As I am writing this, it has only been just three days since the passing of Trevor Strnad. When I first heard of this, to say I was shocked would be a complete understatement. I haven't been this mad over a musician I loved passing since the death of L.G. Petrov of Entombed. After a couple of days of processing this, I figured that I would write a review for TBDM as a way to bring some closure to my grieving, as well as pay respect to a man with much musical talent.
Now, TBDM has been a band known for being mainly melodic death metal, but also having some associations with the metalcore scene due to their image and even their early works incorporating some metalcore elements. While this association has given the band some controversy, that hasn't stopped their music from being any less. From a lukewarm reception with "Unhallowed" to even some success with "Miasma", the band had nowhere to go but up, which leads us to the release of their third album "Nocturnal" in 2007.
To see what makes this album so iconic, let's take a look at the instruments first. The instrumentals started off decent early in their career, but as time went on, their craft had improved, and by the time we get to this album, any flaw in the previous albums was virtually missing. The first track "Everything Went Black" demonstrates this with the guitar riffs being harsh in sound, but also melodic, so it mixes both of these sounds to create a bittersweet tone in the riffs. The drumming is also fantastic, as the beats mix its fast blastbeats with some technical beat patterns well, and leads in the flow of the track. Even the bass is great, as its deep sound lays in a thick foundation for the track. This opening track is no doubt a highlight, and as the album progresses, things only get better. Songs like "What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse" and "Nocturnal" do lean a bit more into either the harshness or the melodic moments, which only further enhances the atmospheres in those tracks. And that's not even including my personal favorite track on this album "To a Breathless Oblivion". It's a heavy track that does not hold back in its emotions, which makes the overall atmosphere powerful and mighty. TBDM pretty much raised the bar in their instrumental skills, and it is a bar that not many other albums in the future would be able to even reach.
But that's just one element of this album. As for the vocals, they're just about as strong as the instruments. Trevor's vocals on the previous two records were pretty good, but here, his voice has been improve dramatically. Trevor's vocals mainly involve shrieking, and while they initially sound more fitting to a metalcore album (hence, their metalcore comparisons), I think they're very fitting to the songs. A great example of this would be in the track "Deathmask Divine", which is another track that balances heaviness and melody well. Trevor's shrieking enforces the rough tone of the track, while also adding in more emotion in the more melodic part, which is executed really well. Brian Eschbach's backing vocals are also strong here, as his deep growls add in more evil and hate in the rather gruesome story. To me, this album has some of the best vocal performances on a TBDM album, and flows really well to the chaotic instrumentals.
Even the lyrics are fantastic. I think people generally undermine the songwriting portion in the band, because the lyrics on here are very well-written. Take the track "I Worship Only What You Bleed" for example, where this verse quotes:
Stepping outside the confines of this circle,
bane of society become.
I'm about to cross the line and take a life,
nothing can stop me now.
This verse is about the character stepping outside a social circle in order to kill someone. The lyrics on this album utilize some symbolism in the story, making the whole ordeal sound more surreal, especially with the character worshipping the humans that bleed. Furthermore, these lyrics go hand-to-hand with the instruments and vocals, as the short, but heavy riffs and drums add in to the intense killings, and the shrieks and growls only pushing this maddening tone even further. The themes of murder and darkness in the lyrics are done really well in the lyrics, which are only further enhanced with the instrumentals and vocals.
With all of this considered, there's a good reason why I consider "Nocturnal" to be the best album from TBDM. The instrumentals mix the heaviness and melodic moments perfectly, the vocals only further enforce the emotional riffs, and the lyrical themes are fitting to it all. TBDM would go on to release more records, but nothing would come close to the sheer perfection of Nocturnal. If you want to listen to melodic death metal that can mix heaviness and melody, I highly recommend you check this album out.
Official promo video:
Official promo video:
Sample:
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