34.788%...COMPLETE

The mediocre Like Ghosts of the Sun had already shown that in the mid-90s British doomsters My Dying Bride were probably facing a sort of creativity crisis, struggling to write inspired music within the canons of the genre (gothic/doom) that they had contributed to create. Released in 1998 after the departure of violinist Martin Powell, 34.788%...Complete feels a lot like an attempt by My Dying Bride to jump start their songwriting machinery by injecting into it fresh new influences, from industrial to trip hop to electronica. Truth be told, My Dying Bride were not the only doom band exploring new forms of expression in those years. Paradise Lost had turned electro-goth since a couple of years, and Anathema were slowly but surely developing their own Floyd-infused progressive rock style. So 34.788%...Complete can also be seen as My Dying Bride trying to play catch up with the other two main UK doom metal bands of that era. Either way, 34.788%...Complete is a sort of extemporary experiment that is brave and at times interesting, but that ultimately falls inexorably flat.

The idea of mixing doom/gothic metal with industrial and electronic influences is actually quite promising, as the opener "The Whore, the Cook and the Mother" shows. This track is by far the best of the album. In fact, I'd say it is the ONLY song of the record that actually works. The abrasive industrial guitar intro is jarring and unexpected, and it immediately grabs the listener's attention. Aaron Stainthorpe's slow-paced singing paints the usual dramatic atmospheres, but the distorted filter that is used to process his vocals adds a layer of urban grit that makes things fresh and exciting. The guitar lead is instead quintessential My Dying Bride doom, creating a nice contrast with the futuristic feel of Aaron's vocals and the industrial rhythm guitar. The track then dissolves into a music collage of acoustic arpeggios, background noise and sampled vocals, another unexpected turn that keeps the listener guessing what may come next. It's a great track and an excellent example of how to develop the band's sound without feeling forced or losing their sonic identity.

Alas, the rest of the record does not even come close to matching the promise of its opener. The main reason is that in none of the other songs does the band succeed in mixing the new influences in a natural and fluid way as on the opener. "The Stance of Evander Sinque", "Der Überlebende", "Apocalypse Woman", and "Base Level Erotica" are all songs that feel completely underdeveloped, where the songwriting technique seems to have been to throw-in a couple of industrial riffs, electronic flourishes or futuristic guitar effects, while firmly staying in the usual comfort zone of the band's old doom/goth sound (not too far distant from the music on Like Ghost of the Sun). It all feels artificial and not really thought through. I get the distinctive feel that the band was not quite sure in which direction to take their music. Or perhaps this is the symptom of a reticence to fully embrace the new influences in order to avoid alienating too many fans.

Things get even more puzzling when one considers "Heroin Chic", which is the most outlandishly experimental track of the album. And not in a good way. This is an electronica/trip hop song with some soulful female singing (by Michelle Richfield, who also sang for Anathema and Antimatter) and, shockingly, a sort of (very poor) rapped vocals by Aaron. After the first minute, when the initial surprise wanes off, the song quickly becomes unlistenable as it continues in the same vein for another seven minutes with bad lyrics, bad vocals, and a rather insipid musical background. I have nothing against experimenting with electronica/trip hop and in fact I love the early electronic-infused albums by the aforementioned Antimatter, for instance. But "Heroin Chic" really feels like a parody of a band who wants to mix electronica and metal, rather than a serious attempt to merge the two genres. Again, this leaves me wondering what My Dying Bride were trying to do with this album.

In the end, I am not quite sure the band knew themselves. The new sonic "direction" was quickly abandoned, and only after one year My Dying Bride were already back in the shops with a new record (The Light at the End of the World) that took three steps back in terms of sound, scrapping all industrial/electronic influences and returning to a style closer to Turn Loose the Swans (growls included). Overall, 34.788%...Complete is probably best remembered as a child of its times, when many metal bands were looking beyond the boundaries of the genre to experiment with new sounds and influences. In some cases (Anathema, for example), this worked splendidly. In others, it failed ruinously. Either way, I respect My Dying Bride for trying, although this is not an album that I can see myself listening to again any time soon.