The Black Dahlia Murder Debate

As my close friends know, I'm actually somewhat of a fan of The Black Dahlia Murder. They particularly know about this, due in part like most metalheads I seem to run into, they don't much agree with it. Indeed, despite what I consider to be the truest of melodic death metal chops, TBDM has been met with crossed arms, scowls and furrowed brows from the true metal community for years now. As any footage from a Black Dahlia show will reveal to you, the majority of their fanbase lies in the younger generation of deathcore and metalcore followers. This has led many of us to assume or ponder; is The Black Dahlia Murder just a deathcore band themselves?

Even though nothing drives me up the wall quite like a genre debate, I refuse to believe that. I've been listening to death metal for years now, and all the right elements are in proper place. The only strikes against them being their long-winded name, their fashion sense, and the country of their birth. TBDM are a truly great death metal novel covered up by a deathcore dust jacket; and because of this, many metal fans don't even bother to pick up and read them in the first place.

I wish I could say I'm the end-all-be-all grand wizard of knowledge when it comes to what's true metal and what's not, (I certainly feel that way sometimes) and end the debate here and now by officially declaring The Black Dahlia Murder as a proper death metal band and nothing else. However, I'll let the readers decide. On the sidebar to the right of the page I've started a poll asking "Is The Black Dahlia Murder Deathcore or Death Metal?" Anyone can select what they think, but you can only vote once, so make it count. The poll will close February 10th, and I'll announce the results on that date. Although it's not really going to alter my opinion of the band, I'm just curious to know what all of you think.

Keep in mind you don't have to necessarily like them to accept them as a death metal outfit. Some mandatory listening before you make your choice would be their songs Funeral Thirst, A Vulgar Picture, Death Mask Divine, and I Will Return.

See you at the polls dudes.