This Tuesday night, heavy-metal legends Black Dahlia Murder bring their “Abysmal Predator” tour to the Hi-Tone. Formed in 2001, the Black Dahlia Murder entered the booming metal core (aka “melodic death metal”) scene of the early ’00s and helped solidify the genre as a profitable subsect of heavy metal. The band’s latest album, 2015’s Abysmal (released on Metal Blade Records) served as a farewell album for longtime guitarist Ryan Knight, who left the band in February of 2016.
As is many times the case with top-tier hardcore and metal bands, the “Abysmal Predator” tour featured some of the biggest names in modern hardcore and metal, including Napalm Death, Pig Destroyer, Power Trip, and Abnormality. But by the time the tour rolls into Crosstown, death-metal band Abnormality will be the only group from the package joining the Black Dahlia Murder. Instead, locals Vera and Prophasis will round out the weekday metal show.
Formed in 2012, Vera got off to a strong start in the local Memphis metal scene but cooled down before making a comeback of sorts earlier this year. While the band hasn’t released new music since January of 2015, the uptick in live gigs could mean new music is on the way. MFG Promotions, the local production company responsible for bringing many a hardcore and metal show to the Hi-Tone and most recently RockHouse Live, has pre-sale tickets available for Tuesday night’s show on their Facebook page.