The Black Dahlia Murder derived their name from the 1947 unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short, and in Pittsburgh the absolutely killed. With influences ranging from Carcass, At the Gates, Darkane, Dissection, Darkthrone, Morbid Angel, The Haunted, In Flames, Dimension Zero, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica, Pantera and Megadeth- the band has an interesting mix of very hardcore genres.
Mainly sticking to the genres of melodic death metal, metalcore, and deathcore, when asked to describe what kind of music the band plays, Strnad commented: “I’ve always said that we’re melodic death metal. We are mostly influenced by Swedish bands and Carcass. The heavy end of our sound is the American style creeping in, with some Floridian influences like Morbid Angel, Malevolent Creation and that kind of stuff. We’ve been labeled more often because of our look than our sound, which is dumb, and speaks volumes about what kind of geniuses are out there!”. In an interview with Uranium Magazine, Strnad also stated, “Some bands that get labeled as metalcore are actually good, like Between the Buried and Me or The Red Chord. Metal is what I grew up with, and then I learned about punk and hardcore. But a lot of our ethics, the way we carry ourselves, is more punk…I like that hardcore has a sense of community without the competition you see in metal.”
The only disappointment for many of the Pittsburgh fans was the “early” start of BDM. Most shows at Stage AE start about an hour after doors open, but BDM went on pretty early (6:30) causing many to miss part or all of their set.
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Pittsburgh Music Magazine 