The Black Dahlia Murder "Unhallowed" CD
[Metal Blade]
This is a lot better than I had expected. I was basically expecting these guys to be yet another melodic Swedish metalcore band, but they're really a straight up metal band, though they do indeed rely heavily on the melodic Swedish death metal sound. There's a lot of tremolo picking with melodic riffing, relatively typical dual guitar harmonies, heavier rhythms that barely have a metalcore-ish type of sound (sometimes sounding like traditional death metal), vocals that switch off from snarling high screams to lower growls, etc. All of the staples are here. But they're not totally generic. They tend to play faster and with more energy than most of their contemporaries, the drumming is really tight and there are a million fills, plus they actually play solos - which is something that I really miss with most bands these days. And admittedly, a lot of their riffs are really fucking memorable, albeit a bit overdone since this genre has been all the rage for years now. There's no great deal of variety from song to song or anything, aside from a few passages that are either catchier or slower and darker, it's all pretty much the same delivery. Thankfully the disc only runs about 36 minutes, so it doesn't have too much time to get stale. The production is pretty nice. I like the clarity and texture of the guitars a lot, the drums are taut without being so rigid that they sound fake, the vocals blend with the guitars, etc. The bass is really, really hard to hear, so upping the levels there would help, and I'm honestly not a fan of the low vocals in general, but other than that I like what they're doing here. The leads are well placed in the mix, too. I'm just so damn glad they actually have ripping solos in their songs... The layout's pretty slick, using mostly black with tight white text and only subtle imagery of underwater landscapes and textures blended into the murky blackness. The lyrics aren't half bad, I like the fact that the texts are long and abstract, even breaking out some (gasp) pretty "big words" every now and then. They're not earth shattering and I don't identify with them, but it's a bit of a change of pace. "...in the blink of sunken eye I see one hundred winters pass my blessing my curse perpetually I'm damned to earth of a soul I am bereft forever dying to be dead slipping through centuries untouched by human love void of the simple pleasures that human life provides forever bound I lie in wait undying and insane." I'm sure that some asskissing metal magazines will hype this as the record that's going to reclaim At the Gates' throne or something, but that's just not true. This is very, very good for what it is, and I think the band has a great deal of potential to do something more innovative with their writing, but the fact remains that, as strong as this record is, it's nothing you haven't heard several times before. Not bad, though. I'm pleased. (7/10)
Running time - 36:27, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Elder Misanthropy, Contagion, Apex]
Metal Blade Records - http://www.metalblade.com

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