MY DYING BRIDE

For a BRIDE that has been DYING since 1990, she sure has more lives in her than a cat which supposedly has 9. In fact the English band MY DYING BRIDE led by the distinct vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe and guitarist Andrew Craighan formed over three decades ago is still showcasing an immortality beyond the longevity of most bands from the same era. Still alive and kickin' in 2024 MY DYING BRIDE has released the 14th album of its never-ending procession of gloomy Goth-tinged doom metal with death metal decorations with A MORTAL BINDING which after a turbulent first two decades of lineup changes finds a bit of stability in the form of the same cast of members that were featured on 2020's "The Ghost of Orion" with the sole exception of Dan Mullins rejoining and replacing percussionist / drummer Jeff Singer.

Another chapter in the MY DYING BRIDE book but pretty much the same thematic developments as this band that was once wildly experimental between albums has long ago found the perfect comfort zone that seems to keep the fans coming back for more thus showcasing the desire to pacify the buying public rather than risk the golden goose by releasing some fusion of polka-based Gothic doom dance pop or anything of the sort. Au contraire. At this stage one can ostensibly predict without much chance of error exactly what any particular edition of the MY DYING BRIDE canon will sound like and in the case of A MORTAL BINDING, you guessed it! Another slice of oozing doom metal accompanied by Stainthorpe's plaintive Gothic vocal style set to the oozing dread of doom metal with the melancholic atmospheric backing to guarantee another soundtrack of dread and damnation only with the occasional outbursts into death metal.

Augmented by the band's now classic violin backing, A MORTAL BINDING for the most part follows the playbook cemented into place so long ago which means that one can only judge the quality of any particular MY DYING BRIDE release by the strength of the songwriting alone as the performances are always top notch and despite doom metal bands springing up from all four corners of the planet since this band's inception in 1990, MY DYING BRIDE still sounds as utterly unique as it has since day one. As far as consistency is concerned, this band certainly has it with one strong album after another, a few bonafide masterpieces and a few bellyflops in the pool that got drained over night. While A MORTAL BINDING does not reach the lofty pinnacle heights of the band's earliest death-doom works or the lugubrious perfection of albums like "The Dreadful Hours" or "Songs Of Darkness, Words Of Light," neither does it sink to the dreadful lead-lined depths of throwaway albums like "Evinta" or the lackluster mediocrity of many of the 2010 releases.

In fact as a true fan of this band having heard every album and EP, i'd have to say that the band sounds somewhat rejuvenated here with tracks that take a somewhat different approach than the automatic pilot get the job only but not much more albums since "A Line Of Deathless Kings." Sure this is undeniably a MY DYING BRIDE release through and through but the chunky guitar riffing offers a bit more of an energetic upgrade on many tracks including the opening "Her Dominion" and the lengthiest track on board, the 11 minute and 22 second "The Apocalyptist" which evoke the band's return to some of the death-doom sounds that brought them into the world's scene in the first place. The album features all those slow-burners of course with the weeping violin lamenting the tales of woe and despair but the diversity not he album gives A MORTAL BINDING a nice spicy return to the classic style of the band that once had a fiery passion to keep the BRIDE from falling into the grave.

As such MY DYING BRIDE always walks that fine line between exhilaration and ennui as the tight wire balancing feat is something that requires the ultimate finesse to maintain the attention span of an ever-increasing A.D.D. listening public and while the last few albums seemed to simmer on cruise control, A MORTAL BINDING hits me in all the right ways and gives me faith that the band still has a second wind that will propel it into a new era of prosperity however it is true that there will come a time when the band will have to rebrand itself as MY IMMORTAL BRIDE because whoever this mysterious maiden is, she seems to have a life support system and has discovered the fountain of youth while so many have crashed, burned and become buried. While A MORTAL BINDING certainly won't be declared the band's triumphant comeback of the century, it more than offers enough magic mojo by my discerning ears to grasp onto. As i stated it all boils down to the songwriting with this band and on this album the band seems to have put it all together in the right way for my liking. Better than i was expecting to say the least.

For some bands - especially once they have become as established as My Dying Bride are - EPs are an afterthought, if they're even bothered with at all. However, for my money a My Dying Bride EP is always worth at least a cusory listen, because right from the start of their career their EPs have accounted for some of their best material. Take Macabre Cabaret - produced by the same lineup as The Ghost of Orion (and likely a product of the same sessions), I actually think it has a mild edge on that studio album, with a more immediate and gripping sound and some wonderfully pensive moments.

Emerging as My Dying Bride suffered a swathe of personnel issues and behind-the-scenes difficulties, The Ghost of Orion finds the veteran death-doom unit in fine form. (It's a genre which thrives on gloom and world-weariness, after all.) In some respects it's a bit of a back-to-basics album, because the musical backing is very much in their classic style, though Aaron Stainthorpe's vocals tend more towards a clean approach than in the band's earliest days.

Their Spinal Tap-esque turnover of drummers, with Jeff Singer (formerly of their Peaceville Three compatriots Paradise Lost) slipping into the drum stool and doing a decent job. Meanwhile, Andrew Craighan takes on all the guitar duties, rhythm guitarist Neil Blanchett having only joined to help out live at this stage, and does a credible job there.

It's not a genre landmark or classic of the field, but it's a much better album than one might have expected from the band given the challenges facing them at the time, and will be enjoyable to anyone who enjoyed their early style.

Later paired with The Barghest o' Whitby on the compilation The Vaulted Shadows, whereas the Barghest EP consisted of only one long track, this consists of a clutch of (comparatively) shorter songs which didn't quite make the cut for A Map of All Our Favours. With Shaun Macgowan's violin cutting a particularly haunting and beautiful air on the title track, this is an EP which finds the band deep in the gothic death-doom realm they defined with their early work and have further refined ever since, and refine further here. The quiet section at the end of the title track, in particular, feels like it's influenced somewhat by early Opeth, which feels new in My Dying Bride's sound.

I can only assume there was some thematic reason why they weren't included on Map of All Our Failures, because goodness knows the quality here is very solid - if not even stronger than that album.

This EP, consisting of a single 27-minute epic track, finds My Dying Bride deep in the death-doom style they pioneered, and makes sure to include prominent keyboard and violin parts to introduce new member Shaun Macgowan to the fanbase. Shaun Steels, former member, comes back on a guest session musician basis to provide drums, so between a new member coming in and a post in the drummer's stool still unfilled this is clearly catching My Dying Bride in a bit of a transitional period between lineups, but it's still an interesting release.

Aaron Stainthorpe seems to be trying out a new lyrical approach here, going in for more harsh, sharp snarls than the deep guttural roars usually associated with death-doom. In the latter half of the song he slips back into the stentorian style of clean vocals which has so often been his trademark. Musically speaking, you know what you are getting with My Dying Bride, and you get about 27 minutes of it here. It's good, and I like the experimentation with longer song lengths, but I wouldn't say it's genre-redefining or absolutely essential.

My Dying Bride's second major live album sounds just a little off to me. I think part of the problem is that the crowd noise seems a little more evident here than is typical in professionally-produced live albums. Whilst I can see the point of a bit of this to help give the live ambience, usually the crowd noise gets isolated for a reason and it's just a little more intrusive here. In addition, the mix isn't what it could be, with the vocals sometimes overwhelmed. Potentially some of the issues come down to this being their first release since founding bassist Adrian Jackson left the band, replaced by Lena Abé, and with Dan Mullins on drums - so if you want to hear them in the process of gelling with a new rhythm section, that's a point of interest, but they'd do better once Abé and Mullins were settled in.

Being My Dying Bride, certainly a band I've always heard of, is one thing, but just the fact that it's purportedly 'Death-Doom' is another. Not the biggest fan of the latter component, but have a lot of love in the former (I mean, Tech Death at its best is Prog, so...). I just felt like I was really going in blind, encouraged at least by the high regard for this album.

We're off to an interesting start with low, spoken vocals, violin and simple piano on "Sear Me MCMXCIII". Honestly, super melodramatic... The whole of this 7 minutes is just the same. A melancholic, unmetallic dirge... Again, interesting. Still low and slow, we are introduced to "Your River"... Simple, clean guitar riff and then finally it breaks into the Doom a minute in. I feel I had been waiting an eternity. I guess, for this shift alone, it was good. Interesting here is the general instrumentation, with the violin adding a cool, unique element. Fairly progressive and alluring, they keep you on your seat through the start, as we meet numerous riffs that could very well have been 'main'. Certainly a highlight throughout is the drums. We are back in the low and slow for the vocal part, and then nearing 6 minutes it comes back into a sort of swinging riff. We finally get death growls in the last 2 minutes of the song. Overall, plenty of interesting choices, but I'm not sure I have feelings on it.

Much more alluring is the opening of "The Songless Bird". Brutal in guitar and drum. Pretty good. Comparable in strength of main riffage is "The Snow in My Hand", this one featuring more underlying keyboards. The Death Metal is in fuller swing here, with heavy percussion and more growls. Certainly happier as we've gone. I mean, it does help to actually have a firmer grasp on what is going on when you're at first completely in the dark. "The Snow" is, at this point, the most appealing track for sure, from the great vocals, memorable riffs and the surer compositional interest.

When it comes to the Doom elements, which again, if anything, is what I'm the least familiar with (on purpose), it honestly feels a little over-the-top and cheesy. Again with the melodrama, "The Crown of Sympathy", in all of its great riffage and excellent instrumentation, the vocals are just... not it. We get some bell strikes around the middle and then some... regal horniness haha. Not helping. Opeth will likely not prepare you for this haha. They're probably the closest to My Dying Bride that I listen to and that's saying a lot haha.

At least in its main thrust, "Turn Loose the Swans" is a nice mix of Doom and Death Metal. Riff masters for sure. Substantial rhythmic shift around minute 4. Not sure what else there is to say. Classic example of album burnout for me. At least it's better than most cases of that... Finally, we have "Black God", a return to key-led melodrama. And that's it. I will probably not be continuing with a serious review of their discography.

True Rate: 2.75/5

The first My Dying Bride live album takes in songs from a wide range of their albums - their debut, As the Flower Withers, isn't represented but most others are - and finds the band sounding live much as they do in the studio. On the one hand, you may feel that makes the live album redundant, on the other hand that is at least a testimony of how well they were able to capture their live energy in the studio.

The sound quality feels a bit fuzzy at points, but at least when it comes to this sort of death-doom metal that sort of murkiness is actually aesthetically appropriate to some extent. Good, but not essential.

My Dying Bride's first release for Peaceville is this EP, rerecording some material from their early demo and independent releases. God Is Alone and De Sade Soliloquay are probably the most traditional death metal songs that My Dying Bride ever put out through Peaceville, and are competent but not enormously interesting. The real treat here is Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium, an early expression of the band's death-doom style, with its extended running time and mournful violin contributions making it clear that this right here was no simple rehash of early Paradise Lost but an intriguing new take on death-doom in its own right. On balance, I'd say that this EP constitutes a four star title track backed up by some three star B-sides.

One album under their belt, and British doomsters My Dying Bride were already looking for new horizons and exploring new ways to express themselves. The aspect of Turn Loose the Swans that I found the most striking is how fearlessly experimental its seven tracks are. In the early 1990s metal was at the beginning of a period of great experimentation and fellow labelmates Anathema and Paradise Lost would also soon start pushing the boundaries of death/doom, but this early on in their career My Dying Bride were clearly at the forefront of this forward-looking movement.

Turn Loose the Swans retains the snail-paced tempos of doom as well as the labyrinthine, slow-winding melodic guitar riffs that are a trademark of the genre, but also innovates along several dimensions. There are strong romantic gothic vibes on the record. Martin Powell's use of the violin, delicate piano arpeggios and cavernous organ chords play a big role in creating this atmosphere. And so do Aaron Stainthorpe's bereft croons, which mark a stark departure from the growls of the debut album. He does still use his extreme vocal style on a couple of tracks, but on most songs Aaron resorts to a peculiar clean style, halfway between singing and recitation. In addition, female vocals are used on closer "Black God", hinting to the "beauty and the beast" genre that will soon gain popularity in Europe. All these elements combined create an incredibly dense, downcast and romantic atmosphere that permeates throughout the whole album and gives it a strong, immediately recognizable identity.

Admittedly, one has to be in the right mood to appreciate the extremely bleak atmosphere of the album, so this is a difficult album that may not be for everyone. This is even more so when one considers that My Dying Bride are often melodically unyielding. The guitar riffs crawl around, indulging in melodies that are far from instantly accessible. Aaron's vocals move in similar directions and it will be hard to find anything catchy or that immediately grabs the listener on the 58+ minutes of the record.

But those listeners who want to invest attention and time into this record, will find many hidden gems just behind its dense surface. The complex, unconventional structures of songs like "Your River" and "The Crown of Sympathy" are highly engaging and keep the listener on their toes, unsure of what may hide just behind the next corner. Clean guitar arpeggios swap melodies with the violin and heavily distorted guitars, creating a rich tapestry of sound. Rick Miah's free-form drumming is almost like an additional lead instrument, harking back to the days of progressive rock where drummers were so much more than just tempo-keepers (I keep thinking of the fill-fest of those early King Crimsons' albums when I hear Rick's playing on this album). Martin Powell's violin is certainly one of the elements that stand out the most, again adding a progressive flair to the proceedings. His choice of sound and use of keyboards is also impressive.

There are no weak tracks on the album, except perhaps the title-track that I find slightly too conventional and perhaps a tad uninspired. On the other hand, there is a clear masterpiece that stands out above all other compositions: "The Crown of Sympathy". This song is incredible. It's an unstoppable tourbillion of great musical ideas, from its understated beginning to the hallucinated downward spiral of its second half where the song slowly deconstructs itself, before picking up again to close with a beautiful, fading guitar lead. The lyrics are also beautiful. Aaron Stainthorpe is slightly monothematic when it comes to song lyrics (love, lost love, death of a loved one ? you get the gist), but here these themes find a very poetic expression, with a touch of personal lyricism that elevates the text above the rest.

Overall, Turn Loose the Swans is a very good album. I don't love it since, at the time I listened to it, it did not speak much to me on an emotional level. However, I do know that, if one day I will be in the right frame of mind, this is one of those records that can leave a mark on one's soul. Regardless of whether it personally touches you or not, it's hard not to admire what My Dying Bride have achieved here. They have experimented fearlessly with texture and structure and, in doing so, they have expanded the boundaries of death/doom to invent a new gothic hybrid that will be a template for bands to follow for decades. And you cannot say that of many bands or albums.