When Indiana-based four-piece-band Murder by Death stops by Vienna after coming all way down with their van from Paris, we meet with the band’s very good-natured singer and guitarist Adam Turla who gives us a an insight in their touring life (neither high travel expenses nor swallowing of bugs can destroy his humor). After admitting that he feels a little awkward performing just by himself outside of the concert venue when people pass by (“It’s intimidating”), Adam sits under the bridge next to the riverbank with his feet dangling down or hides behind a concrete monument enclosed by roaring cars. Once Turla starts his dark guitar play and raises his gnarly and deep voice, the Acheronian spirit of Murder by Death spreads beyond any timidness. The band’s grim sound of Americana noir, punk rock and alternative country deals with western influences (last record “Red Of Tooth and Claw” containing the instrumental song “Theme for Ennio Morricone”) and topics as sin, lust, betrayal and “Homer’s Odyssey of revenge, only without the honorable evil”, as Adam describes the concept of their last album. The dismalness of the songs is swept away by a friendly smile, a polite “thank you” after the shooting. It is the day before Adam’s birthday that he will spend with his mother in Switzerland.

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