Murder By Death has certainly kept busy since last year’s release of Red of Tooth and Claw. For example, the Indiana indie quartet recently finished a national tour supporting the Gaslight Anthem. They also released an instrumental album titled Finch this past October, as an accompaniment to Jeff Vandermeer’s book with the same name. Showing no signs of wear, the band now looks set to hit the studio next month to begin work on its fifth studio album. Mixed by Trina Shoemaker, the yet-to-be-titled effort should be available in Spring 2010.

Singer/songwriter and guitarist Adam Turla literally went way off the beaten path when working on the album. He is said to have spent two weeks deep in the woods of Appalachia by himself and worked up a bunch of new material. “With this record, we wanted to write a more versatile and manic album,” said Turla. “We are going for doomier, more beautiful, even a few songs in major keys (rare for us)… the whole kit-and-caboodle.”

Considering “Comin’ Home” from 2008′s Red of Tooth and Claw was used by fan Quentin Tarantino for the trailer of Inglorious Bastards, a doomier sound may be just what Murder By Death needs.

More details as they become available.