The Murder of the Black Dahlia – Bondage – The Toilet of Hell

When Trevor Strnad, frontman and founding member of The murder of the black dahliain 2022, the group's future was unclear. Having lost such a close friend and such a large part of their musical identity at such a young age, no one would have accused the band of breaking up or reuniting under another project. Such a massive loss would devastate most bands, especially ones of The Black Dahlia Murder's notoriety.

Instead, the band later announced their continuation and lineup change: founding member and lead guitarist Brian Eschbach took over vocals, while former guitarist Ryan Knight returned in his place for the first time since 2016. Carrying on as before requires tremendous strength, both in their personal lives and in the face of the inherent pressure to meet the expectations placed on them.

Because it is difficult to imagine a band with a more consistent style than The Black Dahlia Murder, especially at their level of fame. Personally, I vacillate between ritual And Alwaysblack as their full-length peak, but they have always maintained a high level of quality as a band – even in the Unholy And Miasma days. While her previous record vermin was probably my least favorite record of theirs, but it was still worth listening to throughout, especially the excellent title track and “Dawn Of Rats”.

The band reintroduced themselves with the first single “Aftermath”, a relatively short song that is meant to reassure the band’s fans that they are staying in the same direction. A largely straightforward continuation of verminit underlined the sound of the album to come. Brian's voice is reminiscent of the growling, rhythmically dense nature of Trevor's voice; familiar, certainly, but it comes across as respectful rather than hollow pastiche. This was followed by “Mammoth's Hand,” which has much more of an identity of its own, introducing itself with a slower arpeggio and then establishing a mix of mid-tempo rhythms and staccato chugs. It's written with much more flair and fluidity; if “Aftermath” was the band signaling their re-emergence, then “Mammoth's Hand” is their signal for their advance.

“Evening Ephemeral” begins bondage with a short, ponderous introduction, as if leaning into the tension that surrounds a new Black Dahlia Murder album, before exploding into one of the best tracks on the record – a track that weaves conventional melo-death sounds with subtle, orchestral flair in its lead guitar. “Panic Hysteric” is more immediate, having that sense of instability in its composition throughout, before settling into more measured moments of calm. The track really highlights the return of Ryan Knight, and it highlights the band's long-standing talent for mixing bright melodies into their songwriting without compromising the structural integrity of the songs or overwhelming the rest of the mix. There's a damn dump of melo-death and metalcore bands that have died squeezing out their already pathetic melodic sense, but The Black Dahlia Murder continue to impress even after twenty-plus years.

“Cursed Creator” is the most rhythmically recognizable, highlighting the interplay between the bass and Alan Cassidy's fantastic low-end drumming. Even though the rest of the track tries to find a more relaxed tempo as it progresses, the drums remain in belligerent attrition, evoking that feeling of damned exhaustion once the solos start – one of their best pieces in a decade.

The aptly named “An Intermission” acts as a brief, sonic respite that segues into “Asserting Dominion,” a song that truly embodies the spirit of their older material, and while on another record that might feel inessential or superfluous, on bondage it seems appropriately thoughtful. The title track, on the other hand, seems less focused, more lightweight and is probably the weakest moment on the record.

“Transcosmic Blueprint” has a strong sense of urgency that matches its more boisterous delivery, with the instrumentation really leaning towards melodic 2000s metalcore, while also incorporating unexpected bluesy riffs in the middle. The record ends with the more ambitious “Utopia Black,” a track that features a more dynamic interplay between rhythm and lead guitar work and feels more measured and less hectic throughout, rounding out the record with the softer, acoustic instrumentation that Evening Ephemeral opened it with.

bondage could have sounded like an evocation of past glories of The Black Dahlia Murder, and that would have been enough for most; something pleasant and consistent in the wake of a terrible chapter in the band's life. Instead bondage is, against all odds, an absolute highlight of their discography. While it will perhaps always be an album defined by the context in which it was recorded, that same context lends pathos to its melancholy moments and triumph to its most powerful moments.

4/5 Toilets of Hell

Servitude will be released on September 27th via Metal Blade Records
Bandcamp | Webshop