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The Black Dahlia Murder: Deflorate

04/02/10 || The Duff

Back with another effort from The Black Dahlia Murder, if you’ve been on the ride this long I can’t see you jumping ship with “Deflorate”. The band’s semi-technical, ball-busting all-out-fun, crunchy and evil riffing style has garnered quite the reputation provided you were born after the 80s and can stomach the less than ass-raping extreme vocals, more in line with hardcore/scream-o styles to do vocalist Strnad some injustice and probably the chief reason for which TBDM have been rather unfairly labeled as belonging to the metalcore explosion at the turn of the new millennium – although not as unwavering in terms of extremity or complexity as many tagged death metal, the band has always comprised some gifted musicians who seem deadset on improving with every release.

And so here we are with the band’s fourth in six years, founding member John Kempainen out of the picture and ex-Arsis guitarist Ryan Knight in as well second full-length for drummer Shannon Lucas, once skin-beater to metalcore band All That Remains and currently replacement to ex-band member Zack Gibson, a switch for the more experienced, if you ask me. The band’s previous album “Nocturnal” left TBDM cresting a wave following on from two albums of very high-standard metal – an high-point to the sub-genre of At the Gates worship melodeath with death and black metal attributes, the infectiousness of the music propelled the band’s value comparatively only hinted at on “Miasma” and “Unhallowed”.

Catchiness is still The Black Dahlia Murder’s end game on “Deflorate” despite the loss of an important chunk of their sound if John Kempainen’s new band’s direction is of any indication. They’ve however also taken leaps forward in arrangements and technicality, leading one to think their long-running now ex-guitar player to have been a chink in their armour as well as arousing suspicions as to Ryan Knight’s input during what one might consider a premature phase in which to combine both joining and writing for a band with such an established sound – if such are the fruits of his contributions, however, Ryan has quickly earned his place in the band’s ranks, even if I might think his overly impressive but prancy leads not holding place within its style of music.

I’d have thought myself one to argue that they’d be eclipsed in no time flat trying to compete within the scene on a technical front but instead we find ourselves with something that holds its own relatively well amidst more complicated styles while retaining the formula we’ve all come to expect – twin-vocal attack (of which more comprises the guttural kind this time around), guitar hooks and downtuned, beefy riffing with triplets, black metal riffing and hints of melody. Also on the cards is an upping of intensity, not only because Shannon Lucas has vastly upgraded his playing, but their seems to be more of a frenzied approach in unison with the band’s foray into underground metal acceptance – with their popularity, they’ve surprisingly become more distanced from the sub-genre of metal that possibly earned them the spurning of many in being associated with it.

Killer artwork, great sound and solid evolution, no signs of slipping up any time soon, The Black Dahlia Murder are stagnating somewhat, but with such a sub-genre, there’s very little on where you can go, so the band delivers once more if only in taking a step down from the absolutely fantastic “Nocturnal”.

Information
Released: 2009
Label: Metal Blade
Website: The Black Dahlia Murder MySpace
Band
Trevor Strnad: vocals
Brian Eschbach: guitars
Ryan “Bart” Williams: bass
Ryan Knight: guitars
Shannon Lucas: drums

Tracklist
01. Black Valor
02. Necropolis
03. A Selection Unnatural
04. Denounced, Disgraced
05. Christ Deformed
06. Death Panorama
07. Throne of Lunacy
08. Eyes of Thousand
09. That Which Erodes the Most Tender of Things
10. I Will Return

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