5) “Black Valor”
The three records following Deflorate are arguably the band’s best to date (yeah, including Abysmal… it’s a week old, and I’ll stand by it), but even with so much excellent material since 2009, “Black Valor” is still my favorite BDM opener. It’s the only album that explodes without so much as a whisper (or crickets), straight into a fast-paced ripper. The song is relatively short and straightforward, and I’ve had conversations about whether or not it even has a chorus (a refrain maybe?), but it’s still so catchy and so thick. If this band’s entire catalog had one opening salvo, one initial battle cry, it’d be “Black Valor.” There’s hardly a second to breathe throughout the track’s three minutes, and that would make it such a killer number as a live set staple. Just based on what YouTube videos I could find, it looks like it’s been about five years since the guys put this one in the set. It’s due for a comeback.
6) “Virally Yours”
If this wasn’t a live-based installment of the column, this song would be here anyway. It’s my favorite song from Nocturnal, and it’s so completely overlooked. Musically, “Virally Yours” is a precursor to where the band would go with songs like “On Stirring Seas of Salted Blood,” “Into The Everblack,” and “Abysmal.” Its blasts aren’t as overt as some of their faster material, and that creates a great shift in dynamics, focusing more on churning riffs punctuated with stuttering drum patterns. Former drummer Shannon Lucas really shines here. On top of that variation, it manages to still be bouncy and filled with momentum. I actually can’t find a single video of this anywhere online, nor any setlists in which it’s featured. Am I not looking hard enough? Have they really never played “Virally Yours” live?”
7) “I’m Charming”
https://youtu.be/kuSnNB108VE
Miasma represents something of a detour in the band’s lyrical thema, stepping back from more traditional horror and leaning towards odes to hedonistic carelessness, debauchery and regret. But the record came out a long time ago. As bands evolve, of course they’re gonna wanna focus on their more accomplished material when they play live, while giving as much treatment as they can to the older stuff they know fans will want to hear. And between “Statutory Ape” and the album’s title track, it’d be tough to get “I’m Charming” into an hour-long set without neglecting some of the newer stuff they’d probably rather play. But as the opener of Miasma, this song’s blasts and chorus really kicked the record off with a boot to the face, and some of the track’s riffing steps away from the more traditional melo-death stylings of Unhallowed, hinting at the melodic complexity they’d refine on future records.
8) “Apex”
A friend of mine put me on The Black Dahlia Murder after Unhallowed came out, and once I got the record, “Apex” and “Funeral Thirst” (obviously) were the songs that hit me hardest. This album was a snapshot of a band still finding themselves musically, so it’s surprising how well a lot of the record’s material holds up today. Until Deflorate’s “I Will Return,” “Apex” was my favorite of their album closers. If the dudes ever give “Funeral Thirst” or “Elder Misanthropy” a rest, maybe “Apex” can work its way on stage, complete with the killer outro that’ll leave everyone with a working knowledge of how to properly remove and dress the head from a human cadaver.
This band’s taken a lot of shit over the years, and for the life of me, I cannot see how it’s anything other than trolling or kvlt keyboard commandos shooting first. They’ve never hopped on fads, they’ve never weakened, and they’ve never given anything less than all they’ve got, both on record and on stage. When Ritual came out (for me, that’s the album that ushered them into their tenure as masters of the craft), I remember thinking, “These are the guys. These guys are my generation’s answer to At The Gates, the rightful heirs to whatever stake America has in the melodic death metal kingdom.” Subsequent releases have only further cemented that assessment. If you’re a fan of the band, but you’re not familiar with these songs, I’d encourage you to give ’em a shot. It’s always cool to go back and find gems hiding on records you thought you’d mined to death, and one of my compulsive iTunes habits is crafting playlists based on what I think the perfect live set would be. I’m currently in the process of updating that list with my emerging favorites from Abysmal. It’s already so good, and I can’t wait for it to grow on me like everything else The Black Dahlia Murder has done.
The Black Dahlia Murder’s new record, Abysmal, is available now from Metal Blade Records
