THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER : "Servitude"

They have established a solid following over the years, but this band has yet to impress me. The past three albums by them that I have reviewed going back to 2013's "Everblack", so my expectations for this album are low. However, for the band, the pressure is on them to prove themselves to their fans as this is the first album since the passing of vocalist Trevor Strnad.  Brian Eschsbach switched from guitar to vocals. Fans might be surprised on the opening track that more deliberate melodic elements being worked in are an improvement. It is also evident that Strnad did not possess a unique voice that would not be imitated. Eschsbach puts his snarl where it needs to be to fill the gaps, but even when Trevor was holding the mic the vocals felt like an afterthought rather than a crucial part of the song.

There are plenty of guitar harmonies that capture a Dark Tranquility like Melodeath. This is ten albums into their career, so it only makes sense that the guitar execution in the studio was bound to improve. The rapid tempos they race with make the song feel rushed. Thematically this is about a post-apocalyptic world where people resorted to cannibalism. A concept I might appreciate if the vocals were delivered more articulately. So fans might be pleased that Eschbach spits out the lyrics with the same kind of frantic phrasing Strnad did, though it was likely listed as one of my complaints regarding these guys in the past. Another point of contention is that the pace they play makes all the songs sound the same. 

"Cursed Creator" shows a little improvement as the riffs are more deliberate, though the scowl of the vocals does not contribute a great deal. Aside from a few guitar melodies "Asserting Dominion" races by like the other songs. These guys sound less like Cradle of Filth now and more like Dark Tranquility. His voice is less prone to shrieking than Strnad's. The title track is marginally more intentional in its attack and focuses more on guitar harmonies as the drummer blasts away. "Mammoth's Hand" does not just throw out the more melodic elements that open the song to race off into a speed-fueled frenzy. This might make it one of the album's best songs, with the opening track the only one that stands shoulder to shoulder with its writing. If you are into guitar solos then they have you covered on this album.

"Transcosmic Blueprint" reverts back to speed, thus making it less interesting. The last song is another batch of shredded guitars that blast past in a hyper-thrashing blur. There is nothing new brought to the table sonically, as things have at this point fallen into a monochrome swathe of sounds. The ideas are being recycled which is a fitting summary for this album, despite it being actually an improvement musically for these guys and the vocals are a mute point regardless of who holds the mich. I will give this one a 7 which is a step forward for this band in terms of songwriting quality. It drops on September 27th on Metal Blade. 

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the Black Dahlia Murder: "Nightbringers"

This one Myspace Metal band is now more run of the mill death metal. At times and mainly due to the higher pitched snarls they remind me of Cradle of Filth if you squeezed all the black metal out of Dani Filth and friends, which would not be much work. These guys are pros so it sounds good from a production stand point. The drums are pretty crazy, so no one is accusing these guys of not being able to play. Writing songs that are memorable might be asking a little too much at this point. "Of God and Serpent" seems like a place holder for guitar solos with the thought of a break down mixed in their  priorities somewhere. By the time I am at the 3rd song I begin to wonder how much of my life have I wasted listening to bad death metal? Before you piss on your keyboard, and go ahead and do it for all I care, but "bad" here doesn't mean they can't play. Their songs are just heading to a slush pile of riffs in the abyss where everything is a watered down Entombed or At the Gates.

The riff going into the title track is catchier, but it sounds like Dark Tranquility. Dark Tranquility is like frilly shirt cheese injected At the Gates, so we see how we get to this place off watered down galloping metal.The gang vocals help break things up a little and so far this is the album's best song. If I am asking too much for a band to write songs that have their own personality, then there is no hope for music. Once again they rely on the gang vocals to break things up on "Jars", but let's face it song titles at this point are a matter of formality as it all is becoming the same song. Too the bands credit the so called songs are fairly economic in length. There is a punchier attack to "King of the Nightworld". "Catacomb Hecatomb" is a blur of aggressive with the call and response between the low growl and the higher snarl, there is an obligatory breakdown , but nothing being recycled here that is bringing anything new to the death metal table.

I am sure there are going to be 12 year old's clicking around online looking for the tabs for "Good as Dead" so they can make their Youtube videos of them covering it. Aside from that cool opening riff and a few chugs here and there, it's pretty mediocre. The bass has more of a presence going into the last song, but when they blast off it's business as usual. Even the break of clean guitar is too little to late in terms of dynamics as this album feels very monochrome, to the point of being boring. They have cool art work and I am sure it looks good on a shirt that will make you seem edgey to all the kids in your 10th grade English class, other wise this yawn fest gets a 6, which is being really generous based off the fact it's well produced and there is a riff or two here and there that is ok.

the Top 10 Worst albums of 2015

Before you scream about the new Insane Clown Posse some Nu Metal band of Shinedown wannabe, it goes without saying that those are going to be bad so why even bother because they never made good music in the first place. So this list is for bands who should be making good music but are not.Some of these albums grew on me the wrong way and some of them were just terrible right out of the gate and listening to them all the way through really proved to be a test of endurence.

 10- Slayer : "Repentless"

 This one grew on me the wrong way and then the point was driven home by hearing how bad these songs are live.If we are going to be honest Slayer is as much Slayer as Kiss is Kiss at this point. We have two original members with Tom and Kerry playing the respective roles of Paul and Gene. So I went into this with trepidation considering how bad they were live this summer. My faith is wavered ever since I was a teen and they came out to evangelist Bob Larson saying they did not worship the devil and it was all a gimmick. At least with "Undisputed Attitude" they were covering punk songs rather than trying to pass them off as being metal.

9-Muerte : "LP"

If  you have too much punk in your post-punk it can be a problem, but these guys are just punk pretending to be darker than they are Your average punk band sounds like every other average punk bands it's only the great ones that stand out for the one ...two... three... go. Which is why I am pretty picky about what punk I listen to. The fact the lyrics are in Spanish also adds to the songs all having a similar sound since they are spat out in such a similar shouted tongue. The dynamics are really flat as every thing is full speed go and it's all a blur, the moments that don't fall into this are far and few between and nothing makes me want to return to this album once it is digested.

 


6-Ken Mode : "Success"

I sometimes forget that there is an entire generation of kids coming up now who missed out on the 90s . So this will sound like this album just came out of nowhere. They have Steve Albini on this album, which should take their post-hard core tinged noise rock to the next level.Should being the key word here.This album's main offense aside from sometimes boring me, was the annoying spoke to yelled vocals. They stepped out from behind the Amp Rep bandwagon, but have move into a much less flattering era of the 90s. I am surprised Steve signed on for this, but hey you gotta pay the rent some how.The album cover displayed how I felt about this one.






7-Goat Semen :"Ego Svm Satana"

 The fact this band is from South America is going against them. Black Metal seems best served by the northern Europeans. You might think this is a racist statement , but history speaks for it's self and this album proves my point. Despite all the apparent underground  buzz this band generated from splits and live albums before launching this debut, they hold more in common with grind core and punk in the hyper flurry of dirt blasts they throw your way. So if you think old Slayer is black metal, then this might work for you. Some of the Slayer worship is almost highway robbery. The way this album sucks it supports my thesis in regards to the superiority of Euro black metal.

6-The Black Dahlia Murder : "Abysmal"

 The Bland Dahlia Murder might be a better description of my first impression of this album . It races along with a rapid melo-death gallop. The second song"Vlad, Son of the Dragon" makes me think I am listening to Cradle of Filth if they left their keyboards at home. They get real blasty on the title track but it doesn't make me feel like this is black metal, yes... I know I just referenced Cradle of Filth, but I don't think they are black metal either.Color by numbers middle of the road death metal, with nothing distinguishable.

5- Nurse : "lp"

Atlanta is five years behind most musical trends, the death rock revival is not exception, and even judging by Nurse's new 7 inch it still has not been embraced as this album is just another punk rock 7" .  There is a slight darker tinge to the guitar on the opening song, but " I Can See You" throws that out of the window for obnoxious hard core punk with screamed vocals. This could be one of thousands of bands and is typical of Atlanta music that can't seem to grow up out of the punk rock thing as kids from the suburbs move into the city to go to college start a band like this and in fur years never to be heard from again and replaced by another band formed under similar circumstance. The most redeeming aspect of their music being a decent guitar tone, but if this is all funereal hardcore is then don't sign me up, however if I investigate this sub-genre outside of Atlanta, I would likely not find this to be the case.

4-Minsk : "The Crash & the Draw"
 This album made me think why listen to these guys when I could just listen to Neurosis?  The album sounds great. It is well produced. The more Tool like moments with clean vocals dominate are the albums stronger suits.The bulk of the album is centered around a multi-movement thematic piece called "Onward Procession", but by this juncture in the album every thing sounds like the song that proceeded it until nothing has  a defined shape of it's own and this is just one sludged out slab of sound. If you thought this was a masterpiece go listen to Neurosis' "Souls At Zero" album.

  3-Systematik : "Bondage"
 I ask punk bands to give me the same thing I ask from other forms of music...something that is dark,sardonic,depressing or contemplative in tone,as well as musical dynamic and textured. So you can guess where they tend to fall short in this regard.The singers snotty rasp laced temper tantrum is familiar all the way down to the sneered accents. The first riff that grabs me is on "Domination", but the lyrics are not intelligible enough to decipher if there is a bdsm theme running though the lp or not, though I begin to suspect this is one pissed gimp, though he is more than likely a "little" who needs his diaper changed. I would really be disappointed if I saw them live and they were not in all leather and latex. This is a good lesson in not trusting what a band tags themselves with on their Bandcamp page. They hath appointed themselves death-rock, new-wave and indie rock. The only death rock moment might be the bass tone that opens the album from their it is right to the gutter punk.The fact that Sabotage Records released this also go my hopes up as they have released a very diverse brand of darker punk and post-punk. This is really the first rotten apple in the barrel, though they did put out some more female lead post-punk which I'm about over.

2- Ommadon : "Empathy For the Wicked"
 The drumming is really the only impressive element to this. Tone alone only goes so far. There are plenty of bands who have found it that write actual songs with vocals and melody.This is droning but not in a hypnotic way. It quickly becomes background music to me as it seems the first song only has two parts to it in the first ten minutes.Five minutes into the next twenty minute song and it is hanging a difference that could only be measured as a vibration.If you like listening to this you also enjoy the sound of traffic out side your window in rain . The sound get denser and more machine like, but still refuses to become music by the ten and a half minute mark. This is time you will never get back.

1-Cloud Rat : "Qliphoth"

 Despite the politically correct out cry that women don't get enough opportunity or respect in metal, there is also the other side of the coin that if it was a man singing instead of a woman would a band like Cloud Rat get the same level of hype that they do? The first song off their new album finds them retreading similar ground. In fact the first two songs are a step backwards as they song like generic punk infused grind core.The guitar becomes a little more sonic on "The Upper World" its too bad the songwriting doesn't compliment it. I began to wonder how was I going to make it through this album after I had begun to feel like there is something more interesting I could be reviewing rather than having to endure this.So I decided to just try to write the things I like about  this album. I liked the title "Bloated Goat and I like that there are only eleven more songs after that one and it went down hill from there.One of the worst albums in recent or long term memory.

The Black Dahlia Murder : "Abysmal"

The Bland Dahlia Murder might be a better description of my first impression of this album . It races along with a rapid melo-death gallop. The second song"Vlad, Son of the Dragon" makes me think I am listening to Cradle of Filth if they left their keyboards at home. They get real blasty on the title track but it doesn't make me feel like this is black metal, yes... I know I just referenced Cradle of Filth, but I don't think they are black metal either.  There are a few catchy riffs strewn about, but theses guys are not as skilled at weaving together as even some one like Dark Tranquility. Can the guitarist solo? Sure, but that is not helping the songs. By the fourth song I am really having to force myself to listen to this album. There is a lead line that is the only thing worthwhile to "Re-faced", but otherwise there is not much to separate this from the other songs aside from a mean chug they hit before the solo.

The vocals pretty much do the same thing with every song...the have the nasty mid range rasp and then they go down into the lower death metal voice. "Threat Level Number 3" thrashes through a bunch of riffs that are in no way compelling. "The Fog" finds a little more melody and wises up to switching pace. "Sytgiophobic" also holds back from racing off at the onset, as the growl about consequences, before going into yet another obligatory solo. "Asylum" pretty much follows the other glue sniffing American worshippers of At the Gates. This is pretty much color by numbers middle of the road death metal, nothing special. I'll give it a 4 rounding it down for sounding like everything else with nothing distinguishable.