Cold-Blooded: Murder by Death Descend on The Korova

Murder by Death is an enigmatic and largely unsung folk-rock outfit hailing from Bloomington, Indiana. For over 10 years they have been cranking out, at a rather prolific pace, tightly crafted albums besmirched by beautiful bleakness and saturated with a unique flavor best described as rural American Gothic.

Their latest effort —  Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon— is just as macabre and stonily unapologetic as anything they've ever made. The albumis a marauding patchwork of sound with a folky heart and death-metal sensibilities; hell bent on cynical realism, and just as sonically diverse as it is thematically narrow. This narrowness can be taken alternately as myopic or commendably focused, depending on your tastes and attention span.

One thing's for sure though: the people have spoken, and they're entirely behind this latest effort. Literally. The Kickstarter campaign that helped make the vinyl deluxe edition of this album possible (the original version was released by Bloodshot Records in late September) is the third-highest grossing music project in Kickstarter's short but rich history (raising an impressive $187,048). The quintet will be stopping in San Antonio to melt faces and crush dreams at The Korova on October 28th.

If you're already a fan, you've likely preordered your ticket and sent your funeral best to the dry-cleaners. If, however, you aren't yet to be counted among the believers, now is your chance to witness a dark, musically ingenious force of Americana's underbelly in action. It's going to be loud. It's going to be rock and folk and even a pinch of ska ... but never poppy or trite. It's going to be dead-serious somber without ever seeming (too) melodramatic. It's going to be just in time for Halloween. Bitter drink anyone? Cheers.

*Original version of the story wrongly indicated Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon was a Kickstarter-funded project. Revised version correctly states only the vinyl deluxe edition was funded through Kickstarter.