The Black Dahlia Murder

Even the best death-metal bands of recent years share a fatal flaw by nature: Amid all of the crushing technicality and megalomaniacal doom-proclaiming, they often lose sight of the fact that rockin’ (even brutally) is supposed to be fun. So until Lamb Of God develops a sense of humor, Detroit band The Black Dahlia Murder won’t have too much competition. There’s a distinctly smart-assed tinge to vocalist Trevor Strnad’s projectile-vomit shriek, even as the band’s two guitarists launch maddening spirals of melody into the rhythm section’s precise turbo-chugging on the band’s 2011 album, Ritual. The record contains further proof of the band’s winking humor with “Conspiring With The Damned,” a song about the dangers of messing around with a Ouija board.

Updated 03/12/2012