Miasma

I really got off on the wrong foot with The Black Dahla Murder. And trust me, I know a thing or two about getting off to feet. My first album was indeed their first album, and Unhallowed seemed to me like the terrible sound of a band unsure of themselves. Unsure of if their Gothenburg worship should be done with stoical grimness or with a spinning bowtie. Unsure of if they even wanted to be a death metal band at all, or just peddle a more mediocre, streamlined "-core" sound that was sweeping the nation by the early 2000's. Miasma represented a much-needed rubicon for the band; a blueprint for which almost all subsequent albums take cues from. It was a confident stride in a bold new direction, and that direction's name... was 'Statutory Ape'.

I remember bitterly resenting how much I liked Miasma. (I believe the technical term is tsundere.) You see, I was an arrogant preteen with my own understanding of what death metal was, and needless to say the crew cuts, ear gauges, and bright purple graphic tees did not pass my rigorous entry examinations. Not to mention Unhallowed was like watching Swedish paint dry, and I was convinced this band wouldn't go far. Seeing evidence to the contrary, in the form of the outright melodic genius of this album right here, Miasma put me through the five stages of grief. Mostly denial and anger, a bit of bargaining when I said it sounded like melodeath some of the time, but here I am at the acceptance stage. Front and center, Miasma proffers a somewhat campier approach to songwriting and overall aesthetic that I'd almost describe as "comic book". Strident harmonies bolster an onslaught of vivid, hyperbolic riffs that prowl atop rapid-fire blastbeats. 'Statutory Ape' and the effusive title track appear as streamlined, modernistic heir apparents to melodeath kings Sacrilege and At the Gates without sounding excessively derivative or servile of them in the process.

Trevor Strnad's toggling between barbed wire shrieks and bellows is another significant improvement over Unhallowed; vocals are delivered with a lot more composure, acting as though there's legitimate purpose behind the constant call-and-response delivery. This would of course grow into one of the band's most well-known and game-changing calling cards, resulting in a uniquely destructive and discordant experience. To put things plainly, this album kicks ass and has a good time doing it. An obvious companion to Miasma, at least to my ravaged ears, is Arsis's deservedly-lauded debut A Celebration of Guilt. The two albums share quite a bit in common, particular in the field of dynamic, surgical song structures that pace themselves excellently. 'Spite Suicide' and 'Vice Campaign' both batter the listener with an unrelenting salvo of shifting tempos, morphing into a mephitic mirage of macabre melodicism. A Miasma, if you will.

As tantalizing as this album is, I would say its table manners do leave something to be desired. It's relatively minor, but things like the slow-rolling introductory chugs of 'Built For Sin', or the goofy "That was interesting. Or that was disgusting. It's your call." quip at the end of 'A Vulgar Picture' were pretty silly. I couldn't imagine them existing in future albums, that's for sure. Not only that, but some songs like 'Miscarriage' are still tugging on Dark Tranquility's coattails quite hard, giving you the unmistakable impression they're still shaking off their last remaining cobwebs of derivation. Not a bad introduction to the band overall, mind you. This is, in fact, the album I would most vehemently recommend to curious first-timers, where everything feels youthful and exciting without being overwhelming. But don't worry, we'll get to overwhelming very soon.

Latecomers are often wont to being the subject of derision, as many like to think that originality is the only good thing that can come of new adherents entering the scene. Nevertheless, the less original a band is, the more difficult it becomes to overcome said handicap with quality of execution. There is a particular scorn that comes to any band associated with the metalcore scene, in part because of the blatant musical devices borrowed from the Gothenburg melodeath scene, itself seen as being derivative of older practices stretching back to the early 80s in some respects. The Black Dahlia Murder had the unfortunate disposition of being lumped in with the likes of All That Remains, As I Lay Dying and company, perhaps understandably so given their entry into the field coincided with most of them, but their sound is actually far closer to the original Swedish approach of the mid to late 90s than the rest.

This is a band that largely accomplishes a distinctive sound by merging the relentless aggression typified by The Crown with a lot of the methodical melodic devices heard out of In Flames, resulting in something that is both catchy and chaotic. Normally this approach would prove to be masterfully effective in much the same way that "Deathrace King" or "Crowned In Terror" would, but insofar as this band's sophomore offering "Miasma" is concerned, the results are not as potent. Part of the issue lay in an overly predictable songwriting pattern which is actually only slightly more intricate than a typical metalcore album, but free of the stylistic devices that would make it sound like All That Remains, such as whiny clean vocals and weak chorus sections where the thrashing elements are stripped away and a slow plodding, limp-wristed stream of chords ensues like a less than tasteful nod to mid-90s Machine Head. This is definitely more along the lines of a crusher when in comes to character of sound, but it sort of rides at full speed in short bursts of roughly 3 minutes a piece, with few surprises.

But for the lack of anything out right groundbreaking, this is by every measure a competent reaffirmation of what was going on in Gothenburg between 1997 and 2001. Particular fits of catchy goodness with a truly wild streak can be found in "I'm Charming", "A Vulgar Picture" and "Spite Suicide", each one loaded up with high octane thrashing and digitally precise blasting at warp speed. The vocal work has sort of a 2-dimensional approach, largely mixing in a decent impression of Tomas Lindberg's higher pitched shouts with a deeper, barking character that's a bit punchier and more hardcore sounding than John Tardy, but has some elements of Obituary's front man as well. Similarly the lead guitars take a short but sweet approach, showcasing an ability to be just flashy enough to grab the ears for a few seconds, but generally avoid becoming heavily indulgent. For any comparisons in terms of high tempo and extremely ambitious drum work to that of Dragonforce or Children Of Bodom, the same can not be said for any overt guitar noodling.

It is definitely understandable why The Black Dahlia Murder has a fairly strong following, especially in the U.S. as we have few truly great melodic death metal bands to speak of and a heap of half-assed metalcore to burn. However, this doesn't really get into the same league as the grand offerings of The Crown or At The Gates, and it works off an idea set that is pretty limited and doesn't quite carry the album through the entire 33 minute duration. It's name speaks to an olden idea of disease being transmitted through a sort of air-borne noxious poison, almost akin to a death-mist of some sort. To steal a concept from Rob Reiner's classic 80s adventure/comedy "The Princess Bride", this is the sort of album that will leave you mostly dead, but not all dead.

After the impressive debut that was 2003's Unhallowed, melodic death metallers The Black Dahlia Murder released Miasma in 2005. This is a huge step up from that album, but they still aren't quite reaching their full potential.

Continuing in a similar vein to Unhallowed with more songwriting and structure sensibility, the guitarists John Kempainen and Brian Eschbach play solid and catchy tremolo picked melodic leads and impressive but not overzealous solos. The riffs in songs The tone is also pretty unique for the genre. The riffs themselves range from fast, almost thrashy pieces to some slower parts. Now when I say slower, I don't mean chuggy breakdown slow (they aren't deathcore, they weren't deathcore, they never will be deathcore).

The drums once again consist of blast beats and double bass abuse, but Zach Gibson incorporates other elements as well, such as fills. The bass is actually there, but it doesn't do anything particularly notable, unfortunately. Once again, Trevor Strnad is showing everyone his range of throaty death grunts, but his shrieks sound much less raspy this time around, and he can still switch between the two styles effortlessly.

The production is also better this time around. Much less raw and clear, which is probably why the bass was more noticeable here than on Unhallowed.

This is an improvement from the debut on all fronts, but it still doesn't show TBDM's full potential as musicians, so I wouldn't start here if you're looking for somewhere to begin with this band. Get one of the next two instead.

Highlights: A Vulgar Picture, Flies, I'm Charming, Miasma

The Black Dahlia Murder seems to get bunched in with the metalcore scene, which unfortunately is not correct in the slightest. They have some metalcore to them, but they are mostly solid melodic death metal. Their second album Miasma is similar to their previous album Unhallowed but improves on it what if failed at, and that was the drumming and the song structures both of which are majorly improved. Miasma is a breath of fresh air in my music library, breaking me away from the typical 3-chord punk from the 80's, the d-beat filled crust bands, and the tremolo picking blast beat inspired old school death metal that I love.

The major improvement in this album really is the drumming, it isn't just blast beats and half blasts, there is creativity with the bass drums, fills, and snare hits. I feel blast beats are a major cop out, and fortunately the blast beats used in this album go well with the riffs and aren't just some filler beat used. The riffs aren't overly melodic and have a really nice sound. There are some great tremolo picked riffs as well as a few cool "slower" riffs. The solo's work really well, not too flashy, but not boring as hell which is what I look for in a solo. The only thing I don't like is that the riffs change a bit too fast, and it is hard for me to remember how songs go. The vocals go from rugged low grunts to wicked snarls, for some reason I like the vocals on Miasma more then Unhallowed, but the difference may be very little. The production on here is as clean as a whistle which is a good thing after you've been listening to lo-fi grind, punk, and metal for a few weeks in a row.

Some people have a problem with modern metal, saying it doesn't have soul, is too technical, or is just boring. Whenever I find a modern metal band that I like, I stick with them. Finding old school metal is easy as hell, it's already out there, and the bigger bands stick out like sore thumbs. With the modern stuff, looking can be tiring, and can sometimes end up with lackluster results. Luckily, Black Dahlia Murder is a great modern metal band and are pretty popular at the same time. I love old school death metal, but if this kind of music were to replace it I wouldn't feel to bad because this is great stuff on its own.

I do not think that this album should be considered metalcore, and if so, it is some of the best metalcore you can find. With vocals staying in the scream or growl range, multiple guitar solos, and insanely fast blast beats throughout, it is hard to find anything emo about this album. With that in mind, I would like to give this album a high rating for its originality and listen-ability.

Technically, the album isn't the greatest work ever; the songs have similar structure and sound, but can be told apart at points. This is probably the greatest downfall of this album, its pretty much one song. The guitar riffing switches between fast tremolo picking, 16th note triplets, or some combination of the two. The drums, while maybe not the most creative sounding beats, are definitely very tight and well done. The speed alone is enough to knock somebody off their feet. The guitar solos, while sounding similar, are a very nice, melodic break from the fast, intense vocals and riffing. They are played cleanly and fluently and do not leave much to criticize.

The vocals on this album work well with the instrumentals. The harsh screams portray more pain to me than a lot of other metalcore vocals, it really sounds like Trevor is blowing his vocal chords. The death growls are relatively par and provide for a nice change every once in awhile. The lyrics to the album are actually pretty cool and with lines like "the laws of science abandon" and "no we don't wanna work, we just wanna fuck" they convey no emo-ish or metalcore influences, this band likes to write about cool things and partying.

Some mentionable tracks on the album are, A Vulgar Picture, I'm Charming, and the title track, Miasma. These songs sort of stand out from the mesh of other songs and can be much more easily recognized. Miasma is a personal favorite of mine mostly because of how powerful the intro is.

I think that this album is above much of the straight metalcore out there these days; it has much more elements of melodic death metal, and should not be considered a -core album at all.

EDIT (6/607): My original rating was a little high, so I fixed it.

So I ended up getting this album three days late (the 15th, when it came out on the 12th). I think I can forgive myself.

Anyway, it's awesome. I know that the band's name and some of their song titles (see: "I'm Charming," "Spite Suicide," "Dave Goes to Hollywood") might lead one to believe they are an emo, hardcore, or metalcore band (I know I jumped to that conclusion when I first heard of them), but that assumption proves to be completely unfounded once you give them a listen. They play a style that sounds like melodic death metal (a la In Flames) mixed with true death metal (in the vein of Morbid Angel), mixed with a bit of thrash...in the Exodus sense of the term, not the Metallica sense. The vocals alternate between a black metal shriek and a deep death growl, and complement the energetic sound very well. No attempts at clean singing here.

So how does Miasma compare to 2003's Unhallowed? Well, I've only heard a few songs off that previous release ("Contagion" and "Funeral Thirst," plus some when I saw them in concert last May, "Elder Misanthropy" among them), but it seems that Miasma doesn't stray too far from that formula, but there are enough differences that Miasma doesn't end up being Unhallowed II. First of all, there's Trevor's vocals. His growls remain pretty much the same, but the screaming sounds slightly more maniacal and out-of-control. Needless to say, this only helps the sound. Also, Miasma just sounds less melodic than what I've heard from Unhallowed and more punishingly brutal. That's not to say there's no melody here, though...songs such as "Dave Goes to Hollywood" and the title track have some riffing that is downright catchy.

All in all, it's an awesome album. The only problem I have with it is that the tempo changes very little from song to song, causing them all to sound very much alike at first listen. A few more spins and you can differentiate between songs, but I still would have liked them to vary up the speed a little. That, and it's a bit too short for my tastes, clocking it at just over thirty minutes.

A great disc, nonetheless. Pick it up if you've got some spare cash.