Black Dahlia Murder recently released "Miasma". This is a risky title, as it implies two things. As everyone knows, Miasma
roughly means poisonous or toxic atmosphere. This being a metal album, the title so far sounds great. But, an alternate defination
is smells from decomposing material, which releases the aforementioned toxicity. I will then operate out of the second definition,
and argue whether this cd fufills this proposition.
Being familiar with their earlier work, I did not think that I would find this theory to be true. Upon seeing them
in a live enviroment, I was wary, and was leaning towards confirming this theory. But, looks can be deceiving, and in this
case, are.
The length of the discharge is approximently an half hour, which seems short. But, on first examining the outer layer,
I think the length is welcomed, as I do not want to endure too much toxicity.
But, upon further exploration, I found that these young men put together a solid album. There are two spots that stand
out to me. The first is the tone of the lead guitar, and his solos. Both seem quite original, and add a feeling of freshness. The
solos are well-played, and fit in perfectly with the song surrounding it.
The second part that stood out to me made me question my understanding is this effort. It would seem that a member's
girlfriend or such wanted to be on the album, so at the end of a song, she makes a comment about the song, and then laughs.
This killed my desire to revisit this particular area.
Thus, I conclude that Miasma fufills the critirea of not being deadly, and does not need to be listened to in a hazmat
suit. Though, they do need to change their look, and embrace the metal within. And they need to release toxic gas on their
crowds, so they will melt away, and purify the image of this group.
