Abysmally Consistent

The Black Dahlia Murder are a melodic death metal band formed in Michigan way back in 2001. While “melodic death metal” may sound like an oxymoron to some, in BDM’s case it means weaving dramatic, Scandinavian-style guitar lines together with sections of chugging thrash and blastbeat-driven br00tality. This approach has served the band quite well, and in drumming up enthusiasm for their latest album, Abysmal, the band needed only make vague promises about delivering “…more [adjective], [adjective] songs, but without compromising our sense of [noun].”

In actuality, BDM did very little tinkering with their formula for Abysmal. The guitar lines of Brian Eschbach and Ryan Knight trace their melodies as prominently as ever, the drumming, courtesy of relatively recent joinee Alan Cassidy, is fast, detailed and precise, and vocalist Trevor Strnad’s trademark screech / death bellow call-and-response (he really sounds like two different guys) is prominently intact.

Because as the saying goes, if your band ain’t broke, don’t fix it. As far as metal goes, The Black Dahlia Murder are downright prominent, and have enjoyed a sort of charmed career filled with sales and festival appearances since their early days. Along the way somewhere, BDM became an institution, well-defined enough to survive a series of lineup changes (memorialized with one of those colored charts in their Wikipedia entry) that would have shattered a less committed band.

However, there are a few noticeable differences between Abysmal, and something like say 2005’s Miasma. The songs certainly feel tighter, faster and smoother – almost effortless. This comes with plusses and minuses. Audible rough edges made the old material a bit more raw and distinctive – more personable and immediate as well. Like many of their American modern metal peers, BDM are on the edge of the philosophical danger zone where axioms like “More is more,” “Smoother = better,” and “Perfect mix, perfect music” twist minds and homogenize expressions. Thankfully, Abysmal is more than an album of pleasant paste. Opening one-two “Receipt” and “Vlad, Son of the Dragon” stand as similar, yet different songs, the former making an impression with its catchy chorus, and the latter with its driving, thrashy, background-shout adorned verses. There are little stylistic Easter eggs all over the album, like the part in “Threat Level No. 3” that flirts with that Scandinavian Christmas-y feel, or the moment about 1:50 into “The Fog” where BDM drop into full Opeth mode.

There is some fatigue however, as the subtle differences between songs lose their strength during the album’s 37-minute march. By the time “Asylum,” rolls around, it feels like a nice, anthemic nightcap of an album closer – and it would be, if there weren’t two more songs tacked on after it.

Ultimately, Abysmal is perfectly germane to its purpose. It delivers songs of a certain quality in a well-established style, indicates incremental improvements in musicianship, and provides material and impetus for tours and festival appearances. After all, when the comfort zone is this fertile, why step out of it? Nobody loses here… but there were never any real stakes either. There are broader stakes however, as the clouds of diminishing returns are always on the horizon for one-style bands like The Black Dahlia Murder. One hopes that in the future the band use their considerable skills to try some new, interesting stuff before they find the well running dry.