TURN LOOSE THE SWANS

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