The Black Dahlia Murder

The often imitated yet never duplicated Detroit deathsters The Black Dahlia Murder have returned to the public eye to reclaim their rightful throne as leaders of all things extreme with their third blackened opus of thrashing melodic death metal, Nocturnal. "I don't think the pretenders will be able to match this one," proclaims vocalist Trevor Strnad of their scorching new offering, "It's fucking over the top. Brian (Eschbach; guitarist/songwriter) has really outdone himself this time. The kid eats lightning and shits chains."

Lead by founding members Eschbach and Strnad, the group offers their most complex, memorable, and utterly unholy album yet. Chock full of flesh searing riffage, mind-bending guitar solos by fret-freak John Kempainen, and the disgustingly poetic gore soaked lyricism that legions of the band's manically adoring fans have been hungering for. Reenergized by the precision finger work of bass master Ryan "Bart" Williams and the skin-bashings of newest addition Shannon Lucas (ex- All That Remains), Nocturnal finds the band at their most violent while never compromising the staple melodic style that they have become synonymous with. "The album Nocturnal is a rebirth for the band," states vocalist Strnad. "We've never had such a sick rhythm section. Bart and Shannon have really stepped up and added an extra punch to this beast of a record," the singer proudly chimes. The end result is a more vehement and venomous Black Dahlia in 2007. However, no album of such a magnitude is without its tribulation.