Date: 2020
Total Time: 35:53
Label: Metal Blade
THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER unleash their most varied work ever, as they are trying to progress and diversify their sound! In “Verminous” the band adds various elements that we were able to hear just “here and there” in their previous works. While “Nightbringers” was a brief -to the point- 33minute Death Metal onslaught, things here are a little bit different.
The American-Detroit based-Death Metal act, was mostly a traditional Death Metal band with some modern elements. This record though, is something more than that. It’s basic ingredient is melody, without being the only fact here. Found more than everywhere else in “Removal Of The Oaken State” (the third song of the record), melodies are based mostly on guitar riffs, however the classic TBDM formula is still here! The listener can understand that the lead guitar definitely plays a bigger role than it used to, as some kind of tribute to the Swedish Melodic Death Metal scene is paid. This “steals” a few minutes from the super-technical points, but also from the Brutal Death Metal feeling, moments that made their appearance somewhat longer in their previous efforts. However, those old TBDM elements are still here! For example, in the opening “Verminous”, at the beginning of “Child Of Night”, in “Dawn Of Rats” which closes the album and in other parts, we can hear classic Death Metal outbursts and aggressive signs. Although even in the last song, a melodic solo is added along the way. The mid tempo tracks, such as “The Leather Apron’s Scorn” compliment the whole project. There are constant changes of speed, keeping the listener’s interest undiminished. “Verminous”’s technical points are here, and this is pretty much understandable as soon as one hears the awesome “Sunless Empire” solo.
The production is clean, especially on guitars, which produce hard-sharp riffs as always, but at the same time exudes the necessary “rotten” element required by the genre. Maybe this is being done on purpose, since we are talking about their most guitar-oriented work ever. The bass does a great job and is quite ahead in the mix, which makes the whole effort fuller, more interesting and helps a lot, as we are talking about such a technical band as TBDM. The drums look like machine guns shooting in bursts and finally, Trevor Strand really rips the microphone apart, sometimes with high-pitched vocals, sometimes with deep growls, facts which make us admit that the range of his voice probably ranks him among the best of his kind!
The feeling that exudes “Verminous” album is spooky, aggressive, dirty and explosive! It doesn’t stop being a Death Metal Horrorshow. There is also a feeling of rage that wanders around the atmosphere (the double growls along with the high scissors a-la Deicide vocally testify to that). This may sound strange, given the amount melody that has been introduced. But TBDM makes sure to keep everything in balance, which is not the easiest thing to do. This is probably because those melodies contain a melancholy in their spirit. It is not the classical “happy” melodies of the Swedish Melodic Death Metal scene.
In “Verminous”, TBDM walk paths uncharted in the past, but at the same time they do not stray from what has made them who they are all those years. They choose to go a little further in the melodic path but through a melancholy prism. Since this combination is so harmonious, why shouldn’t we follow? Definetely their best work in the last years!
Rating: 8/10
Editor: George Kourou
Related Link: THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER – Official Page
