UMUR "Verminous" is the 9th full-length studio album by US death metal act The Black Dahlia Murder. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in April 2020. It´s the successor to "Nightbringers" from 2017 and features the same five-piece lineup who recorded the predecessor. It´s not often there hasn´t been at least one lineup change between two The Black Dahlia Murder albums, but this time they´ve actually managed to not lose any members.

So does the stabile lineup have any effect on the music? Not really...or at least I´m not able to hear it, because stylistically the material on "Verminous" continue the horror themed melodic and energetic death metal style of the predecessors. Maybe the pace is lowered a little more often, compared to the early releases by the band, but that´s been a tendency on the last couple of albums, so no surprise there either. So in many ways this is more of the same, but while a little more variation/development between albums would have been preferable, it´s hard not to praise The Black Dahlia Murder for releasing another high quality melodic death metal album.

The sound production is high class, the musicianship on a high level on all posts, and the songwriting is strong too. The combination of highly energetic drumming, tempo changes, the many neo-classical inspired guitar solos and harmonies, and Trevor Strnad´s constantly shifting growling and higher pitched screaming vocals work well. There are several jaw-dropping moments on the album, and a couple of eye-opening experiences too. An example of the latter is "Removal of the Oaken Stake", which if you removed the extreme metal vocals, could easily have been a King Diamond song.

So while more variation is still high on my wishlist for the next The Black Dahlia Murder album (like it has been almost from day one on every one of their preceding releases), there are so many other high class elements on "Verminous", that it would be highly unfair not calling it a high quality melodic death metal release and a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.