Not being too much of a Black Dahlia Murder fan I was a little apprehensive when I found out I was asked to review this, their latest album.  However, as people say, times change and so apparently does my taste in music as Nocturnal, their third full length album, is not bad.   

The first two songs “Everything Went Black” and “What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse” are top notch efforts, both of them changing throughout as they manage to blend a screaming vocal style, akin to Cradle Of Filth, some fast paced drumming, with the older sound of In Flames.  The lyrics may be, for the most part, undecipherable but these songs are catchy (if I’m allowed to say that for this style of music) and they serve as a superb way to start the album.  Sadly though they are also the highlight, as nothing else quite lives up to their promise. 

The next few tracks pass by without really having an impact. Whilst they may not be bad, in the main none sound distinctive enough either to tell them apart. This is actually one of the downsides of Nocturnal; occasionally it feels like one thirty four minute song as a lot of the tracks simply blend into each other. Like the rest of the album though there is good guitar work to be found, with solos thrown into almost all of them which, to some extent, does help to break up the repetition. 

Things pick up a little with “Deathmask Divine” which, while following the template of the rest of the album, does come across as a better song than much of what had proceeded it. Potentially this is due to the way that the song appears to flow more easily, with the growling vocals complementing this song more than on some of the others. 

After “Deathmask Divine” though TBDM slip back into the habit of blasting out songs that are difficult to take notice of.  “To A Breathless Oblivion” catches your attention briefly thanks to a great intro and an underlying riff that makes you take note, before sadly morphing into much of what had come previously.   

Before you know it Nocturnal is over, and you are left thinking of what it could have been had the quality of the first two tracks run through the rest of the album.  While I’m not going to suddenly rush out and buy the back catalogue of The Black Dahlia Murder I can now appreciate more why many people like them. If you know that you like this band, or that this style of death metal is your scene, then you should enjoy what TBDM have delivered with Nocturnal.

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 Track Listing

Everything Went Black
What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse
Virally Yours
I Worship Only What You Bleed
Nocturnal
Deathmask Divine
Of Darkness Spawned
Climactic Degradation
To A Breathless Oblivion
Warborn

Line Up

Trevor Strnad - Vocals
Brian Eschbach - Guitars
Shannon Lucas - Drums
Bart Williams - Bass
John Kempainen - Guitar