and revamp them, at least the solo sections, we can divide them up or we can harmonize parts that we couldn’t do before.

There’s already some stuff happening right now in the live set. Second, now that we have three writers in the band, you’re hearing on this new record, the entire spectrum of the Black Dahlia catalogue influences so I would say that’s the two big things now.”

“Trevor was an absolute genius when it came to knowing everything about death metal. The guy would sit there reading death metal lyrics which was another reason why you can’t just replace a guy like that. ”

Going back to the conversation that some fans wanted the band to continue, some fans were a bit unsure. Do you feel you have a point to prove with this record?

“That it was the right decision? I don’t know that we feel like we have to prove anything personally, but at the same time I guess with this record, maybe we do. We knew this would be a big record and maybe even one of the most important records because of everything that’s happened. We know a lot of people are waiting to see what is this going to sound like. Can they do this? So maybe we do have something to prove on this record. We feel the weight on every record, any record we make, we want it to be the best record ever. Any band does but more so I would say on this one so we really scrutinized over the mixes and pretty much just everything.”

When you started dropping the singles out into the open, what was going through your mind then?

“We talked about this months back. ‘What are the first few tracks we should throw out there?’ We decided ‘Aftermath’ would be a good one. Brian wrote that one and we felt that it is probably the best one to start with because Brian wrote it, and has the classic Black Dahlia sound… We wanted to give something to people that is familiar, to say ‘Hey even though everything that has happened, we could still write these very classic Black Dahlia songs.’ That’s probably one of the most aggressive songs on the record but we just felt like that song embodied a lot of the spirit of the band. We felt like that was a good one to put out there first.

The second track, ‘Mammoth’s Hand,’ that’s a track I wrote during COVID. I was writing some songs for whatever, it’s very different from Black Dahlia and it may even be the slowest song in our catalogue. But when I told Brian, I said, ‘Hey man, I got this song that’s already written. It’s pretty different, but I was like, check it out.’ I showed it to him and he loved it and said let’s use it. A lot of times in our records, we like to give you an oddball track or we like to give you a track that at least shows some of the diversity of the record. I feel like on most of our records, most of the stuff on there is going to be pretty much what we do.

At this point, ten albums in, the challenge is always trying to keep our sound, but add new elements or new influences to it. Every now and then we’ll give you a track like ‘Mammoth’s Hand’, where we just give you something completely different. So, on the second one, we decided to just give them something completely different to show you a mix then the next one that’ll come out will be more of a back to the Black Dahlia style, but maybe a more modernized version of it.”

What do you think Trevor would think of the record?

“Honestly, given how, uh, uh, I think everyone’s described him as an encyclopedia of death metal, I think he would love it mainly because I’m thinking about it from the perspective of how I knew him as a person. Trevor was always pretty much gung-ho about anything different. One of us would throw into the mix, whether it be Brian or me or Brandon, like, you know, throw something. He’d always be like, you know, pretty much gung-ho for it. I think he’d enjoy some of the new stuff we’ve thrown in and the solos. I think he would get a kick out of me and Brandon being in the same band. I have a good perspective, but I think he would like it. I think he’d be like, ‘fuck you guys.’”

You’ve talked about it as a new chapter for the band and a new chapter for you. It’s your first album back with the band. Where do you see things going from here?

“It’s weird. I feel like, to some extent, this is an old new band. It’s weird because in many ways we’re still the same band but I just feel like since we have these new things that maybe we can do now we’re excited. I think Brian will, as this is his first record on vocals, he’s going to continue developing. I think that’s something that people are going to see and then, like I said, there is this whole new thing where we can maybe add a little bit more to the songs now. I think that’s going to be a pretty exciting thing for us to explore. I’m mainly just excited to see where we can go with things and what we can further develop with the band. Nothing’s changed with that though. I feel like we’ve been trying to do that forever…”