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THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER
Servitude
Metal Blade Records

The idea that a band considers to forge on when an unexpected and sometimes unfortunate circumstance occurs, has lately become quite commonplace. Their cash-cow and livelihood they became so dependent on, something they worked so hard for nearly came to a complete halt, leaving themselves asking, "where do we go from here?" When I think of all the classic bands that went through monumental changes in members such as IRON MAIDEN, most recently JUDAS PRIEST, and for those more caring of recent times, SUICIDE SILENCE and POWER TRIP - both whose decision came as a result of the passing of their lead vocalist, reminiscent of the great Bon Scott and AC/DC. While Riley Gale's (RIP to both) passing definitely hit me hard, one shocking loss was that of Death Metal's modern iconic frontman Trevor Strnad. A huge supporter of the very genre he helped keep relevant, the New Age of Modern Death Metal was something he was passionate about and very grateful to his fans for. Needless to say, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER would never be the same and it was a great big deal when the announcement was made to perform again in his honor, let alone later decide to record a new album which is a huge decision that will have all eyes and ears on them.

Their first effort without Trevor comes in the form of the new album Servitude, their 10th in their legacy with home-label Metal Blade Records, that brings co-founder and former guitarist Brian Eschbach to the forefront with Ryan Knight coming back to guitar, making this one of 2024's highly anticipated releases. Knight, whose last appearance was for 2015's Abysmal and 4 albums in total (a couple being some of TBDM's best), really shines on this album as his contributions were definitely heard, while slightly swaying from the Brutal TBDM style and leaning more towards Melodic Metalcore, there's no shortage of dueling guitar solos. Although overloaded with riffs, there aren't enough that stick out and let you sit on and absorb. From a musician's standpoint, sure, it's impressive but for the most important ones, the fans who buy the music and DON'T play instruments, jumping from one riff to another makes it difficult to follow as the groove element doesn't live long. Progressive Death Metal versus Technical, the latter at least would come back home and suck us back in, which happens quite seldom on this album. Turning this into a guitar clinic, "Asserting Dominion", "Transcosmic Blueprint" are examples that loses the listener as the shredding just seems to take off randomly only to abruptly halt and come back to the core of the song but by then, the song's over. The marketability is still there as evident by the 'core sound coming from the track "Mammoth's Hand", which unfortunately is more Metalcore than Death. The album starts strong with "Evening Ephemeral" but just as quickly, we sit there wondering, "ok, where are we going??" Even after giving this several listens, it was hard to find songs and riffs that I gravitated to. I couldn't come away with anything memorable that I could hum to you as past albums would have me do.

Whether it's providing comfort for TBDM fans that they return to the stage, in some ways a new album also provides closure on the loss of an amazing frontman who left us way too soon. Thusly, while I understand many other review sites will want to love this album for the sake of the name THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER made for themselves and in respect to Trevor (after all, many Metal personalities and websites just want to "love" everything so they don't lose followers), but as someone who appreciated and respected Trevor, it's because of that reason that I don't pull punches (on ANY of my reviews ever), so I'm not about to now. I believe in my heart, Trevor would appreciate that because he spoke from the heart as well and knew how important it was to maintain one's own individuality and be true to themselves and others around them. It's why I'll say Servitude didn't serve the purpose I and likely many had hoped for. While I highly applaud the musicianship and overshadowing guitar work, I couldn't come away with something to remember this one by.

3.5 Out Of 5.0