LIVE REVIEW: The Black Dahlia Murder @ The Fleece, Bristol

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER have always walked a pretty careful line that converged between the differing genres of technical death metal, melodic death metal, and deathcore. As a result, the group have a pretty broad fan base that sees everything from fist throwing, track suit donning ‘core kids rubbing shoulders next to the longest ponytail they’ve ever seen, but it’s all harmonious when the headline act step on the stage. Before we get to that point though, there are a few pretty exciting openers to wet the audiences appetite.

Bristol’s resident brutal death metal group, EMBODIMENT, have been building their stock within the scene over the years, and this tour sees them most at home on a line up. They are inarguably tight, as their drummer keeps everyone in line as they progress through their technical passages of death metal wizardry. As tight as they are though, EMBODIMENT suffer through a weak sound that drowns out the vocals in replacement for overwhelming drums and guitars coming through the front of house. Thankfully, the unit are clearly on form tonight, inspired by the pedigree of the lineup perhaps, but the band still come at the filling room with intent.

There is room to grow still for the band. Their stage presence still feels a tad awkward at times, and as a result it does just give them a reason to dive from song to song as quickly as possible. EMBODIMENT are consistent, and benefited from a strong lineup that injected them with enough energy to deliver a decent opening set.

Rating: 6/10

Being one of the most consistent and reliable bands in the whole damn underground, it’s no surprise that The Fleece was eventually packed out with INGESTED merchandise before the Slamchester natives took to the stage. Still in full support of their most recent works, the set was made up of choice cuts from The Level Above Human, and during the violent final moments of Purveyors of Truth incites a flurry of swinging limbs and bodies flying from one side of the room to the other. Despite the crushing weight of their sound, the set does find a pacing issue. With the tempo disparages between songs, when INGESTED come full welly and then slow down for tracks like Better Off Dead, it makes for a bit of a speed bump during their set.

It’s not a momentum killer, but more of an annoyance that this set doesn’t reach the lofty heights it could do. The vocals are hit and miss, but when they hit they absolutely level. Their newest offering, Mouth of The Abyss, sounds like the band doing what they do best and offers a great insight into what the future of the band looks like. INGESTED played their role of warming the crowd up perfectly, and even though there were some minor hiccups, it’ll take more than that to prevent INGESTED from delivering a strong performance.

Rating: 7/10

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, like we mentioned before, walk a very fine line between genres that share a lot, but also differ in equal ways. As such, it’s incredible that the band are able to pull off such a sound with the effortless way they did here in Bristol. Having not been laying waste to our shores on a full blown tour for quite a while it’s a pleasure to see them return, and return with such impeccable form. The group are met with adoration, and a brutal moshpit that witnesses the death of so many pints that it’s a wonder the venue isn’t swimming in lost beer.

It makes sense though, as the riffs begin immediately with Warpath and never let up for what was a set of considerable length. The pace across the epic set is undeniable, as the group blast through back to back offerings, ranging the full length of their noteworthy career. New tracks like Catacomb Hecatomb and Matriarch sit so comfortably alongside tracks like Statutory Ape, Funeral Thirst and I Will Return that it shows THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER to be such a consistent band throughout their career. The crowd never let up, with crowd surfers galore and the band welcoming every ounce of carnage with open arms.

The tightness of the performance, combined with just how comfortable the group are at orchestrating such carnage makes for an often awe inspiring display. The sold out crowd here lap up every single drop of world class death metal, and it simply begs the question as to when they’re going to be back, because tonight showed a thirst for THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER that most bands wouldn’t even be able to pay for this far into their career.

Rating: 8/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Bristol from A.M Photography here: