PERFORMANCE: ****
Formed in 1990, MY DYING BRIDE are doom legends, pioneering the death/doom genre, exemplified in the bands very first demo "Towards The Sinister". After MY DYING BRIDE unleashed the 7 inch single "God Is Alone" for legendary French label LISTENABLE RECORDS, PEACEVILLE RECORDS inked MY DYING BRIDE as for over 20 years the band is the labels cornerstone.
For over 20 years, MY DYING BRIDE has delivered enough bleak atmospheres to make flowers wilt, evoking depressive emotions with snails pace riffing and melancholy violin textures. The first name in Gothic death/doom, would be MY DYING BRIDE.
Here at ITP V.013, we have MY DYING BRIDE's latest opus "A MAP OF ALL OUR FAILURES" (2012).
MY DYING BRIDE's "A MAP OF ALL OUR FAILURES" opens ominously with the track "Kneel 'Till Doomsday", enter your funeral with the chime of church bells and sludgy riffs. Aaron Stainthorpe's clean vocals emote confidence as violinist/ keyboardist Shaun MacGowen's violin's pace the band with lead strokes painting MY DYING BRIDE's bleak textures.
MY DYING BRIDE's "Kneel 'Till Doomsday" picks up to mid pace (1:40) with a melodic lead as the band propels to a death metal momentum of speed, yes SPEED 3:47, from sadness to anger.
One could be SHOCKED at MY DYING BRIDE's progression of slow to fast, as diversity will keep listeners interested. MY DYING BRIDE creep back into a snails pace as "Kneel 'Till Doomsday" crawls back into a melancholic coffin of sadness.
MY DYING BRIDE's "The Poorest Waltz" features a gorgeous clean vocal performance via Aaron Stainthorpe, melding understated melodic leads with melancholic beauty.
MY DYING BRIDE's "A Tapestry Scorned" evokes the doom legends of yore, a slow, heavy, contemplative beauty in darkness with understated melodic touches. MY DYING BRIDE's "A Tapestry Scorned" (2:46) blossoms into some underrated melodic guitar interplay and with in a blink of eye:
MY DYING BRIDE up the ante (3:42) as "A Tapestry Scorned" morphs into sludgy death metal, with a mediocre death vox delivery. Stainthorpe's spoken word is far more palatable as "A Tapestry Scorned" continues with touches of organ, tribal drumming and violins ending with a romantic spoken word.
MY DYING BRIDE's "Like A Perpetual Funeral", evokes classic/melodic funeral doom. As the floor drops, MY DYING BRIDE's "Like A Perpetual Funeral" morphs into a simple but melodic guitar plucking, no rhythm section, just Stainthorpe's vocals and sludgy riffs. MY DYING BRIDE slowly crawl out of the foxhole with beautiful melodic segues from funeral doom into a (4:26) sparse instrumentation of intimate sadness and melancholy.
The title track of MY DYING BRIDE's "A MAP OF ALL OUR FAILURES" enters with sparse riffing and spoken word as violinist Shaun MacGowen's paints a lead riff that carries the tunes melody into a bleak, melancholic oblivion. MY DYING BRIDE's "A MAP OF ALL OUR FAILURES" crawls into an infinite sadness (3:48) with plucked guitar into full instrumentation as again, the understated melodic guitars will make any flower wilt and hearts bleed sadness and decay.
MY DYING BRIDE's "Hail Odysseus" evokes a malicious sludge of doom riff, pronounced when the band enter the equation. Stainthorpe barks out death metal vox (1:36) over third rate metal riffing until the band segues into melodic riffs of gorgeous doom and back into the primary riff. MY DYING BRIDE's "Hail Odysseus" closes with understated melodic guitar riffing and Stainthorpe's unmistakable spoken word.
MY DYING BRIDE's "Within The Presence Of Absence" evokes excellent songwriting, entering with Shaun MacGowen's gorgeous violin, painting a bleak presence in the shadow of Glencross and Craighan's beautiful twin guitar interplay. MY DYING BRIDE's "Within The Presence Of Absence" romantic longing is an understated anthem of despair and alienation.
MY DYING BRIDE's "A MAP OF ALL OUR FAILURES" closes with "Abandoned As Christ", as the tune enters with crusty leads, rustic, decaying. "Abandoned As Christ" evokes only when MY DYING BRIDE awake from the bands slumber (3:57) as an unholy atmosphere of sinister doom paints a vindictive tone. "Abandoned As Christ" experiments with progressive amalgamation of sludgy doom riffs into an apocalyptic realm.
MY DYING BRIDE have "returned to form" as regarding their last three releases (THE BARGHEST 'O WHITBY-EP-2011 and EVINTA-2011), the band has built a new momentum injecting musical diversity and melancholic soundscapes.
MY DYING BRIDE's Shawn Taylor-Steele (drums) and Shaun MacGowen (violin) inject some stellar musicianship with excellent performances as the band experiment with brutal and soft textures of opposite extremes. MY DYING BRIDE inject brutality to represent various emotions of the dysfunctional psyche. While MY DYING BRIDE's "A MAP OF ALL OUR FAILURES" features primarily clean vocals, Aaron Stainthorpe's performance of tortured lyrical poetry is impeccable and inspired.
MY DYING BRIDE guitarists Hammish Glencross and Andrew Craighan's understated twin guitar interplay evoke heart wrenching textures, flowers wilt and skies rain tears with each melodic riff.
Just when one felt that all hope is lost and we can all measure our failures, MY DYING BRIDE's "A MAP OF ALL OUR FAILURES" echo those bleak emotions, a monument to despair and a success by anyones standards.
PERFORMANCE: ****
Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-
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