At ten songs and 33.5 minutes long, The Black Dahlia Murder’s sophomore album Miasma wastes zero time getting to the point. While we might take for granted the band’s ability to craft some of modern extreme metal’s most interesting albums, the fact is that, like all musicians, they were once unknown as well.
This was, of course, well before the band’s profile expanded with albums like Ritual and Everblack. In fact, it’s a particularly noticeable example of a band in this genre of music avoiding a sophomore slump. And make no mistake – Miasma expands the band’s songwriting palette in ways that would showcase what they were capable of.
This is the record where the late Trevor Strnad came into his own as one of the scene’s most notable vocalists. Accordingly, his abilities are stamped all over important cuts like “Statutory Ape”, “Novelty Crosses”, and the particularly destructive title track. Couple his talent with the fact that the instrumentals are so powerful + the songs never overstay their welcome, and you can imagine why The Black Dahlia Murder really started to ramp up their fanbase with Miasma.
