Review:

on 2008-08-20 Zarathustra Said:

Metal purists will state that bands like Dark Tranquility, At The Gates and In Flames founded the melodic death metal genre back in the 90s. They will also claim that The Black Dahlia Murder are not such a band because of the lack of similarities between them. Melodic Death Metal or not, we can all agree that this album is great. Ferocious drums, memorable, fast paced guitar, add to that Trevor Strnad's most brutal vocals to date and you've got yourself one nice extreme metal album. The opening track starts. You hear the calm sounds of nature, suddenly downtuned guitar riffs explode into your ears, soon followed by Trevor and those oh so catchy blastbeats. This sets the pace for the rest of the album, relentless, loud and unforgiving. From a technical point, the album is a step above Miasma (Although we can all remember our jaws dropping listening to the title track of Miasma). Faster guitars, more complicated solos, (which i have to agree with) are becoming slightly derivative, except the solo for Deathmask Divine, which I find refreshingly melodic. Shannon Lucas, former drummer for All That Remains, really shows what he can do with this faster paced, more intense environment, then we have Trevor, whose vocals have improved hugely from Miasma, the glutteral lows he hits in I Worship Only What You Bleed, could put George "corpsegrinder" Fisher to shame, that coupled with his seemless transition to the higher registers (again on I Worship Only What You Bleed) shows him as a shining extreme metal vocal talent. A great thing about the title track is Trevor's excellent pig squeals, without being over done or stupid. This album is one aural beating you will return for many a time and While it brings nothing new to the table, it tweaks what made them so great to begin with and couples that with more talent and experience than ever before. This is a perfect album for someone interested in the genre or a first time listener of the band.
Not Rated