BRING ME VICTORY

It took me a while to come up with a final rating for this EP, which is a little strange considering it's less than a half hour's worth of music. I was wavering between its value to big MDB fans (of which I would consider myself one), and the uninitiated. I settled on a 4 star rating for "Bring Me Victory".

I'll start with the video for Bring Me Victory. It's definitely a better-than-average rock video, with creative camera work and visual effects. The song is also representative IMO of the band, so this would be be a good video for folks who find unfamiliar bands through watching videos. As for the songs on "Bring Me Victory", I would pick the two covers as the best. I don't know the Swans original version of Failure, but I like MDB's version a lot. As for Scarborough Fair, this is an excellent take on the familiar song, wonderfully different from the version known to millions of people. "Bring Me Victory" also contains a good live version of Vast Choirs, which appears in different versions on several of MDB's releases.

My main criticism of this EP is relevant to My Dying Bride's regular fans. If you collect the band's CD's, you probably own most of this material already. However, there is a good amount of variety on "Bring Me Victory". That's what earns "Bring Me Victory" four stars, especially for those new to My Dying Bride.