The question that hangs over Servitude is simple yet severe: “Can The Black Dahlia Murder really exist without Trevor Strnad?”. If that’s what you came here to read about then rest assured that the answer is “yes”. The band is in a unique position, since founding member Brian Eschbach has helped out with backing vocals for a long time, stating that he has learned a lot from Trevor along the way. I held my breath waiting to hear how this would turn out, but from the get go, Eschbach proves that he is no slouch and manages to nail the sound of the band’s vocal attack so well that you could be fooled that nothing has happened. Of course, Strnad‘s tragic passing leaves much tension around this album, from a personal perspective and from a career perspective for the band. Servitude had to be a statement in this way, making it an album that plays it very safe with The Black Dahlia Murder‘s sound, unlike Verminous did before it. For newcomers, Servitude serves up the same kind of cutthroat melodic death metal that this band has been putting out for shy over 20 years now, with a sound that bleeds in colors of Carcass and At the Gates, among others. Fans will find a good album that harkens back to the sound of albums like Nocturnal, but with the added melodic panache of returning guitarist Ryan Knight (ex-Arsis). The band is very much still alive.
Figuring out this album has taken me time. At the surface, it does sound like a The Black Dahlia Murder album (from now on abbreviated to TBDM), but with some flaws that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It smartly avoids simplifying the band’s sound by not centering the songs around choruses like in “Moonlight Equilibrium”, a crutch I could see any lesser band resorting to in a situation like this. Songs like “Aftermath”, “Servitude” and “Mammoth’s Hand” excel at TBDM‘s usual breakneck speed and vicious vocal attack that is so addicting about their work. “Aftermath” in particular has a breakdown that does more than its few seconds would imply, by injecting a cold atmosphere that could have been on Everblack. This has always been a guitar-centric band and Servitude doesn’t disappoint in that department. There are catchy riffs aplenty, although a lot of them don’t diverge from what has been done on previous albums. Production wise things are good, with a healthy balance between sharp guitars and a soft but punchy drum presence, and Eschbach doesn’t get buried despite how much is going on at the same time. It speaks to TBDM‘s skills that it all works like the well oiled machine they are.
Expectations will decide how much Servitude speaks to you, in the end. With three guitarists in the band now, I can say I expected a bit more. It’s understandable that this album aims at being “the same old” band that people love. But Verminous, if it succeeded in anything, spoke of a band that wanted to expand on their sound. And as competent and vital as Servitude feels in part, the tension in the band is tangible across its 10 songs. Eschbach has some great moments (just listen to that duo of screams that begins “Asserting Domination”) but there is a sense that he isn’t yet nailing just how vicious Trevor could be, while he also isn’t finding his own unique voice so far. Ryan Knight and Brandon Ellis are both great guitarists with their distinct styles, but they seem to have trouble finding a flow among each other, causing some moments to feel overtly melodic “just because” when they before fit in perfectly like the last piece of a puzzle. I heard Knight state in an interview that this new constellation of the band is still fresh and that it will take some time, a few albums even, for things to gel better. This makes sense to me, as Servitude‘s biggest flaw lies in this feel that some songs miss that certain something (“Panic Hysteric”, “Utopia Black”) or have trouble fitting in its melodic aspirations with the surrounding structure (“Asserting Domination”, “Transcosmic Blueprint”). Servitude is a very comfortable spin for me. I enjoy having it on in the background and paying attention to it when its best moments punch through my distracted mind. It’s not a bad album by any means but it’s also not the one I will be reaching for over any of the others for quality or for its distinct character. At the same time, it’s great to see The Black Dahlia Murder finding their feet after such a depressing turn of fate and it’s clear that there is still a future for one of the most consistent and hungry bands in this genre.
