The problem of dropping a record as career-defining as 2013's Everblack is that the bar is set so high following it up is a galling task. That The Black Dahlia Murder's response to such a challenge comes in the form of the devastating Abysmal serves to once again demonstrate why they are considered one of the most vital bands in contemporary death metal.

"Once the record started to come together we knew it was going to be something special," states vocalist Trevor Strnad. "It's more urgent, it has more dynamics, it's a more emotive record, and it has a more raw, angry sound to it. It's still million mile-per-hour death metal, but when you invest so much thought and emotion into what you're creating you end up with a record that does stand out, and we can hold our heads up high and say yeah, this is our best work."

Stream it now in its entirety below leading to its September 18th release. The album's pre-order bundle packages are now available at this location

Abysmal tracklisting:

“Receipt”
“Vlad, Son Of The Dragon”
“Abysmal”
“Re-Faced”
“Threat Level Number Three”
“The Fog”
“Stygiophobic”
“Asylum”
“The Advent”
“That Cannot Die Which Eternally Is Dead”

Album stream:

Trevor Strnad (vocals) states: The new album, Abysmal, is true to The Black Dahlia Murder formula, but further down the evolutionary path we began with our Ritual release. It has bigger, more dynamic and developed songs. People can expect a more raw and natural sounding TBDM record. It's the most real and live sounding thing we've done since our debut. It has a real energy and urgency to it. We made a conscious effort of having a more lively and dynamic sound and I feel the result is truly excellent. What I hear is my band playing as they do live when I step off the stage at soundcheck. Therefore, this is the real TBDM incarnate. Expect a relentless world ravaging touring cycle from us for the next couple of years. You'd better start exercising your necks now!""

The Black Dahlia Murder recently announced the second headlining leg of the Indiemerch 2015 Tour, which kicks off November 27th and features Goatwhore, Iron Reagan, Entheos and Artificial Brain. TBDM and friends are stoked to help celebrate a decade of merchandise and mayhem. TBDM has been part of the IndieMerch family since the beginning and continues to crush with their new album, Abysmal, which is set for a September 18th release.

Vocalist Trevor Strnad had this to say about the upcoming trek: "It's a pleasure for us to be involved in IndieMerch's anniversary tour, they are the greatest merch company in the world and have been doing right by us for years. We've assembled quite a tour together showcasing some of the most killer bands out there from all walks of extremely heavy music. We are proud to be a part of it and we hope to see your smiling faces in the crowd each night!"

The tour will run in two parts featuring some of our favorite bands from each genre. On Part I (10/01 - 10/24) thrash masters Iron Reagan will provide the circle pits at maximum velocity, Harms Way will bring their brutally heavy style of hardcore, and opening act Maruta will set the tone for the night with their brand of death metal grindcore. Part II (11/27 - 12/20) will feature New Orlean's masters of the dark arts Goatwhore, even more thrash from Iron Reagan, the modern technical metal mastery of Entheos (featuring 3/5th of now classic IndieMerch band Animosity!), and Profound Lore death metallers Artificial Brain.

Head over to Facebook for all tour dates.