THE SEXUALITY OF BEREAVEMENT

Strictly an EP made surplus to requirement through it's inclusion on the Trinity sampler. But let me add my 100 words long review to the database.

The song The Sexuality of Bereavement is from their funeral doom period. Slow, grinding pace with dissonant guitars and death grunts in addition to normal clear vocals. Funeral doom, but also very progressive. The connections to both Pink Floyd and Eloy is obvious. I regard this as a good prog rock song, although tinged with funeral doom.

The Crown of Sympathy is a bit faster than The Sexuality of Bereavement. But it still have this progressive edge. Altogether two good songs. But the widely available Trinity sampler has made this EP a collectors item only. The pretty abysmal sound does not make this a worthy purchase only. Hence my verdict.

2 stars

"The Sexuality of Bereavement" is a 7 inch vinyl single which was originally only available to the Peaceville Records "Collectors Club" Series members. The single features two tracks distributed over a 19:14 minutes long playing time. "The Sexuality of Bereavement" was recorded during the sessions for "Turn Loose the Swan (1993)" but was not included on the final version of the album. The second track on the single is a remix of "The Crown of Sympathy" from the same album. Both tracks are also available on the "Trinity (1995)" compilation album, which of course means that this single is a collector´s item if you already have the compilation. Both tracks are also available on various EPs and singles as well as featured as bonus tracks on special editions of "Turn Loose the Swan (1993)" and "The Angel and the Dark River (1995)".

"The Sexuality of Bereavement" is what I´d call a typical "didn´t make the cut" kinda track. It´s still a good song but I can´t see it replacing any of the tracks on "Turn Loose the Swan (1993)". The remix version of "The Crown of Sympathy", which is also featured on the "I Am the Bloody Earth (1994)" EP is not a version that does the original much justice IMO. Backwards recorded drums, which feature an annoying reverb laden effect and just a general powerless feeling, makes this remix version pretty much unlistenable to me. I´ve tried many times over the years to see if I would change my mind about this version of the song, but nothing has changed. I just can´t appreciate what they´ve done to this otherwise beautiful, crushingly heavy and masterful track.

So as I´ve already mentioned this is a collector´s item and while the quality is pretty good when we´re talking "The Sexuality of Bereavement", the remix version of "The Crown of Sympathy" drags my rating down to a 2.5 star (50%) rating.

I love MY DYING BRIDE. I think they're the absolute cream of the "doom metal" crop. Therefore, almost anything they put out will get some automatic cred from me. The major shortcoming of this single, for some folks is going to be that the material is available elsewhere. I like this single. The title song is one of MDB's weaker ones. On the other hand, I like this remix of "Crown of Sympathy". It is definitely different, and not necessarily preferable to the original. However, on it's own it offers more variety. The first half of the single is somewhat repetitive.