UMUR
"Abysmal" is the 7th full-length studio album by US death metal act The Black Dahlia Murder. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in September 2015. It´s the successor to "Everblack" from 2013. The years between the two albums have (as always) been spend touring relentlessly. "Abysmal" sees the return of producer Mark Lewis, who was also involved in the production of both "Deflorate (2009)" and "Ritual (2011)". Former bassist for The Black Dahlia Murder, Ryan Williams is also credited as producer (which was also the case on "Everblack (2013)")...
...and maybe let´s start with the sound production then, because it´s really strong and suits the music perfectly. It´s a very powerful sounding production, which brings out the right amount of rawness, but is still very clear sounding. Stylistically "Abysmal" isn´t that different from the last couple of releases by The Black Dahlia Murder. We´re still treated to melodic death metal with both screaming high pitched vocals (which on occasion gives of a "core" vibe) and deeper growling vocals. The band hasn´t lifted the foot from the gas pedal one bit, and the material is generally delivered with a furious intensity and predominantly in a high pace, which often includes blast beats. They do know how to play more heavy though which you can hear on a track like "Stygiophobic". The riffs featured on the album are generally technically complex, with an emphasis on melody, and the music features quite a few melodic lead guitar themes (check out the brilliant lead guitar melody on "Re-Faced") and blistering melodic solos too. The lyrics are as usual horror themed.
The high level musicianship is one of the great assets of the album in addition to the professional and well sounding production, and the solid songwriting. The latter is the only slight issue here though, and it´s not because it´s not high class material featured on the 10 track, 37:07 minutes long album. It´s more a matter of little development in sound over the course of now many albums. Of course you should never change a winning team, or change a successful formula too much, but I can´t help feel that "Abysmal" sounds a bit too much like a copy of the last couple of albums. It´s a minor issue if you crave more of the same, but if you´re interested in hearing just a slight development in sound then "Abysmal" isn´t the album for you. Still a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved. This is a high quality release through and through.