The Black Dahlia Murder has been putting out full-length records for nearly 15 years now, and Kerrang! got a hold of frontman Trevor Strnad to rank 'em. Strnad says his least favorite is Miasma due to a poor choice of artwork, the record feeling plasticky and generally unfocused, and some internal struggles about songs. Strnad's three favorites are Ritual, Nightbringers and surprisingly the number one record for him is Unhallowed.
Personally, I would've done Ritual, Nightbringers, and Everblack, with Ritual being my favorite. Here's why Strnad picked the band's 2003 debut album as his favorite.
“I don’t think I realized I was going to put this here until I was challenged to do this list. There’s a lot of shit on Unhallowed that makes me cringe, because we were very green. We hadn’t even toured, or left the state. We got super, super lucky to get signed off of a demo, and we were really reaching to play some of the stuff on there at the time. We were not that good. We eventually caught up to where we were supposed to be, going out on tour and getting better players.
“I really like the songs, and…it was just such a magical time! To get signed by Metal Blade and meet Brian Slagel, who I’d been following since I was a little kid. They welcomed us with open arms. It was a mutual excitement — they were really excited to has us. I remember kind of being disappointed overall at the end of recording it — wishing we hadn’t gone to a local studio, and thinking that when we had more budget, we’d do something better.
“But I like it! I like the way it sounds. It’s raw, it’s real…it’s a bunch of kids! And I feel like it’s a Polaroid of us, of that young energy we had. That whole transition to being a touring band, that was it. A lot of what I love is the memories surrounding it, but when we did the whole album all the way through semi-recently, I thought it was a joy. To hear every song at its maximum potential, perfectly in the pocket — we were doing everything we were reaching to do at that point. I don’t know, man, I think it was a special album. It was just the right thing at the right time.”
Read the full list and descriptions here, and check out a truncated version below. You should also check out Strnad's top 100 releases of 2018. You're bound to be introduced to tons of cool stuff you've never heard!
8. Miasma (2005)
7. Deflorate (2009)
6. Abysmal (2015)
5. Everblack (2013)
4. Nocturnal (2007)
3. Ritual (2011)
2. Nightbringers (2017)
1. Unhallowed (2003)
