nocturnal rituals

Vinyl?
Under £8?

Thank you Amazon. 

New Veil Of Maya next month.

Boners, boners everywhere. 

Top FIFTY of 2011.

1. - The Black Dahlia Murder - Ritual.
Here we have it, my favourite album of the year. In the words of Radiohead, there are no alarms and no surprises here. Anyone who knows me, and anyone who looks at my wardrobe will see that they’re my favourite band. Like I said last night, this is technically joint first with Scurrilous, and showcases the heavier side of my musical tastes. Bias aside, this is one of the finest melodic death metal albums written and shows they’ve come a long way from their debut Unhallowed, the shrine to Slaughter Of The Soul. This album takes that quintessentially “Black Dahlia Murder” vibe and puts it forward in a way that just blew my mind. Start to finish it rips, displaying a bunch of their influences, from the ever present Swedish melodeath on some tracks to the Floridian chugging death metal seen On Stirring Seas Of Salted Blood. This album even works on a slightly concept level, each song describing a ritual. The opener being a fantastic ode to Halloween, and The Window being a song about murdering and molesting children. The lyrics are as tight as ever, as expected from Mr Strnad, with the delivery as well done as the wordsmithing. The guitar work definitely highlights what was so good about having Ryan Knight in the band, letting you know that although he was just finding his place in the band during Deflorate, he’s found that place and rips solos from it. The drums aren’t as straight forward and full of blasts like Shannon is so used to using and as always Brian’s rhythm section is as strong as ever. Even the bass that shows up on hardcore influenced Den Of The Picquerist, which is a testament of how the band are really gelling with their new album. The track Carbonized In Cruciform is the center and highlight of this record, running from acoustic runs to an amazing mid section to the trademark trading of growled and high vocals. I can’t express how much I enjoyed the way the band have found their feet, and I can’t wait to see what comes from it’s predecessor, so whack on The Great Burning Nullifier, rip a bong in time with the solo and rock out to this masterpiece.

Favourite track. - Carbonized In Cruciform.

(I realize I may have overindulged in words, but fuck it, it’s number one.)

Final post before Christmas. Fuck yeahh.

Merry Christmas to me. 

On the back of just one track. This album will fucking rule.