The Black Dahlia Murder

The Black Dahlia Murder immediately established themselves at the forefront of the then-burgeoning U.S. metal scene when they released their full-length Metal Blade debut Unhallowed in June 2003. The release of that critically lauded album, however, was only the beginning of an epic journey that would find this Detroit, Michigan, quintet dealing with personnel issues (founding member drummer Cory Grady was replaced by Zach Gibson) and a nonstop touring itinerary that kept them on the road for nearly two years playing with bands as diverse as The Red Chord, Arch Enemy, Napalm Death and Terror. But those experiences ultimately had a profound effect on their latest Metal Blade release, Miasma. "The road has been what really made Miasma what it is," vocalist Trevor Strnad confesses. "Much of the content here is a direct result of our experience in the band."

It is no surprise, then, that Miasma reflects the insanity of life on the road for five guys, barely over the legal drinking age, who were playing an endless string of shows across North America and Europe. "It's quite a bit more personal lyrically, ranging from anthems of cheap sex and drug use to more classic Black Dahlia Murder horror style," says Strnad. "I've tried to reinvent BDM lyrically here. It's still dark. It's still really evil shit."

Strnad's growth as a lyricist is just one of the ways the band expanded its sound on Miasma. Guitarist Brian Eschbach contributed more to the writing process while his counterpart John Kempainen wrote and played solos for every track. As a result, The Black Dahlia Murder--rounded out by bassist Dave Lock--have created an album that reflects the bonds cemented by the band's two-year odyssey. Recorded and co-produced with the band by Scarlet drummer Andreas Magnusson at Planet Red Studio in Richmond, Virginia, Miasma is a deadly reinvention of The Black Dahlia Murder's nefariously nasty melodic death metal sound. It is a sound that Kempainen simply describes as "more pissed off." Strnad sees other improvements, as well, however. "The new songs are much heavier than anything on Unhallowed," he declares. "We were making a conscious effort to challenge ourselves as players and give each song an identity of its own. And the addition of Zach has enabled us as a unit to write more complex and interesting arrangements."

Miasma is just the latest chapter in the ever-twisted saga of The Black Dahlia Murder. Like the long-unsolved murder of a young Hollywood starlet that the band took its name from, The Black Dahlia Murder's appeal is visceral and dark, a terror-filled exploration of extreme sounds and vicious brutality. And it is a step closer to the apex the band is still aiming its sights for. "I feel that we are yet to reach our prime," says Strnad, "but Miasma is many steps closer to where we want to be. We have a better band in 2005 and now a record to show for it."

the brightest full moon light entrances me
it calls me forth
yet i have not the strength to move
in stasis, i rot away and dream
dream of forgotten years
dream of the touch of another's hand
i am to be a meal of star-ved worms
my nerves are twisting for the light of my salvation
i rest beneath where i remain as cold as clay
eternal pain is swelling in my joints

somewhere within me a flame is slowly born
inside this shell of bloated flesh grows life anew
infernal, the moon distorts my mind
my veins jolt back to life, pushing the fluids of the damned

i seek to bathe my fetid flesh in crimson spray
my body writhes without consent of conscience
i lift the lid the pounds of dirt shall not subdue
i shall walk the earth once more

from beyond the strings are pulled
i know not what has made me this way
the animation of my rigid corpse
i shall abandon my coffin of premature fate

all the words of the preacher
all the tears of my family in vain
i shall again walk amongst them
my penance with blood be repaid!
repaid!

[solo]

dead hand grasps for the still night air
i am now free to maim!
there cannot be a god for he would not forgive this
despicable inhuman monster; rotten, twisted and deformed
i am now a tool of my unholy instinct
entrails strewn at my bidding
a mockery of all i was

i seek to bathe my fetid flesh in crimson spray
my body writhes without consent of conscience
i lift the lid the pounds of dirt shall not subdue
i shall walk the earth once more

from beyond the strings are pulled
i know not what has made this way
the animation of my rigid corpse
i shall abandon my coffin of premature fate

all the words of the preacher
all the tears of my family in vain
i shall again walk amongst them
my penance with blood be repaid!
repaid!

My crimson covered hands - clutch heart strings newly broken
moths breed in my entrails - hate washes through my fucking veins
friendship turns to disease - afflicting the weak of mind and heart
you are the growing cancer - eating at my fondest memories
7 abandoned years - thwart all affection
a million whispered lies - push fingernails into my palms
the knife slipped in - pushed by the most familiar hands
I fell upon - the comfort of your words
a flash of light - taught me a lesson in betrayal
I fell upon - the solace in your smile
7 wasted years - boiling in vomit
I will erase you - I will erase you from this heart
from my memory - I cut away
you're just a name to me - a friend is now a ghost
I will never give again
you have forsaken any faith I had in you
all the love I had for you
I am reborn - Baptized in flame
Clean of your deceitful looming
friends are beneath me - I can't face this pain again
I'll die alone - But at least I'll know who loves me
I am a shadow of myself - pent up in walls of human shit
annihilating - anything that bears your name
I am a hollowed wooden shell - made strong by that which I abhor
committing only - to creating your demise
and so I pray for sleep - and to see anything but red
all purpose has been drained from me
a friendship ends in pain - morose claims my every word
all trust has been carved out of me
wasted years - boiling in vomit
I will erase you - I will erase you from this heart
from my memory - I cut away
you're just a name to me - a friend is now a ghost