Here we have the debut full-length from a band that I’ve been hearing a lot about lately. The Black Dahlia Murder are from Detroit Michigan of all places and play a very aggressive and brutal, Americanized version of Melodic Death Metal. After many listens this past week I can confirm that the hype surrounding this band in certain circles is well warranted.

The first thing, which is obvious from listening to the band, is the intensity. The guitars and drums are always very fast and a dual vocal style is employed, which while not being as chaotic as Origin, it certainly adds to the intensity. One style is, what is starting to be, the American standard for aggressive bands like this: i.e. a very harsh scream, similar to bands like Shadow’s Fall and Darkest Hour. The other style, and my preferred choice, is a strong traditional death growl. The styles interchange often and add a lot of the character that defines The Black Dahlia Murder. The music itself, as mentioned, is very fast, almost never slowing down. The riffs show a number of different influences including traditional American Death Metal and early Swedish Melodic Death, which gives the band a decent amount of melody during their otherwise brutal songs. There is even a very slight hint of Thrash, which the band works into their sound in an ever so subtle manner. The overall execution is well done as the band definitely has a lot of talent and the song writing is diverse enough that songs don’t mesh together too often.

To their credit, especially considering it’s only their first full release, The Black Dahlia Murder have found a good mix of European Melodic Death and American Death, though leaning heavily on the Euro Melodic Death field in the vein of bands like At The Gates and Callenish Circle. But every now and then something decidedly American shows up in their sound that makes you remember they’re not from the land of Vikings, and I think that’s why this band has become popular with many people, as this influence gives them a certain edge and diversity that bands of this style sometimes lack.

Despite the praise the band can still improve; I think some riffs could be a little better and the song writing still needs time to mature in my opinion, but all and all this is a solid debut release, in fact, one of the better one’s this year. I’ll have the pleasure of seeing this band live next week and I’m definitely looking forward to it as there will be plenty of energy and head banging, I’m sure.