The Black Dahlia Murder – Everblack | Review

I must confess I was never a huge fan of The Black Dahlia Murder and their melodic death metal attack until the day a friend of mine dragged me down to see the band play live. I guess I was bit skeptical about them because their name was often lumped together with this whole metalcore movement, which was rapidly becoming bland and tiresome. Anyway, that night everything changed. TBDM were absolutely crushing and technically perfect and their entire set completely blew me away. At the time, they were on the road promoting their fifth release “Ritual”, coincidently their best effort to date.
Now two years after the success of said work, TBDM return with a new effort, the first featuring new drummer Alan Cassidy and bassist Max Lavelle, who have done a pretty remarkable job here. The injection of fresh blood has clearly revitalized the band’s sound a bit, not that it was lacking in strength or commitment, few bands slay with this level of aggression and intensity, but “Everblack” definitely sees TBDM further maturing into a more calculated death metal killing machine.
The strident “In Hell Is Where She Waits Me” opens proceedings with relentless fury, the combination of blasting drums, spine-wrecking grooves with merciless shredding, ear-grabbing melodies and Trevor Strnad’s dual vocal attack is masterfully executed and tremendously lethal. From that moment on right to the final chords of “Map of Scars”, “Everblack” stomps, smashes and pummels with utmost confidence and intensity, contradicting the idea that some their detractors believe that TBDM have no real appreciation for death metal’s history. They’re wrong, this new album is packed with truly decimating riffs and is surely going to be one of the most significant death metal albums of 2013.

Band info: www.facebook.com/theblackdahliamurderofficial
Label info: www.metalblade.com