TRINITY

TRINITY is one of the earliest compilations albums from MY DYING BRIDE released the year after their very first 'The Stories.' It is in fact basically the same album as 'The Stories' which compiled the band's three earliest EPs ' Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium,' ' The Thrash Of Naked Limbs ' and 'I Am The Bloody Earth' all in one handy one-stop shop product. While 'The Stories' was more of a collector's boxed set of sort with special packaging and limited to 3000 copies, TRINITY has been the easiest way to obtain all three EPs without resorting to great expense. The two comps are essentially the same product musically speaking with one glaring exception and an important one it is.

Whereas 'The Stories' contained the EPs ' Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium,' ' The Thrash Of Naked Limbs ' and 'I Am The Bloody Earth' in their authentic original forms, for some strange reason MY DYING BRIDE decided to jettison the track 'Transcending (Into The Exquisite)' from the 'I Am The Bloody Earth' EP and replace it with the track 'The Sexuality Of Bereavement' which was a non- album single that was released the previous year. While i am in agreement that 'Sexuality' is a far superior track to 'Transcending' i'm left a little perplexed why the former was nixed instead of simply adding the former to the authentic trilogy of EPs from this early stage of the band's career thus not making it a completely authentic experience. Unfortunately the 'Transcending' track has been completely written off and hasn't even found a home on the following comps including the 'Meisterwerk' releases.

The reason for disowning this track seems a little disheartening since despite not being the highlight of the band's career nevertheless is an authentic part of it even though it does have more of an industrial metal feel and is different than most of their other material. Despite this slight irritation i have to accept this album for what it is and what it is happens to be an outstanding display of a very talented death-doom metal band who knew how to construct some of the most beautifully depressing compositions of the day with such masterpieces as the track 'Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium.' TRINITY remains the most readily available way to obtain all the early EPs minus one track and is an interesting way to experience the band evolution from the early doom metal band with death metal outbursts to the more familiar symphonic death-doom band as heard in their early years. Still a brilliant flow of music despite the faux pas of a single track exclusion.