Band:	The Black Dahlia Murder
Album:	Unhallowed
Style:	Melodic death metal, Metalcore
Release date:	June 16, 2003
A review by:	Herzebeth

01. Unhallowed
02. Funeral Thirst
03. Elder Misanthropy
04. Contagion
05. When The Last Grave Has Emptied
06. The Horror Cosmic
07. The Blackest Incarnation
08. Hymn For The Wretched
09. Closed Casket Requiem
10. Apex

Friend: Hey man there's a band on MTV right now, it sounds very good check it
Herzebeth: uhm?they look like good charlotte or something
Friend: No dude, check the song, man it sounds so like At The Gates
Herzebeth: well no it doesn't, but actually that song is not THAT bad?

Well that's what happened two weeks ago when my friend appeared in my front door with a "New" band called The Black Dahlia Murder, apparently they had this sound ala "Slaughter Of The Soul", believe me this band is far from that album, and is far from good or groundbreaking, This band is just another failed attempt to make "Revolutionary" music with Metalcore riffs, Growl vocals mixed with High-pitched ones, hideous bass playing, and well?amazing Drums.

The music in general is bad, a lot of cool riffs indeed but let me tell you this, those "cool" riffs after a while grow to become boring, the thing is that "The Black Dahlia Murder" creates just one riff per song, and then the guitar players repeat the same riff over and over again changing only the tempo which 80% of the time is just fast and then faster and so on, but in a hideous way believe me, The drummer is very gifted and the shitty thing is to see tons of talent wasted in a band like this.

So, contagion is the only enjoyable song in this album, some great riffs (wow I actually heard notes varying along the song), the drumming is spectacular as in every other song, again the vocals are terrible, and the bass-lines are tolerable, and in the middle it has a very cool breakdown (1:07), and well it's not brutal or anything but at least the simplistic solo sounds good(1:41), this song is the one I saw on MTV so I still say it's not that bad. The production is amazing (why Metalcore bands have always good productions and awful music?) the product sounds clean and loud, so a good point.

Anyway the same guy who recommended As I Lay Dying to me is the one who recommended this album, you'll say that I don't learn?but well I do:

Things I Learned While Hearing Unhallowed
-The Black Dahlia Murder is not, I repeat, is not Death Metal. It has some Melodic Death approaches but it's not Death Metal
-Never trust a guy who recommends you Metalcore bands, always check first if he isn't a Korn fan.
-In Metalcore there's no such term as "Repetitive riff", it's called a "revolutionary" Riff
-There's no such thing as a "cool" way of mixed vocals.
-Metalcore band members have this weird punk style.
-MTV sucks
-You can actually talk about Cemeteries with mellow riffs and dull vocals.
-Suicidal people have a crush on their diaries. (check the lyrics for Closed Casket Requiem)
-Never burp or fart when your girlfriend is around.(yes I learned that while hearing this album)