Review by TheOneNeverSeen on February 6, 2023.

Although I wouldn’t call myself a huge The Black Dahlia Murder fan, I do appreciate some elements of their music which I don’t see that often in the works of other death metal artists. I adore the simplicity, catchiness and (jolly?) spirit of their music as well as the primitive yet immensely fun riffs. And, while "Nocturnal" certainly cannot compete with the energy of "Follow the Reaper", epicness of "Wages of Sin" or melancholy of "Hypocrisy", it is nonetheless an awesome album, the band’s best release and one of my favorite melodic death metal albums of all time.

The first track, "Everything Went Black" sets the album’s atmosphere immediately. The main riff and the chorus are insanely catchy, the drumming is energetic, the vocals altering between high and low are magnificent, the solo is beautiful and remarkable. The overall melody is incredibly hooky, causing the listener want to scream along with Trevor when he shrieks "CRAWLING THE WALLS, THROUGH EVERY CRACK AND CREVICE TEEMS" and headbang furiously. The next song, which is also the album’s main hit, "What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse" is opened by a solid intro, and then proceeds to introduce one of the best TBDM’s riffs, which is what attracted me to the band in the first place, and another stunning solo. Pretty much all songs of the album are written this way, and all that differs is the degree to which the delivery of the aforementioned elements is effective.

After two short tracks ("Virally Yours" and "I Worship Only What You Bleed") and the great riff of the title track, the album bashes the listener with the best song of the album – "Deathmask Divine". Virtually everything about that song is perfect, starting with the extremely hooky main riff and finishing with the album’s best solo, which conveys the song’s atmosphere perfectly. Then, after another two fine songs, the album is closed by the intensity of "To a Breathless Oblivion" and the epicness of "Warborn".

Like all TBDM albums (aside from "Ritual" and "Everblack"), "Nocturnal" lasts less than 40 minutes, which is, in my humble opinion, another good peculiarity of the band, since it diminishes the possibility of filler or too long songs. And, like most TBDM albums, it is consistent. Nearly all songs are great and offer either bouncy riffs ("Everything Went Black", "What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse", "Deathmask Divine"), or just generally pleasant melodies ("Nocturnal", "To a Breathless Oblivion", "Warborn"). The only song on the album I’m not a huge fan of is "Of Darkness Spawned". The main riff is rather uninteresting and the chorus isn’t big compared to other songs. The solo, however, is cool, making "Nocturnal" an album without weak songs.

One of the things I enjoy the most about the album is its lyrics. I generally like TBDM’s lyrics, but I have to admit that they become more and more uniform and faint with time. On "Nocturnal", however, they are great. "Everything Went Black" and "Deathmask Divine" are among my favorite metal songs lyric-wise due to their engrossing atmosphere and grand language. I do admit that the lyrics of some songs are rather dull (like the ones of "Climactic Degradation"), but in my opinion the strong lyrics of the album significantly outweigh the weak ones.

Overall, "Nocturnal" is untypical, to say the least. Many people will dislike its primitivity and core-like riffs and guitar tone (at least that’s something I’ve heard some people saying). However, personally I consider its simplicity and unconventional atmosphere to be its key strengths: it’s not like other renowned melodic death metal albums. As someone who always appreciates experiments in music, I’ve found the album enjoyable as a whole and absolutely compelling in terms of certain songs. And, while I’m not a huge fan of other TBDM albums (probably aside from "Everblack" and "Abysmal"), "Nocturnal" is definitely a work I can recommend to every metal fan out there.

Rating: 9 out of 10