The Black Dahlia Murder Unhallowed

For a while now there has been a shitload of hype surrounding a handful of bands in the metal genre, namely The Red Chord and The Black Dahlia Murder. After hearing ranting and raving that The Black Dahlia Murder sounded like Darkest Hour with “balls,” I figured I needed to check these guys out as soon as possible. Upon the arrival of "Unhallowed," I was immediately bombarded with an onslaught of vicious guitar riffing and punishing drums. Furthermore, I continue to be in awe of the lyrics on this album. This is truly the way all records should be written - around a strong lyrical backbone. I love when bands actually give a shit about the big picture and not just the music, or vice versa. "Unhallowed" gives you nine reasons to stick with your metal for at least a little while longer. There is still hope yet. Black Dahlia Murder do it right in just about everyway on their debut effort for Metal Blade, and finally, you can believe the hype. The only setback with this album is the backup vocalist. His tone is miserable. So, maybe that’s what the band was going for At any rate it would probably end up sounding too much like Darkest Hour if it weren’t for the cookie monster growls of Brian Eschbach. Regardless of this minor flaw, you can’t deny the voraciousness of the album’s finest, “Funeral Thirst,” which is rivaled by few tracks in its intensity. Other stellar tracks included "Contagion" and "The Blackest Incarnation." Bottom Line: This is the best album Metal Blade has released in longer than I can remember. Sure, I’d much rather listen to the latest Darkest Hour record any day of the week, but that doesn’t mean I don’t dig this band and "Unhallowed." I was eagerly looking forward to hearing this record and it certainly lived up to the hype, and then some. The scenesters are going to eat this up as they did not too long ago when The Red Chord dropped their debut effort last year. If the Black Dahlia Murder have as high aspirations for the future as I think they are worthy of achieving, we might have an Album of The Year on our hands somewhere down the line. Let’s just hope they stick it out long enough.