The Black Dahlia Murder is a band that I listened to when their first album came out, Unhallowed and back then, it really was a bit of a guilty pleasure because they were about three quarters metalcore, and a quarter death metal. I eventually kind of dropped off caring or following them, and I recently came back in the past couple of weeks with their newest, Nocturnal.

I have to admit, I am pleasantly surprised. Truly, surprised. I honestly would've figured they would've hopped on the deathcore bandwagon, but that isn't the case. They really are a solid slab of death metal. I won't go into specifics, but I will say, they feel like mature and heavy death metal. They sound like they've really shed their metalcore skin, while, for the most part, avoiding the deathcore sound.

What are your thoughts on The Black Dahlia Murder, MA?

Over em

To be honest, I can tolerate some of their stuff. But Miasma was the worst piece of shit on wheels I have ever heard.

Seems to me that most people stopped giving a shit about them at least two years ago.

And many others never gave a shit about them to begin with.

Nocturnal isn't bad, and it's got some really good lyrics.

Listen to At the Gates instead if you enjoy that style.

I was the same way, I found Unhallowed and certainly enjoyed it in doses. Loved the drumming.

Then Miasma came out and I really gave up on 'em. Nocturnal came up and I really enjoyed it a little more than Unhallowed. It's not even close to one of the better death/melodic death metal bands with random hints to metalcore. It's probably the closest I'll get to core actually.

I've seen 'em live 4 times as well, I can assure you they can put on an intense show and Trevor (vocalist) is a helluva showman. But still, not exactly my favorite type of thing but I still spin Nocturnal every now and then.

That's exactly my thoughs about them

I kind of liked Nocturnal, but I honestly haven't checked anything else out. It will probably stay that way.

That's not related to this thread. Please leave or be constructive of the topic.

They are a pretty good band who are very good live.

Not related? The band in discussion wouldn't exist without At the Gates and i was providing an alternative.

I like Unhallowed, I haven't heard any of their other albums. But Unhallowed is more or less 100% melodeath of the gothenburg school. The only reason this band gets called "metalcore" is because of their image and the bands they tour with.

I can tolerate them for a little while but the vocals always annoy me in the end.

I actually like The Black Dahlia Murder a lot; I should probably listen to them more than I do.

I thought "Unhallowed" was really good. "Miasma" was definitely a significant step down. Then "Nocturnal" is as good as "Unhallowed", or perhaps even better. I think they're a very talented band that gets lumped into a grouping that doesn't accurately portray them.

And I agree.... they are easily melodic death

I never really got into them, not even in my early days of metal listening. They just never caught my attention with any of their music.

They seem pretty pointless to me. All their riffs strike me as half-assed. I can't even bring myself to hate them; I just get bored listening to them.

Never liked these guys, they really seem like one of those bands where you can say they've only written one song stretched over three albums.

The problem with the band is there is really no depth at all in their music. It's by the numbers melodic death metal with no soul or originality whatsoever. They add zero to their genre and are basically a disposable band.

Thanks for actually adding to the conversation.

haven't really checked them..i had seen a vid of theirs long time back..but didnt feel like checking em out

Been a fan for years, really like Nocturnal.
I was into metalcore as a younger teen and never lost interest in a few of the groups. See, if I start to love a certain band then odds are, I like em no matter what (obviously there are exceptions), which is why I still enjoy All That Remains, Killswitch Engage, Chimaira, among just a few others. So obviously, I'll have no issue stating I love BDM.

I like a few songs from them, but i don't consider myself a fan of theirs. But i do admit they put on a great show.

Certainly not, it is very much metalcore. That said, I think it's a good album. repetitive at times, but good nonetheless. Miasma was not nearly as good, and Nocturnal is horrible.

Nocturnal is their best effort. What I really like about Nocturnal is the vocals. Others may hate it but I like in some songs how he constantly shifts from a high-pitch screech style to a mean growl.

what a positively terrible band.

TBDM have couple of good guitar riffs, guitar solo's aren't too annoying (not bad), nice drum fills here or there in each of their albums. But what really keeps me away from them is that they're not really serious about their music or art. Which isn't really a tremendous issue when making metal. They just don't really push any boundaries in their sound. They're a mediocre listen at best. Nothing more.

Live, they're ok. I've seen far worse, like Sonic Syndicate. Disgusting!

At least they're admirable in that they ditched the majority of their metalcore for something a bit less shit.

Yeah, I bought Unhallowed a couple of years ago just because they had the word 'murder' in their name; without knowing who they were, or what they looked like at all. As far as I knew, they just looked like every other death metal band - big scary blokes with long hair and beards. So when I saw what they looked like for the first time, it was a bit of a shock.

But still, I do like that album. I haven't checked anything else out, to be honest.

I never ever got into The Black Dahlia Murder. They have always just been incredibly annoying to me. I just really as a whole hate metalcore, (with the exception of the underground group "The Ghost Inside") so that prime metalcore influence in them really dilluted me from liking them. I must say I have enjoyed their drum work though.

Is someone actually going to justify calling them metalcore? The only similarities they have with those groups is that they both rip off At the Gates. And I like some metalcore, so this isn't just a case of "omg i like this band they can't be metalcore."

Unhallowed and Nocturnal arent terrible albums, Miasma is. All in all, they're sorta ok...I guess. Regardless, when it comes down to it my copy of Slaughter of the Soul still works so....

Saw 'em live, not my thing.

Im a fan of the band. Personal favourite would be Elder Misanthropy. My only complaint is that there are so many BDM clones in deathcore (most noteably As Blood Runs Black) even though BDM are not deathcore.

I enjoy 'Nocturnal' but I haven't bothered to listen to their earlier albums. The ATG comparison is apt and I've always had a soft spot for 'Slaughter of the Soul'.

The Black Dahlia Murder are certainly not fantastic but they're competent and I see a lot of potential in them.

I like them, I think they're pretty good. I heard they headlined Summer Slaughter this year... They are good, but not headlining good, if you know what I mean.

I'll have to agree with that actually, it should have gone to Vader easily. Kataklysm as well could have taken the headlining easier, but I was disappointed that Black Dahlia Murder got it, oh well still better than Whitechapel, Aborted, Born of Osiris or any of the other fucking shitty opener bands. Hell they could have even given the headlining spot to Psycroptic, they have enough material for it!

They're not awful. Nothing overly innovative, but not awful. They can serve a purpose as a decent gateway into better bands, though. Better to have mediocre bands like them out there ushering people into heavy shit rather than nu metal...

Absolutely inoffensive band. Trevor's vocals have quite obviously improved from Unhallowed to the most recent and I will give him credit as a skillful lyricist, but quite frankly everything I've heard from the band has been shallow, generic melodeath. But maybe I already dislike that sort of "melodic death metal" since I don't feel particularly inspired by any of the ATG albums I've listened to.

And what's with the metalcore tag people ascribe to this band? I've never heard anything but straight melodeath from them. Could someone point out a breakdown or whatever else I might have missed that would mark them as a metalcore-ish band?