MY DYING BRIDE

"A Mortal Binding" is the fifteenth full-length studio album by UK doom/death metal act My Dying Bride. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in April 2024. It´s the successor to "The Ghost of Orion" from March 2020. There have been a couple of lineup changes since the predecessor as guitarist Neil Blanchett has joined as the band´s second guitarist (he actually already joined in 2019 but didn´t perform on "The Ghost of Orion"), and drummer Jeff Singer has left and has been replaced by a returning Dan Mullins, who previously played with My Dying Bride in the 2007-2012 period.

It´s been quite a few years and albums since My Dying Bride released anything which surprised the fans of the band (the last time was with the release of "Evinta" in 2011), but My Dying Bride actually used to be (pre-2000) a pretty experimental death/doom metal act in terms of developing their music greatly between releases (the first five studio albums are quite different in sound and style), while still staying on the path of their trademark death/doom metal style. After 2000 they´ve released many high quality releases, but also a few less inspired ones. The latter are still quality releases, which could easily be other death/doom metal artists masterpieces, but when you set the standard as high as My Dying Bride have done throughout their great career, the fans also have very high expectations each time a new My Dying Bride album hits the streets.

"A Mortal Binding" is not one of the most unique nor is it one of the most adventurous My Dying Bride releases, and as a listener you get pretty much what you expect. So all the ingredients of a My Dying Bride album are in place. Lead vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe switching between death metal growling and darkly poetic goth tinged clean vocals, heavy doomy riffs and rhythms, atmosphere enhancing keyboards, and melancholic leads delivered by both guitars and violin. What "A Mortal Binding" does different than the last couple of releases is the focus on rhythm. My Dying Bride were always a relatively rhythmic death/doom metal act, but the return of Mullins has definitely pushed My Dying Bride in a more rhythm focused direction. So it´s not all just long droning power chords and slow minimalistic drumming.

The sound production is more raw, less polished, and more immediate than the last couple of releases, and at this point it´s a relief to hear that My Dying Bride still have a bit of grit in them. Opening track "Her Dominion" is the best example of that, as it´s a pretty heavy death metal track solely featuring growling vocals. Although other tracks on the album also feature death metal growling, "Her Dominion" is however a bit of the odd one out track on "A Mortal Binding", and I´d say the remaining tracks are more in line with what you´d expect from post-2000 My Dying Bride material. Highlights include "Thornwyck Hymn" and the 11:22 minutes long "The Apocalyptist", but as always My Dying Bride are impressive in terms consistency, and there´s nothing on this album, which isn´t quality material. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

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.