UMUR
"Miasma" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US, Michigan based death metal act The Black Dahlia Murder. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in July 2005. It´s the successor to "Unhallowed" from 2003 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as drummer Cory Grady has been replaced by Zach Gibson.
The material on "Miasma" pretty much continue the melodic death metal style of "Unhallowed (2003)". It´s sharp, predominantly fast-paced and energetic melodic death metal, and features both deep growling vocals and high pitched screaming vocals. It´s all delivered by skilled musicians who are more than capable of handling their instruments with great conviction and passion. At 10 tracks and 33:48 minutes of playing time "Miasma" doesn´t overstay its welcome and the relatively short playing time is perfect for this release. The Black Dahlia Murder simply don´t write varied enough material for much longer releases. It´s a criticism which sounds much harder on paper than it is actually meant, because if you give "Miasma" enough spins, the tracks begin to stand out a bit more. Ultimately a bit more variation between tracks could have made "Miasma" a more memorable release though (the same can be said about most of the band´s albums).
With that out of the way each track featured on the album is still an incredibly powerful and catchy listening experience on an individual level. Not a single track is of a sub par qaulity to the rest, and the consistent quality of the tracks and the skillful delivery of the material are some of the greatest assets of the album. "Miasma" features a powerful and detailed sound production too, which is another great asset and upon conclusion it´s a high quality album through and through. The lack of variation between tracks is a minor issue, but not enough for me not to grant the album a 4 star (80%) rating.