Album Type: Full Length
Date Released:
17/04/2020
Label: Metal Blade
Records
“Verminous”
CD//DD//LP track listing:
1. "Verminous" (3:50)
2. "Godlessly" (3:28)
3. "Removal of the Oaken Stake" (4:26)
4. "Child of Night" (3:38)
5. "Sunless Empire" (3:58)
6. "The Leather Apron's Scorn" (3:34)
7. "How Very Dead" (3:07)
8. "The Wereworm's Feast" (4:36)
9. "A Womb in Dark Chrysalis" (Interlude) (0:48)
10. "Dawn of Rats" (4:28)
2. "Godlessly" (3:28)
3. "Removal of the Oaken Stake" (4:26)
4. "Child of Night" (3:38)
5. "Sunless Empire" (3:58)
6. "The Leather Apron's Scorn" (3:34)
7. "How Very Dead" (3:07)
8. "The Wereworm's Feast" (4:36)
9. "A Womb in Dark Chrysalis" (Interlude) (0:48)
10. "Dawn of Rats" (4:28)
The Review:
Billboard
top 200 Extreme Metal masters The Black Dahlia Murder need no introduction,
and blast (back) onto the scene with their 9th full length studio
album “Verminous”.
After
“Ritual”
(their 5th release) topped #32 on the charts, The Black Dahlia Murder has
become one of the most mainstream successful bands in Death Metal; seeing great
success with each successive launch, “Verminous” will likely be another
hit under their belts. Where “Ritual” felt like a final evolution
in the band’s sound, “Verminous” feels very much like a
return to form, regressing with each release back to a distilled concentration
of aggressive and horror laced death metal.
Tracks,
“Godlessly” and “The Wereworm’s Feast” open hard, with
pummeling double bass, and shredding riffs, setting up the best bangers on the
album. “Godlessly” has the type of
hook that will get stuck in your head all day, headbanging and fist pounding
along to the music between your ear space. “Child of the Night” may be the standout track however, starting
with a prominently featured bass groove, that gives way to breakneck rhythms,
and the nastiest bridge on the album. “Verminous” is down and dirty Death
Meat, definitely a must listen for the black cloths and big beards crowd.
Like the now iconic 2007 album “Nocturnal”, there are moments of discordant melodies interspersed with guitar flourishes, and pulse racing drums, but at the end of the day, the focus here is darkness, and brutality. To put things simply, “Verminous” is good, like, “Nocturnal” good. It may never reach the iconic level of its predecessor, but the sheer adeptness with which The Black Dahlia Murder composes their music, is something deserving of recognition. It is hard NOT to draw comparisons with past works, but there is something to be said about a band that has been around for 19 years, helped define the genre, and still feels as fresh as ever.
“Verminous” is available HERE
