by Michael Skib

Imbued with fresh blood by the arrival of ex-Arsis guitarist Ryan Knight, The Black Dahlia Murder have outdone themselves. Their new album, “Deflorate,” is more technically accomplished, more varied and more consistently engaging than any of their previous offerings. Their bass player, Ryan “Bart” Williams, has helped with the songwriting for the first time, and Knight’s contributions ensure that nobody is going to miss his predecessor, Jon Kempainen. 

Kempainen’s solos ranged from barely competent to utterly asinine, and were always the low point of any song. His songwriting contributions are difficult to quantify, but there is a notable decrease of harmony between guitars, which suggests that he may have been responsible for some of TBDM’s more hooky “metalcore” moments, which are notably less present on “Deflorate.” Some will certainly miss the decreased emphasis on harmony and hook, but they will be in the minority.

Like so many other American metal bands that were born out of the metalcore boom of the early 2000s, TBDM is deeply indebted to the Swedish pantheon of melodic death metal, including “At The Gates,” “Dissection” and “Carcass.” 

From their birth, TBDM was one of the darkest, lyrically and musically, of the metalcore fad. They sounded almost like they belonged among their European counterparts, and they have fortunately managed to escape the metalcore label because of this. The metalcore fad has long since worn out its welcome, and will hopefully soon disappear from memory.

TBDM is not about subtlety. Listening to them is like watching a horror film: not in the sense that you are genuinely scared, but because of the entertaining absurdity of what they are presenting to the listener.

They suffer from the inability to play slowly, (what I like to refer to as the “Skwisgaar dilemma”), and that lack of variation sometimes becomes tiresome. They often give the feel of a black metal band due to their their ample use of tremolo picking. The drummer, Shannon Lucas, executes blastbeats flawlessly. The most frequent subjects of their lyrics include zombies, the zombie apocalypse, necrophilia, and, of course, Satan.

If you are seeking anything deeply meaningful and moving, turn elsewhere. The vocals alternate between that of a man shrieking in a torture chamber, and the victim of a demonic possession projectile vomiting on priests. The whole affair is cartoonish, albeit incredibly entertaining.

TBDM’s chief shortcoming in the past has been a very limited musical vocabulary. Their first three albums saw only a limited amount of variation in material (in fact, all of their full length albums are between 33 and 37 minutes in length, each possessing 10 tracks). The majority of the best songs from those albums tended to follow a specific formula that made them sound interchangeable after enough listens. This makes the minor deviations found on “Deflorate” sound much more significant than they actually are. 

Still, I must give them credit for pushing themselves. There are songs on this album that continue to surprise and reveal new complexities in a way that none of their previous releases have.  

The first two tracks of this album are wholly uninspired, containing no ideas that haven’t already been explored on earlier albums. The next song, “A Selection Unnatural” shakes the foundations of what I thought this band is capable of. Foregoing an introduction, it immediately opens into a scathing, odd metered riff that is more technical than any they’ve produced in the past.

Those expecting the inevitable melodic hook will be let down: this song shows that TBDM has begun to lose interest in pandering to those expecting immediate accessibility. This album takes longer to digest than any of their previous ones, and is more enduring because of it. 

The next surprise comes with “Christ Deformed,” which shows TBDM taking an entirely new approach to harmonizing, along with rhythmic complexity that approaches progressive metal territory. Despite lacking a significant hook, this is one of the most memorable songs they’ve ever produced. “Death Panorama” is a concise, effective two-minute offering that displays how potent their melodic style can be, though they continue to show a willingness to deviate from that style as the album progresses, especially on “Throne Of Lunacy.” 

The deviations from the band’s typical sound on “Deflorate” are generally very successful. Surprisingly, it is when The Black Dahlia Murder sticks to its guns that it falls short. It would have been nice to see the band push themselves more than they did, though it is refreshing to know that they still have plenty of room for improvement.  

 Rating: 7/10

The Black Dahlia Murder’s new album, “Deflorate,” was released on Sept. 15 through Metal Blade records.