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The_Black_Dahlia_Murder-Abysmal-CD-FLAC-2015-CATARACT
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ARTIST : The Black Dahlia Murder STOREDATE : 00-00-2015
ALBUM : Abysmal RIPDATE : 11-29-2015
YEAR : 2015 RUNTIME : 37:07 min
GENRE : Death Metal LANGUAGE : English
LABEL : Metal Blade Records GRABBER : EAC Secure
SOURCE : CDDA ENCODER : FLAC 1.2.1
QUALITY : 1063kbps Avg 44.1kHz 2 channels SIZE : 297.0MB
URL : http://tinyurl.com/p3n3zn6 TRACKS : 10 Files
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01 Receipt 4:02
02 Vlad, Son Of The Dragon 2:56
03 Abysmal 3:41
04 Re-Faced 3:50
05 Threat Level No. 3 3:46
06 The Fog 3:50
07 Stygiophobic 3:14
08 Asylum 3:38
09 The Advent 3:41
10 That Cannot Die Which Eternally Is Dead 4:29
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37:07 min
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│ The problem of dropping a record as career-defining as 2013's │
│ Everblack is that the bar is set so high following it up is a │
│ galling task. That The Black Dahlia Murder's response to such a │
│ challenge comes in the form of the devastating Abysmal serves to │
│ once again demonstrate why they are considered one of the most vital │
│ bands in contemporary death metal. "Once the record started to come │
│ together we knew it was going to be something special," states │
│ vocalist Trevor Strnad. "It's more urgent, it has more dynamics, │
│ it's a more emotive record, and it has a more raw, angry sound to │
│ it. It's still million mile-per-hour death metal, but when you │
│ invest so much thought and emotion into what you're creating you end │
│ up with a record that does stand out, and we can hold our heads up │
│ high and say yeah, this is our best work." │
│ │
│ Since 2001, the Michigan quintet have focused their efforts on │
│ writing music that embraces all the finest qualities of melodic │
│ death metal yet does not shackle them, giving them room to │
│ constantly evolve and grow as musicians. With Abysmal the band have │
│ once again progressed while retaining the signature sound that has │
│ won them their devoted legion of fans, and making it clear that │
│ their best is not in their past. "I still love Everblack and │
│ everything we achieved when touring it, and in fact going into that │
│ record we faced a massive challenge in following up Ritual (2011), │
│ which had also been huge for us. Having two records in a row connect │
│ with fans in such a way was amazing, but definitely piled on the │
│ pressure going into this new one, because we don't want to let them │
│ down, and we don't want to let ourselves down. But we learned a lot │
│ in making those two records, and we brought that into Abysmal. We │
│ know we can take people's heads off playing super fast, but that │
│ doesn't always give listeners something to really chew on. We've │
│ learned to focus on creating some drama, interesting dynamics, and │
│ most importantly really investing time in thinking about how │
│ different parts of songs will make you feel." While crushingly │
│ violent, Abysmal is certainly a long way from being a │
│ two-dimensional blast-fest. Often evoking potent melancholy or icy │
│ unease, tragedy and apocalyptic gloom also insinuate into the songs │
│ alongside the all-out fury, for make no mistake, while this record │
│ boasts a variety of dark and atmospheric moods the band have perhaps │
│ never sounded so downright pissed. The likes of "Re-Faced" and │
│ "Threat Level Number Three" are purpose built to incite chaos, and │
│ some of the fastest material the band has ever unleashed explodes │
│ from the likes of opener "Receipt", "Asylum", and the haunting title │
│ track. This can largely be credited to drummer Alan Cassidy, who │
│ joined the band in 2013. "With both Alan and Max (Lavelle, bass) new │
│ to the band there was a lot of speculation ahead of dropping │
│ Everblack, and though we knew we had a great record it was nice to │
│ prove the naysayers wrong. This time out Alan was really able to │
│ stamp his identity on the record, and yeah, there was a point where │
│ Brian (Eschbach, guitar) said level with me dude: just how fast can │
│ you go? And Alan unleashed this thing and we were like okay, let's │
│ go faster than we've ever gone then!" Strnad laughs. "But it's not │
│ just that, he's injected so much style into everything. He writes │
│ really interesting fills, and he cares about having variety and │
│ really speaking with what he's doing, and he was involved with the │
│ song writing more than any other drummer has been in a long time." │
│ Strnad is just as keen to sing the praises of Lavelle, who also made │
│ a more substantial contribution to the record than he did to its │
│ predecessor. "We look back on every record and say we need more │
│ bass, and Max is a really prevalent part of things live, so we │
│ wanted to have that come across more, and he totally nailed it. It's │
│ definitely a dirtier bass sound than we've ever had too, which │
│ sounds more wild, more live, and adds to the punch." Guitarists │
│ Eschbach and Ryan Knight bring a cavalcade of riffs to the table, │
│ upping the stakes in technicality, melody, and sheer blunt force │
│ trauma, letting intoxicating flavors of black metal and NWOBHM creep │
│ into the vicious assault, and Knight's soloing is at a point where │
│ Strnad believes his name should rightfully be thrown in amongst the │
│ genre's most prominent shredders. "With every album we allow a bit │
│ more time for him to solo and just totally own it, and when he nails │
│ it he's really at that Megadeth Rust In Peace level. I do think he │
│ deserves to be spoken about in the circles of great metal guitar │
│ players. Marty Friedman should buy Ryan a beer, I think, and I │
│ genuinely don't see that as something really out of the ballpark." │
│ │
│ Of course, Strnad's own contributions are a vital aspect of every │
│ TBDM album, and he once again delivers, both in regards to his │
│ lyrics and caustic vocals. While his lyrical inspiration remains │
│ primarily rooted in horror and the macabre, on Abysmal the theme of │
│ hell is prominent, whether it be a literal hell, figurative, or │
│ personal one. "Stygiophobic", for instance, which is a slower, │
│ crunchy, doom-inflected dirge, sees him focusing on those who are │
│ irrationally afraid of hell. "These people spend their every waking │
│ moment thinking of going to hell, and every time they go to sleep │
│ they see all their friends burning in hell, and this obsession has │
│ become a debilitating psychological condition, which is awful, and │
│ interesting." Alongside this, on the scathing "Threat Level Number │
│ Three" Strnad goes inside the mind of a "recidivist rapist molester, │
│ who has been chemically castrated, focusing on his internal dialogue │
│ as he's trying to reenter society." He explores more fantastic │
│ subjects, such as the cruelty and violence of Vlad The Impaler - the │
│ inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula - in the more melancholic │
│ "Vlad, Son Of The Dragon", and he also reflects on issues that have │
│ affected him more personally, allowing himself some form of │
│ catharsis, most notably on "Receipt" and the title track. However, │
│ while despair, isolation, and thoughts of suicide haunt these songs, │
│ on burly closer "That Cannot Die Which Eternally Is Dead" he pushes │
│ the band's perseverance in the faces of those who might consider │
│ counting them out. "What I'm saying in that song is that we can't be │
│ stopped by normal means. No matter what kind of challenge or │
│ roadblock we face we'll just keep coming, and I think by now our │
│ fans know that." │
│ │
│ In tracking the record, the band re-enlisted producer Mark Lewis │
│ (Cannibal Corpse, Whitechapel) and former bass player Ryan Williams, │
│ who also helped engineer Everblack, their intent to get away from │
│ the overt sonic sterility affecting far too many contemporary metal │
│ albums. This is a prominent factor in why the record sounds as angry │
│ as it does, the band focusing on capturing a raw, live sound that │
│ doesn't always strive for absolute perfection. "We wanted a sound │
│ that would show we're actually human beings, and not just computers │
│ playing death metal. We were not going to resample the drums, │
│ sound-replace or quantize anything. We didn't want to have the exact │
│ same drum sound as every single freaking band seems to have right │
│ now, and that's why essentially going backwards was going forwards │
│ for us. The guys have the chops to do it, so it's not like we need │
│ to lean on Pro-Tools to make an album, and I think it's the most │
│ energetic thing we've done since the very first record, Unhallowed │
│ (2003), which had a similar live feel." As always, artwork was of │
│ great importance in expressing the band's vision, and this time they │
│ turned to Russian artist Daemorph, who is known for his work in the │
│ brutal death metal community. "Again, I was a little unsure quite │
│ how we would follow up Everblack, because the artwork Nicholas │
│ Keller did was incredible. But we told Daemorph we wanted something │
│ that really looked like hell, and he went above and beyond. The │
│ first time I saw it I was like yep, that's hell, and I know I │
│ definitely don't want to go there!" │
│ │
│ At this stage in the game, with typically modest aspirations, Strnad │
│ is more interested in maintaining their longevity than shifting │
│ records, and if the band never gets any bigger than they are right │
│ now he will "die happy a hundred times over". However, this does not │
│ mean there is anything even vaguely resembling an end in sight. │
│ "We're still young at heart and I feel like the evolution of the │
│ band still has a long way to go. I don't see a ceiling on what we │
│ can do, and there will be no end. It's just going to be a constant │
│ ongoing fight to make better music and be a better band, and it's │
│ always going to be time to kick ass." --Metalblade.com │
│ │
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