Apr 21, 2023

A Parent's Perspective "THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER Show Review

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER recently returned to the stage this Spring on the Verminous Remnant Tour which is the band's first trek following the tragic death of frontman Trevor Strnad and will mark the close of the Verminous touring cycle and introduce a reformed lineup consisting of the remaining and returning members of the band.

The journey kicked off on April 14th with an appearance at the Decibel Metal & Beer Fest in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with a run through May 26th in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Support on this trek has been provided by Terror, Frozen Soul, Fuming Mouth, and Phobophilic.

APRIL 15TH, 2023 PITTSBURGH, PA: The Black Dahlia Murder along with Terror, Frozen Sould and Phobophilic rolled into the Roxian Theatre in McKees Rocks PA, just outside of Pittsburgh, PA. The line was already around the corner when I arrived with the first scheduled band to start at 7:30 PM and doors opening just an hour prior.

At 6:30pm the doors opened to The Roxian Theatre to a horde of eager hardcore and death metal fans piling into the Pittsburgh-based venue. After eyeballing merch and getting some drinks fans took their places high on the balcony or deep down in the pits for the opening act Phobophilic.

Phobophilic played a mesh of heavy hitters from their 2019 Undismensioned Identities record, 2020's Horrific Manifestations and the latest from 2022's Enveloping Absurdity LP playing my favorite track from the latter aforementioned album "Cathedrals of Blood". After an almost 35-minute set the Fargo North Dakota metalheads thanked fans and exited the stage for what I can say has been one of my newest favorite discovered bands Frozen Soul.

I discovered Frozen Soul at the tail end of last year when I had the chance to shoot (photos) and review their tour with legendary punk band MDC as well as legendary metal heads Napalm Death from across the pond. Frozen Soul opened their set with an oldie but goodie "Encased In Ice" before jumping into Merciless from 2021's Crypt of Ice LP. Lead singer/frontman Chad Green jumped to the front of the stage to with what I thought at first was a confetti machine turned out to be a bubble maker, which made me think of the "The Osbournes" TV show and how Ozzy went on about being "The Prince of Darkness" and his live show's decision to use bubbles annoyed him. I'm hoping that was an homage to that particular piece of metal television history.

The band played a handful of fan favorites including my personal favorite "Death and Glory" and Artic Stranglehold" as well as "Arsenal of War" which was written about Chad Green's late brother before closing out with "Crypt of Ice" from their 2021 album of the same name.

Up next were hardcore, dare I say "punk" legends Terror whom I saw a few years back with Stick To Your Guns on the Pure Noise Records Tour. The hardcore legends kicked off their set like bats out of hell with a new one "Pain Into Power" from their 2022 album of the same name before launching into "Overcome" from 2004's "One With The Underdogs LP" following the track "Spit My Rage" from the same record as well as "Stick Tight" from 2010's Keepers of the Faith.

"Lowest of the Low" followed by the 2003 album of the same name right into "Boundless Contempt" and "The 25th Hour" from their latest album and The 25th Hour album respectively. Terror closed out with in my opinion three of their hardest-hitting as well as best songs "One With The Underdogs" from the album of the same name, "Keep Your Mouth Shut", also from that album, and closing out the show with "Keepers of the Faith" the title to that 2010 album.

The Black Dahlia Murder took the stage around 10:00 PM for what was going to be a most heavy hour of music. They kicked off their set with "Verminous" from their latest album of the same name as well as the name of the tour itself before jumping into "What a Horrible Night To Have a Curse" from 2007's Nocturnal record into 2017's "Kings of the Nightworld from the Nightbridgers LP.

The black metal giants played "Carbonized in Crucifixion" from 2011's Ritual album followed by "Child of Night" and "Statutory Ape" from Verminous and 2005's Miasma respectively. "On Stirring Seas of Salted Blood" from Ritual was next which is by far my favorite song from the Ritual LP followed by "Everything Went Black and "Nightbringers" from "Nocturnal" and the Nightbringers album from 2017.

The Black Dahlia Murder closed the show out with Miasma from the Miasma album as well as "Funeral Thirst", "I Will Return" and "Deathmaske Devine" from the Nocturnal record, by far my favorite track from the band. The death metal giants exited the stage thanking fans for their support as fans chanted "Trevor, Trevor, Trevor" over and over again, an homage to the late Trevor Strnad who tragically passed away earlier in 2022.

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER IS ON TOUR RIGHT NOW FEATURING TERROR, FROZEN SOUL, FUMING MOUTH, & PHOBOPHILIC

- You can check out tour dates, photo gallery, and more below!