The Black Dahlia Murder
30th September 2018
Whammy! Bar, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Molly O’Brien. Photography by Chris Zwaagdyk.
Named after Elizabeth Shorts infamous, grizzly and unsolved death, The Black Dahlia Murder are picturesque horror movie, death metal giants, stomping the scene and marking their territory since 2001 – not to mention probably being the lord and savior of every long haired guy with a cool knife collection that you’ve ever had a crush on. Touring their latest full length, ‘Nightbringers (2017)’, (released with Metal Blade Records alongside Cattle Decapitation, Amon Amarth, Behemoth and Cannibal Corpse), anti-christ The Black Dahlia Murder ironically stormed sold out Whammy Bar on a Sunday with hordes of muscle shirt sporting attendees more than ready to break a bone or five.
Deep growls, burning guitar solos and immeasurably fast double kicks shook pillars and a few precarious speakers – closed eyes imagined coffin-sleeping, face paint slathered vampires and opened to five laid back men from Michigan with well-earned confidence and experience. In an interview with Aggressive Tendencies earlier this year, vocalist Trevor Strnad commented that he “wanted to represent every song exactly as you heard it on the album”, and on that they surely delivered. With an 18 song setlist The Black Dahlia Murder thrashed classics such as ‘Statutory Ape’, ‘Horrible Night’ and fan favourite ‘Deathmask Divine’ – finishing with ‘I Will Return’ just as they did during their last New Zealand venture in 2015, a promise to diehard fans in often forgotten Aotearoa.
Despite going strong for 17yrs and still touring 8 full length albums later, perhaps the most admirable attribute is that The Black Dahlia Murder breaks down the all too common tough guy, metalhead, dude-bro attitude, instead exuding pure beastly, violent music and a wholesome band to audience unity. Unfortunately, most of Auckland’s divine feminine energy seemed to be busy at Wolf Alice rocking the Powerstation, giving Whammy a certain smell comparable to a high school gym changing room and perhaps a forgotten egg sandwich. The bands confrontation of a few drunken hecklers and an impromptu lecture on recycling proved a sense of morality and good humor – in fact, Strnad just seems like the cool manager at your local record store who will blow your mind with an underground 7” EP, pulled from stone with a max fanbase of fifteen.
Many bands that laid the foundation for and boosted the death metal and metalcore scene over the past 20 years have fallen victim to what I like to call ‘Dad Syndrome’, – past peak, ergonomic shoe wearing, soul patched musicians who probably should have quit before they entered the slippery slope to hard rock land. Yet The Black Dahlia Murder have risen above to somewhere a lot more like your favourite uncle, the one who rides a motorbike and gave you your first beer.
Without a fanny pack in sight, the Black Dahlia Murder still bring the pain.
Were you there at Whammy Bar for this brutal night of crushing metal? Or have you seen The Black Dahlia Murder perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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The first BDM show in new Zealand I had ever missed. Looks like a ‘all killer, no filler’ banger of a show.