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THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER ‘Miasma’ Metal Blade(2005)
Before I started working on this review, I was well aware that the Detroit-based outfit with the very unusual name The Black Dahlia Murder, was not just one of the most promising and well-advertised Metal Blade bands, but also a group of five musicians which, almost two years ago, caused an unusual sensation in the US metal scene with the release of their debut album "Unhallowed". Now, I have always claimed to really appreciate bands that mix many different elements in their music, so the prospect of reviewing the band's second studio effort with the strong Greek title "Miasma" seemed quite appealing.
It is not a secret that most modern US extreme metal bands will either follow the typical Scandinavian death metal approach to music, or the musical laws of the American punk/hardcore scene - well, the music of this quintet combines both those elements, and in a relatively good balance. What the members of The Black Dahlia did, which helped them avoid being labelled as another US metalcore band, was their decision to put some extra attention to creating good quality melodic guitar themes (which are evident throughout this thirty four minute release), but at the same time avoid using those mellow clean vocals that bands like Soilwork have used a lot in their most recent releases.
Even though there are quite a few moments where both Brian Eschbach and John Kempainen's guitar work is of really high standards (check out the solos for "I'm Charming" & "Statutory Ape") and Trevor Strnad's transition from brutal down-tuned death metal vocals to high-pitch Black Metal screams is honestly quite enjoyable, I still cannot say that I was particularly blown away by the ten relatively short compositions that are featured in this release. I have listened to "Miasma" enough times to realise that there is not a song on this album that manages to stand out particularly, and unless you are talking about creating an album on the scale of classic releases, such as Metallica's "Ride The Lightning" or Slayer's "Reign In Blood", where all tracks are equally impressive, then you are faced with a serious problem…
On a more positive note, it is obvious that what we have here is a quite focused quintet that can easily attract the fans of the genre that some choose to refer to as metalcore and others as modern US metal, and they will probably win any competition with any similar band. I would be very interested to see how songs like "I'm Charming", "Statutory Ape" and "Miasma" would sound live, so I do intend to pay them a visit when they decide to visit London. I am sure that if you search on the internet, you will not find many similar reviews to this one, so I suggest that you check out “Miasma” and see whether this album is suited to you or not.
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Review by John Stefanis
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