FOR LIES I SIRE

Not knowing anything about this band other than what vagueness genre labels offer, I acquired this album not long after buying Between the Buried and Me's 2009 album The Great Misdirect on a whim (again, knowing nothing about the band), and I was really pleased with the record. Either my taste in music is expanding, or I've just been incredibly lucky on two recent occasions. But unlike the maniacal fury of Between the Buried and Me, this is slow, brooding, methodic doom metal- it's like a corpse being dragged through a field of black eyeliner brushes. The tone of the guitars is nearly perfect for me- not thickened by copious and sloppy overdrive, but rather using tasteful distortion and more than one instrument. Normally, Aaron Stainthorpe's vocal style would not please me, but his grave, almost spoken manner is dark and appealing because it blends so well with the atmosphere. Finally, there is the icing on this funeral cake- Katie Stone's violin is bittersweet and not overused, such that it is the perfect addition.

"My Body, a Funeral" Somber guitar and a deep male vocal begin the album in a sleepy fashion. The contrast of a warm violin and tasteful electric guitar is simply stunning- I was in awe the first time I heard it, and my reaction is similar even now. The heavier part of the piece still lumbers on, making effective use of disharmonic low string bends contrasted with dual guitar harmonies.

"Fall with Me" The bass drum flaps at a fast rate, lending haste to the rhythm, but the other instruments remain sludgy and unhurried. A barrage of drums and guitar underlies some restrained and melodic rhythms.

"The Lies I Sire" Following a deep, almost clean introduction, the band kicks in with all the heaviness that they will muster on this album- not fury, but density, which is a testament to how this band can create intensity using thickness instead of a charging rhythm (the opposite is no less an achievement).

"Bring Me Victory" The violin and drumming are simultaneous highlights. There's growling on this track, but it's understandable and works perfectly well with the sound of the band.

"Echoes from a Hollow Soul" Using those multiple guitar layers to create their heavy sound proves effective once more, but this time it all gives way to a somber piano and dual lead. It intersperses pleasant music with those dark, discordant bass note bends.

"ShadowHaunt" Although not a bad track, this piece is admittedly drearier than the others, and despite the agreeable clean guitar and noteworthy drumming, the music takes awhile to go somewhere. It arrives with razor-sharp guitars and a soaring violin, however.

"Santuario di Sangue" Following almost three minutes of music that is almost more of the same, the band jettisons the usual tricks, allowing for a cold, lonely violin to cry through for a spell, soon bringing the powerful guitars back in a steady rhythm. That melancholic violin returns for the conclusion.

"A Chapter in Loathing" Here the band flexes their extreme metal muscle, with deep vocal growls, overbearing guitars, and powerful drumming despite a moderate tempo. The violin is yet again an asset to the music. This time, however, the vocals almost ruin an otherwise competent composition.

"Death Triumphant" In the beginning of the album's final and lengthiest track, My Dying Bride sounds closer to typical progressive metal. When the distortion is eased out of the picture, what remains are a Tool-like riff and a chilling violin. The length is hardly noticeable since much of the piece is quite similar to the overall flavor of this album- all in all, a great work, but not their best from this excellent example of progressive doom metal.

With the passing of time, Aaron's sombre baritone starts sounding closer and closer to David Sylvian's morose mumblings. The music not just yet though...

For Lies I Sire is a rather unusual album in MDB's discography. The only other album it bears any resemblance to is The Angel And The Dark River, an album that has its loyal supporters but that lacks the depth and agony I find in my usual MDB fix. Also For Lies I Sire is a slowly plodding doom metal beast but it manages to sound more exciting and moving then The Angel And The Dark River does.

A point of note for MDB fans is they they have a violin player again. While not as chilling as Martin Powell's violins on the first 4 albums, the harmonic interplay with the melodic guitar is very similar and restores the classic MDB touch again. Aaron only rarely uses his gruff vocals and when he does they are nowhere near as frightening as they used to do, so they will not be off-putting if you're not into that sort of thing. His clean voice is limited but in fine form and suits the slow and pensive music very well. The three closing tracks are even excellent!

I have a preference for the more progressive and dynamic albums they released around the millennium turn, with Songs of Darkness, Words of Light as their career highlight, but For Lies I Sire is sure another good MDB album, worth checking out for fans of The Angel And The Dark River and lovers of solemn melodious doom metal.

"For Lies I Sire" is the 10th full-length studio album by UK doom metal act My Dying Bride. The album was released in March 2009 through Peaceville Records. There have been quite a few lineup changes since the release of "A Line of Deathless Kings (2006)" as long time bassist Adrian "Ade" Jackson has retired and has been replaced by Lena Abé, session drummer John Bennett has been replaced by Dan "Storm" Mullins and keyboard player Sarah Stanton has been replaced by Katie Stone. In addition to playing keyboards the latter also brings back an instrument that has been absent from My Dying Bride´s music since "Like Gods of the Sun (1996)": The violin.

...probably much to the joy of older fans of the band. To be honest (and I know I´m probably in the minority here) I actually haven´t missed the violin much. I think My Dying Bride have managed to evolve their sound and create interesting music without the use of violin just as they successfully did on the early albums which featured the instrument. With that said the violin is a great asset to the sound on "For Lies I Sire". It´s played with finesse, used tastefully in the soundscape and it doesn´t dominate the album. With or without the violin the music on "For Lies I Sire" is unmistakably the sound of My Dying Bride. Aaron Stainthorpe´s melancholic clean vocals (and some pretty convincing growling/raspy ones too), the heavy guitar riffs and harmonies and the usual flair for details and intriguing songwriting. "For Lies I Sire" is yet another testament to why My Dying Bride are widely considered one of the most important acts in doom metal.

The quality of the material is generally very high and tracks like the opening "My Body, a Funeral", "Echoes From a Hollow Soul", and the closing trio of tracks "Santuario di sangue", "A Chapter in Loathing" (a most convincing blackened death metal track) and "Death Triumphant" are among the highlights to me. The goth tinged and rather Paradise Lost sounding "Bring Me Victory" took me a while to warm up to, but in the context of the full album it makes great sense to include a goth tinged track like that. The track brings variation but doesn´t ruin cohesion.

The musicianship is as always on a high level. New drummer Dan "Storm" Mullins has a great organic style and I enjoy the fact that he is a pretty active drummer considering the fact that he plays in a doom metal band. But then again My Dying Bride always had pretty busy drummers for their style.

Time and time again these guys amaze me with how consistent they are but never to a point where they don´t make little tweaks to their sound to keep it fresh and interesting for their fans. They´ve done it again with "For Lies I Sire" and a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

Katie Stone joins My Dying Bride as their new keyboardist, and also brings violin back into their sound for the first time in a good long while. (Would you believe it hadn't featured in their sound since Like Gods of the Sun?) This is well suited for what is, for the most part, one of the most gentle and intimate releases from the band.

"Gentle" isn't usually a term used in metal - especially not in doom metal - but it's apt here, with the band allowing more quiet and acoustic moments to work their way into their sound and keep proceedings varied. In fact, this album might see Aaron Stainthorpe's most diverse vocal performance yet.

Lest you think that they've lost their teeth, though, there's still some grim surprises to be found in here - in particular, A Chapter In Loathing represents My Dying Bride's deepest dive into the depths of black metal up to this point.

If I had one criticism of the album, is that it's sound is just a little *too* diffuse; each My Dying Bride before this one has its own particular sound, but this time it's not really clear what overall atmosphere they were going for. Still, with a collection of songs this good, that's a minor complaint.

A decline after a decade of excellent track of albums. Fortunately, the decline is not a fall downhill, it is a small deteroriation in quality and creativity.

Most of songs have the typical depressive feeling of being slow, lonely and sad. There are good melodies, riffs and atmospheric tracks. "A chapter in loathing" is one of the heaviest MDB tracks ever and steers away from the standard flow. You will hear death-metal growling and riffs turning into black metal blasts in the end. I feel that the purpose here was rather to create a brutal track and not focusing so much on the quality of the composition.

"Death triumphant" is an excellent epic track with changes in pace, mournful violin, the one you have been waiting for the whole album. It polishes the rating to solid three stars.