Verminous＜限定盤＞

Since releasing their 2003 debut long player Unhallowed, The Black Dahlia Murder have earned a sterling reputation for consistency. With deft melodic hooks, anthemic choruses, brutal blastbeats and filthy, speed-driven, guitars, they are among extreme metals most enduring acts. Their innovative brand of melodic technical death metal has endeared them to hundreds of thousands of fans on both sides of the Atlantic. Verminous is the bands first outing since 2017s wildly successful Nightbringers, their first album with lead guitarist Brandon Ellis. The set peaked at 35 on the Top 200 in the U.S. as well as in the top 50 in Germany and Switzerland. Verminous is the bands ninth long player. While it is instantly recognizable as TBDM, it adds some progressive elements and employs some old school metal tropes in the mix that come off sounding refreshed and innovative. Check the title track; after a walloping, frenetic blastbeat entry, the cascading guitars clang and churn until they emerge together in a razor wire riff. Trevor Strnads shrieking, growling, filthy vocals are an essential part of TBDMs attack. Hes mixed way up top; you can understand every word, despite the punch-drunk grooves. While it follows their winning formula of mixing melodic death metal shredding with technical acumen, the sound of the Elliss lead lines is fierce, less blackened. A slightly slower old school HM chugging guitar approach is juxtaposed against absolutely crushing modern blastbeats on Removal of the Oaken Stake. Child of the Night puts the insane technical abilities of this outfit on display with crushing guitars and anthemic choruses framed by overdriven bass work from Max Lavelle. Combining with Cassidys in the red zone drumming, it carreens toward an off the rails catastrophe before angling in another direction. The razor-wire twinned guitar riffing in How Very Dead, is as sophisticated and exciting as Meshuggah, with a labyrinthine instrumental breakdown. The Wereworms Feast is out of control. Opening with pure speed, it tempers itself in the verse as Ellis and rhythm axe king Brian Eschbach pursue thunderously heavy riffs, as Alan Cassidy alternates between triple timing the band and swinging through the changes. Finally, Dawn of the Rats offers detuned bass and guitar riffs at midtempo. Within thirty seconds Cassidys frenetic entry transforms the track into something so sinister and mercurial, it could rip off your face. The Black Dahlia Murders superlative musicianship balances technicality, harmony, brutality, and mature sophistication on Verminous. While their style evolves somewhat here, its a progression so smooth and in character, its almost guaranteed to excite fans. ~ Thom Jurek

残虐非道な攻撃力は不変だ。結成20周年の節目に出る9枚目のアルバムは、前作から加入したブランドン・エリス(ギター)が制作に深く関与。アット・ザ・ゲイツ経由の冷徹なメロデス・サウンドは堅持したまま、叙情的かつメロディアスなギター・フレーズを大量導入。テクニカルに押しまくった前作と比べて、今作は押し引きのアレンジに優れた曲調が目立つ。とはいえ、ブラダリらしい邪悪さは微塵も薄まっていない。
bounce (C)荒金良介