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MY DYING BRIDE

Tech/Extreme Prog Metal • United Kingdom


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My Dying Bride picture
My Dying Bride biography
Founded in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England in 1990 - Still active as of 2019

MY DYING BRIDE is a band that never stirs up much discussion in the progressive rock community. We often make the assumption that they are the average gothic/doom metal hybrid and nothing more. But if you were to listen to their music, you would here the beauty and details that make MY DYING BRIDE much more than that. Anyone dismissing this band that is even slightly into progressive metal is making a huge mistake.

They were formed after guitarist Andrew Craighan and drummer Rick Miah left their former band ABIOSIS to join vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe and guitarist Calvin Robertshaw. At this point MY DYING BRIDE was now formed.

They went into the studio for the first time on November 24/25 of 1990 to record their first demo "Towards the Sinister". The demo consisted of four original songs from the band, and showed their potential soon to come on their debut full-length album.

Shortly after the release of the demo, they released their first single/EP in 1991 titled "God Is Alone". It was only released as a 7" vinyl and was limited to a small 1,000 copies. The EP was released on a small independent French record label, Listenable Records. The release of the EP marked a huge step forward for the band, as they were soon approached by Peaceville Records. The band has recorded with Peaceville ever since.

The band marked their first release with Peaceville with their second EP, "Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium". It was released in 1992, and consisted of 3 songs. This was their first release with Adrian Jackson on bass, which left Andrew Craighan playing just guitar. At this point MY DYING BRIDE was now a 5-piece band.

The band kept the same lineup as the EP with the release of their 1992 debut full-length album "As The Flowers". The album gets positive reviews in general, but not nearly as favorable as the next albums to come from MY DYING BRIDE. They released their third EP "The Thrash of Naked Limbs" in early 1993 following their debut album. This EP marked another change in their line-up, as violin and keyboard player Martin Powell had become an official band member. He played on the band's previous works, but more so as a session musician than an official member.

MY DYING BRIDE became a common name in the metal community with the release of "Turn Loose The Swans", which released in October of 1993. This album sounded much differ...
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MY DYING BRIDE discography


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MY DYING BRIDE top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.66 | 62 ratings
As the Flower Withers
1992
3.98 | 94 ratings
Turn Loose the Swans
1993
3.95 | 85 ratings
The Angel and the Dark River
1995
3.23 | 50 ratings
Like Gods of the Sun
1996
2.75 | 48 ratings
34.788%...Complete
1998
3.92 | 57 ratings
The Light at the End of the World
1999
4.11 | 65 ratings
The Dreadful Hours
2001
4.12 | 72 ratings
Songs of Darkness, Words of Light
2004
3.57 | 46 ratings
A Line of Deathless Kings
2006
3.67 | 44 ratings
For Lies I Sire
2009
3.46 | 37 ratings
Evinta
2011
3.22 | 38 ratings
A Map of All Our Failures
2012
3.77 | 29 ratings
Feel the Misery
2015
3.89 | 28 ratings
The Ghost of Orion
2020

MY DYING BRIDE Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.30 | 16 ratings
The Voice of the Wretched
2002
3.08 | 10 ratings
An Ode to Woe
2008

MY DYING BRIDE Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

4.17 | 6 ratings
For Darkest Eyes
1997
5.00 | 2 ratings
For Darkest Eyes
2005
4.00 | 2 ratings
Sinamorata
2005

MY DYING BRIDE Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

2.33 | 5 ratings
The Stories
1994
3.47 | 12 ratings
Trinity
1995
2.70 | 9 ratings
Meisterwerk I
2000
2.75 | 8 ratings
Meisterwerk II
2001
3.66 | 7 ratings
Anti-Diluvian Chronicles
2005
5.00 | 1 ratings
The Angel and the Dark River / For Darkest Eyes
2010
3.50 | 2 ratings
Introducing My Dying Bride
2013
4.03 | 7 ratings
The Vaulted Shadows
2014
3.13 | 5 ratings
Meisterwerk III
2016
4.00 | 3 ratings
A Harvest of Dread
2019

MY DYING BRIDE Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

2.21 | 11 ratings
Towards the Sinister
1990
2.35 | 7 ratings
God Is Alone
1991
3.50 | 19 ratings
Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium
1992
3.32 | 17 ratings
The Thrash of Naked Limbs
1993
2.17 | 4 ratings
Unreleased Bitterness
1993
2.41 | 12 ratings
I Am the Bloody Earth
1994
2.44 | 11 ratings
The Sexuality of Bereavement
1994
2.79 | 10 ratings
Deeper Down
2006
3.32 | 9 ratings
Bring Me Victory
2009
3.44 | 20 ratings
The Barghest O' Whitby
2011
2.00 | 1 ratings
Excerpts From Evinta
2011
3.95 | 15 ratings
The Manuscript
2013
3.88 | 5 ratings
Hollow Cathedra
2015
4.00 | 4 ratings
Your Broken Shore
2020
3.96 | 5 ratings
Tired Of Tears
2020
4.00 | 6 ratings
Macabre Cabaret
2020

MY DYING BRIDE Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Macabre Cabaret by MY DYING BRIDE album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 2020
4.00 | 6 ratings

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Macabre Cabaret
My Dying Bride Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

4 stars 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.
 The Ghost of Orion by MY DYING BRIDE album cover Studio Album, 2020
3.89 | 28 ratings

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The Ghost of Orion
My Dying Bride Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

4 stars 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.

 The Manuscript by MY DYING BRIDE album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 2013
3.95 | 15 ratings

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The Manuscript
My Dying Bride Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

4 stars 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.

 The Barghest O' Whitby by MY DYING BRIDE album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 2011
3.44 | 20 ratings

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The Barghest O' Whitby
My Dying Bride Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

4 stars 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.

 An Ode to Woe by MY DYING BRIDE album cover Live, 2008
3.08 | 10 ratings

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An Ode to Woe
My Dying Bride Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

3 stars 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.
 Turn Loose the Swans by MY DYING BRIDE album cover Studio Album, 1993
3.98 | 94 ratings

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Turn Loose the Swans
My Dying Bride Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by DangHeck
Prog Reviewer

3 stars 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 Voice of the Wretched by MY DYING BRIDE album cover Live, 2002
3.30 | 16 ratings

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The Voice of the Wretched
My Dying Bride Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

3 stars 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.

 The Thrash of Naked Limbs by MY DYING BRIDE album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 1993
3.32 | 17 ratings

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The Thrash of Naked Limbs
My Dying Bride Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

4 stars 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.
 Turn Loose the Swans by MY DYING BRIDE album cover Studio Album, 1993
3.98 | 94 ratings

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Turn Loose the Swans
My Dying Bride Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by lukretio

3 stars 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.

 The Angel and the Dark River by MY DYING BRIDE album cover Studio Album, 1995
3.95 | 85 ratings

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The Angel and the Dark River
My Dying Bride Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by lukretio

4 stars My Dying Bride's third LP, The Angel and the Dark River, is the album that introduced me to the music of the British doomsters, back in 1995 when I was still a teenager attending middle school. I remember its dark, morbid, yet irresistibly epic atmosphere had a huge impression on me. As a relatively junior metal fan, I had never heard anything like it and I thought that the combination of super heavy and super slow metal with romantic violins and cold crooning vocals was very cool.

Fast forward 26 years and I still think this album is extraordinary and one of My Dying Bride's crowning achievements. The conceptual seeds of The Angel and the Dark River were actually sown two years prior, with the band's sophomore album Turn Loose the Swans, which The Angel? is a more refined version of. The music revolves around the hyper-distorted and sludgy guitar riffs of Andrew Craighan and Calvin Robertshaw. The two guitarists play a huge role in defining the sonic identity of the album, relentlessly crawling across the speakers with their slow-pace and obsessive riffs, and painting beautiful, if slightly unyielding melodies ? like the repeated six-note lead that is played throughout "The Cry of Mankind" or the delicate guitar tapestry of "Two Winters Only". Another key ingredient to My Dying Bride's music are Martin Powell's violin and keyboards. Although the violin is perhaps slightly less prominent in the mix than on Turn Loose the Swans, it makes a huge contribution to the band's sound, adding a unique romantic flair that is almost genre-defining. Martin's organ also adds tons of atmosphere, especially on "From Darkest Skies".

Rhythmically, The Angel and the Dark River is perhaps slightly less adventurous than the preceding record, with drummer Rick Miah playing more straightforwardly to the beat without too many fills and flourishes, and Adrian "Ade" Jackson's bass raising to prominence only sporadically. This is not necessarily a bad thing: the album sounds more relaxed and spacious than Turn Loose the Swans, which was instead more hectic and dramatic. This also leave more space for Aaron Stainthorpe's desperate croons, which are the other defining sonic characteristic of the album. By 1995 Aaron had completely abandoned the extreme growls he used on the band's debut album and that were still present in a couple of songs of Turn Loose the Swans. On this album, Aaron only uses his clean baritone voice with his unique style and phrasing, halfway between singing and recitation. His vocals are no doubt a sort of acquired taste, but they fit perfectly with the morose nature of My Dying Bride's music. Aaron's melodies are rarely catchy and attention-grabbing, as they rather ebb and flow on top of the musical background. Yet, occasionally he injects a memorable line here and there, achieving a very stark and dramatic effect, like a ray of sunshine tearing through dark clouds.

The Angel and the Dark River is a treasure-trove of great melodic gothic/doom metal. Opener "The Cry of Mankind" is an iconic song, which could almost be used to teach the young what doom metal is. I love the repeated 6-note guitar figure that continues through the whole song, while Aaron sings some of the most enticing melodies of the whole record. Some people dislike the fact that, although the track clocks in at just over 12 minutes, the last 5 minutes are a collage of background noise. I actually do not mind, it adds an interesting atmosphere to the song and, when I am not in the mood for it, I just skip the song's coda and proceed straight to the next track. "Black Voyage" is another great song, with lots of different facets. It starts as one of the slowest and most forlorn compositions of the album before a melodic violin injects life into it, tearing through the bleak atmosphere. The most interesting parts, however, are in the second half of the song, where Aaron's vocals almost take a ritualistic turn while the guitar howls and Ade's bass has a rare moment of visibility. "A Sea to Suffer In" is a gothic number that brings to mind Anathema, while "Two Winters Only" is the other highlight of the record, after opener "The Cry of Mankind". The dramatic shift between the initial acoustic guitar and the electric mayhem of the second half is breath-taking, while Aaron offers again a great performance behind the mic.

The Angel and the Dark River is one of those iconic records that every metal fan should listen to at least once in their life. Not everyone will love it: its slow tempos, unyielding melodies, and bleak, morose atmosphere may put off more than one person. Personally, I like the way the record envelops me into a thick cloak of oppressive darkness, lulling me into a trance-like state that is weirdly comforting. It's not an album that I would play every day. But when the right mood strikes me, perhaps in a dark day of rain when everything feels so pointless and ephemerous, there are few other albums that can be such a balm to the soul like this one.

Thanks to J-Man for the artist addition. and to Quinino for the last updates

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