The Black Dahlia Murder - Servitude (Album Review)

The Black Dahlia Murder - Servitude
Released: September 27th, 2024

Line Up:

Brian Eschbach // Vocals
Brandon Ellis // Guitars & Backing Vocals
Ryan Knight // Guitars & Backing Vocals
Max Lavelle // Bass
Alan Cassidy // Drums

Online:

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On the 11th of May 2022, the extreme metal world lost one of its most dedicated and beloved servants, Trevor Scott Strnad. After the tragic and untimely passing of The Black Dahlia Murder frontman, vocalist, and founding member, his surviving bandmates decided to forge on to honour and continue Strnad’s legacy. With fellow founding member Brian Eschbach taking the mic, and former guitarist Ryan Knight reenlisted, the band hit the road to complete the Verminous touring cycle - including a great support slot with Carcass on their Australian tour - while slowly preparing new material for this, their tenth full length, Servitude.

This newest LP from the Detroit destroyers double-down on all the elements that have made the group leaders of the American death metal scene, with some real old-school sounding cuts amongst the more expansive moments. After a quiet, haunting piano intro, ‘Evening Ephemeral’ bursts into life with a foot-to-the-floor pace and buckets of syncopated rhythms. It’s a classic Black Dahlia Murder opener with some classic death metal riffage and harmony guitar lines - no doubt it’ll be earmarked to kick off their upcoming shows for a time to come.

The following two songs keep the pedal to the metal; only the melodic solo section of ‘Panic Hysteric’ breaks up the tempo, while the first single ‘Aftermath’ has a classic edge - it is a little underwhelming as the first taster however, not really packing any obvious ear-grabbing elements. Though he has enormous shoes to fill, former rhythm guitarist Brian Eschbach is undoubtedly the right man to step up the microphone stand. Not only was he the co-visionary of the group, but as Servitude proves, he vocally sounds pretty damn close to Strnad; his flow and attack is almost uncannily similar at times. Sadly, it must be said that he isn’t as impressive as the late frontman in terms of both his diction and variation, while the record as a whole seems to lack any noteworthy or memorable vocal passages.

‘Cursed Creator’ breaks up the furious opening trio that precedes it, boasting darkly melodic and neo-classic flair and dynamics - especially the chorus. It’s possibly the album’s most obvious example of stretching out sonically and highlighting their technical skills, especially with the tune’s knotty rhythm pushing drummer Alan Cassidy hard. With Eschbach focus solely on the vocal front, Ryan Knight and Brandon Ellis divvy up the guitar work amongst themselves, giving the band twin-lead guitarists for the first time in their history - check out the soaring harmonies in the twisted title track and aforementioned ‘Panic Hysteric’. The grooving ‘Mammoth’s Hand’ is arguably the most immediate cut on Servitude, while ‘Asserting Dominion’ is a shredder’s wet dream with Knight’s tastiest guitar solo - not to mention some of the record’s most complex riffage. Ellis lays down some equally stunning lead breaks and played a key role on the production front, manning the boards for a bulk of the capturing and engineering, with Servitude boasting a strong mix with lots of low end and clarity. The album closer - and longest tune on the LP - ‘Utopia Black’ has an epic feel to it, harkening back to the Nightbringers’ era;  though it’s not quite the finest example from their brimming pot of powerful finales.

A more-than-solid addition to The Black Dahlia Murder back catalogue, Servitude never quite hits the same heights as some of their earlier classic LPs, with a lack of a big song (or two) making this comeback album really good - but not great. Chalk it up to being victims of their previous success - or perhaps overly lofty fan expectations - but the lack of earworms means it's certainly not as strong as their previous LPs Verminous or Nightbringers. Despite this, their 10th album far from sullies their grand legacy - it is undoubtedly a release that will satisfy most fans. Most importantly though, Servitude acts as a strong starting point for the next chapter of this prominent heavy outfit.

The Black Dahlia Murder - Servitude tracklisting

1. Evening Ephemeral
2. Panic Hysteric
3. Aftermath
4. Cursed Creator
5. An Intermission
6. Asserting Dominion
7. Servitude
8. Mammoth’s Hand
9. Transcosmic Blueprint
10. Utopia Black

Rating: 7/10
Servitude is out September 27th on Metal Blade Records. Order here
Review By – Andrew Kapper. Twitter: @andrew_kapper