Mass Burial: The Black Dahlia Murder, Abysmal

When I was looking up information on Ritual, I found a quote from vocalist Trevor Strnad where he says that, during the writing of said album, The Black Dahlia Murder just wanted to write the most-Black Dahlia Murder album that they possibly could. I would argue that the distinction of the band trying their best to write the most them record would go to Abysmal. Everything that you know and like or love (or hate) about this band in found in equal parts on this album.

So that kind of tips the hand of where this review is going to go, doesn’t it. The album beings with some orchestral synth, which is really unexpected, and honestly had me checking to be sure that I’d hit play on a Black Dahlia album, and not something else accidentally. The first four tracks are pretty competent, but sort of pass quickly and without truly stand out moments. This is so typical of the band by this time: the songs are totally fine, but they don’t quite get over that hill into Awesome territory. But that ends quickly with fifth track “Threat Level No. 3”, and will continue more or less for the rest of the album.

Following tracks “The Fog” and “Stygiophobic” are excellent, excellent songs, with “Stygiophobic” making the pretty musically mature decision to place its guitar solo at the end of the track, and letting it fade out, rather than dropping it in the center of the song, the way the early writing of Unhallowed or the more mature but less experimental writing of Deflorate or Everblack did. I really like “Stygiophobic,” and it may possibly be my favorite song from the band. Final legit album track “That Cannot Die Which Eternally Is Dead” and bonus track “We Dead Are Best Left Underground” are real stompers to finish off the album.

Abysmal is the seventh album by the band and by that point in a catalog, you know how you feel about the band in general. And so do they. I mentioned back with Everblack that it’s kind of unfair to keep referring to these guys as being a Swedeath band, because while they may have started life aping that approach, or perhaps that was just the closest thing to their sound that was around to compare, The Black Dahlia Murder has really put together a career of albums that establish them as their own band. In only eleven years’ time when Abysmal is released in 2015. Some Swedeath or Melodic Death metal bands don’t manage that, at any point in their career. How many At the Gates inspired units are there that are still trying to copy Slaughter of the Soul riffs ten or eleven years down their roads, and still sound like they’re trying to copy Slaughter of the Soul riffs? The Black Dahlia Murder sounds like The Black Dahlia Murder, and that is quite an accomplishment, for any band. I know that a lot of detractors accuse this band of being trendy or trying to be trend followers or whatever, and I really don’t think that’s fair. Maybe in 2004, with Unhallowed, you could argue that they were trying to capitalize on the embers of the Gothenburg explosion, but they kept doing that for years. So, I suppose you’d have to argue that, rather than being trendy or followers, this is just what The Black Dahlia Murder does. I know that sounds totally nuts, but. Just maybe.

And they really, really are good at it, and Abysmal is an album that incorporates all that they do well. As I have also mentioned before, my interest in choosing this band for this project is essentially due to my friend really loving them, and I have no prior thoughts or feelings on them. I feel that that may have caused me over the course of this Mass Burial to overlook the finer points of the band. I have often found myself struggling to reach a certain number of words per entry on these records, not because of  lack of opinion but for lack of truly diversified opinion. This is a good band, and they tend to do everything right, or well at the least. It’s hard to keep finding ways to say that.

Some bands are just quality bands. While we often find bands that are revolutionary or really influential or personally important, the majority of bands in our repertoires end up being bands like The Black Dahlia Murder. Stable, reliable, entertaining and interesting. Consistent. They make us happy and provide us with good music. The legendary Cannibal Corpse is one of these bands: new album, same old feelings, same result. The only real discussion to have is whether or not one likes that same old. The Black Dahlia Murder has been consistently good and enjoyable over seven albums. And, in this or any genre of music, it is never bad to be mentioned in the same breath as Cannibal Corpse.