There seems to be a horrible trend sweeping the lands of America like The Plague. Kids everywhere are going to salons to get their hair done, wearing silly white belts, and whining more than the emo kids we all used to hate two years ago. This trend has been labeled with the misnomer "metalcore." It seems that these bands fail to incorporate any metal or hardcore into their music, yet are still labeled as such. However, disregard all of what I've just said because The Black Dahlia Murder is NOT that. In fact, if you haven't noticed yet, they've moved from Lovelost Records to none other than Metal Blade Records. If you don't know how big of an honor it is to be on Metal Blade, then perhaps you should just stop reading.
This album is metal. It's not just metal, actually; it's FUCKIN' METAL! Yes, there's a reason why you don't see the so-called metalcore kids with this band's shirts. Although they've been attached to the "metalcore" genre on several occasions, mostly by writers and reporters who don't know what they're talking about, they have a sound which more closely resembles that of Gothenburg, Sweden's death metal scene. However, the band hails from, of all places, Michigan.
The disc starts off with a creepy, macabre intro and hurls into a speedy, death-influenced frenzy. People who aren't much into metal probably won't think much of the album because there truly isn't much of a difference between songs. From an outsider's perspective, I can see why one would think that all of the songs sound the same. But after listening to the album dozens and dozens of times, I've come to love certain parts and see the album as a whole rather than a collection of songs anyway. The riffs are certainly something to praise. John and Brian's dual-guitar onslaught proves to be a brilliant mix of Euro death and American thrash and lead vocalist Trevor has a demonic shriek that most humans are not capable of making. The combined efforts of the band end dramatically with what must be the best outro of all time, instructions on how to collect skulls. The atmosphere created by the outro is reason enough to buy the album, not to mention the nine amazing tracks of pure American metal.
