Things aren't always as they appear.

Take the name of Indiana's Murder by Death, for example. Cribbed from Robert Moore's 1976 murder-mystery spoof film, the band's name conjures many images, most of which don't fit its music.

While its name may sound like heavy metal, Murder By Death draws from an eclectic range of influences and employs a full-time cellist, garnering more comparisons to Johnny Cash than Metallica.

Lead singer and songwriter Adam Turla enjoys the fact that people have to delve beyond the macabre moniker to get to the heart of their sound.

"We like the dark imagery," said Turla, "but we're not like that at all. We really like the humor in addition to the serious subject matter."

Murder by Death was formed in Bloomington, Ind., in 2000 by Turla and college drinking buddies. They played strictly for fun, until they were given a chance to record an album.

"We never intended to be a band for anything other than fun, but opportunities slowly began coming our way," Turla said.

Instead of resigning themselves to one specific scene, the members of Murder by Death -- Turla, cellist Sara Balliet, percussionist Dagan Thogerson and bassist Matt Armstrong -- accepted invitations to tour with a wide range of bands. Sharing the stage with Reverend Horton Heat, Interpol, the Pogues, Clutch, and Flogging Molly showcased it to many different types of fans without confining it to a single demographic.

"I think the diversity of bands that we've played with has introduced us to a lot of fans who would never have seen us otherwise," he said. "We've played to audiences from 18-year-old girls to 40-year-old biker dudes, and they've all responded well."

Turla said he believes that this proves the band's music has an appeal that goes beyond just temporary tastes.

Murder by Death's fourth and latest album, "Red of Tooth and Claw," partly based on Homer's "Odyssey" and the poems of Tennyson, is again permeated by gothic imagery and large-scale ideas. It focuses on a journey of murder, revenge, and death -- themes familiar to fans of the band's previous work.

As on some earlier albums, the songs on "Red of Tooth and Claw" function as chapters within a larger story.

"What I was trying to do lyrically," said Turla, "was create one big story, and yet one that could be broken into pieces for people who don't want to look deeper."

Turla's approach to writing is anything but rigid. An avid reader, film buff, and holder of a college degree in religious studies, he gathers inspiration from a broad palette of resources.

"I usually write a melody for the lyrics at the same time I write the lyrics," he says. "I'll just sort of sing it in my head all day, eventually get a few chords down on the guitar, and then bring it to the band."

The band still enjoys a feeling of diversity, although Turla recognizes that this quality hasn't always been a positive thing. He admits it has sometimes hurt them not to sound like something obvious, or easy to sell.

"We're not a rockabilly band, we're not an emo band, and we're not an alt-country band," he says. "People like it when you're easy to define, but we just want to be creative, do our own thing, and hopefully have enough people follow us along the way."

If difficult to pigeonhole, Murder by Death seems to be doing OK.

"Red of Tooth and Claw" has enjoyed nearly universal critical acclaim, and the band recently signed with a new label, Vagrant Records.

After the current U.S. tour ends, the members of Murder by Death will find themselves in Europe, Australia, and Japan.

"We love it. We love to travel and we love going to new places," Turla said. "But there's a part of me that would like to spend more time at home writing. We spend eight or nine months of the year on the road."

Although so much time touring can be daunting, Turla enjoys letting those audiences explore the multiple layers of their music and messages drawn from literature and cinema.

"I find pleasure in having things fit together and be united," Turla said. "I like to think that all of the songs from our albums fit into the same world.

"All of my favorite authors -- Steinbeck, Hemmingway and Gabriel Garcia Marquez -- had their own worlds from which they operated.

"I like that, and I hope our audiences continue to feel the same way."

Murder By Death, with Gasoline Heart, Dios

When: 8 p.m. Monday

Where: Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach

Tickets: $10-$12

Info: (858) 481-8140 or bellyup.com

Web: murderbydeath.com