Murder By Death is my latest discovery. Well, not really discovery, people have been telling me to check them out for years. But being the stubborn music elitist I am, I never listened to any of their records. But this week, I noticed that my rotation was pretty hip hop heavy. And that some diversity was much needed. Enter: Murder By Death.

Wikipedia describes their sound as, “punk rock…alt country…southern american…gothic.” On their website, they call themselves, “Americana noir and dramatic post-punk.” Honestly, I can’t describe their sound and would hate to try and label something so unapologetically beautiful.

Murder by Death is a quartet comprised of a vocalist/guitarist, cellist/keyboardist, percussionsist, and bassist. This makes for a totally unique sound. I am a huge fan of the cello, especially in contemporary music. And here it is epic, sweeping. Listening to any of one of their 4 albums is like watching a great piece of cinema.

Their lyrics are intelligent and thoughtful. Commenting on the ideas of good and evil, using religious imagery and drawing upon Dante’s Divine Comedy for inspiration, keeps you thinking and focused on the album.

There is nothing I like more than an intelligent, musically accomplished band. And Murder by Death is just that. They are slowly becoming my latest obsession. Please give them a listen, you will not be disappointed.

I usually try to make an album recommendation, but I really can’t in this case. Each album is great in it’s own way. The first one I heard was, Who Will Survive, And What Will Be Left of Them. And recently I’ve been really into, Like The Exorcist, But More Breakdancing. Here is their discography:

2002: Like The Exorcist, But With More Breakdancing

2003: Who WIll Survive, And What Will Be Left Of Them

2006: In Bocca Al Lupo

2008: Red of Tooth and Claw

And here is one of my favorite songs/videos, Until Morale Improves, The Beatings Will Continue, off their 2002 release.

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