My Dying Bride
A Line Of Deathless Kings

The 2006 has so far been undeniably rich in releases in the metal music scene, in all its facets. The Doom genre was not to be left out of this parade, with the highly anticipated new album by My Dying Bride. Preceded about a month ago by an EP as a teaser, this "A Line Of Deathless Kings" is now released, a title that is undeniably fascinating.

The album opens with a riff typical of the Doom style of the masters led by Aaron Stainthorpe, enchanting from the very beginning with melodies that are both unsettling and sweet. However, "To Remain Tombless" strikes as unusual; never before had My Dying Bride composed such a progressive track, so strange in its alternating structures. It starts with heavy riffs of pure Doom and moves through splendid vocal and guitar melodies and passages where the bass takes the lead. A forlorn melancholy hovers over these continuous alternations. This characteristic remains constant in the first part of the album in tracks like "And I Walk With Them", introspective and fascinating, especially in the spoken vocals that Stainthorpe uses for much of the track.

Nonetheless, there is no shortage of distinctly melodic or easily assimilated songs. In the first case, I mention "L'Amour Detruit", while for immediacy, "Thy Raven Wings" can certainly be described as one of the masterpieces contained here. Opened by sweet piano notes, the song is supported by an intertwining of beautiful, truly touching vocal melodies and guitar melodies capable of being both obsessive and romantic simultaneously. It is worth mentioning the intensely moving "Love's Intolerable Pain", perhaps the most fascinating track on the album. After a heavy first part, it transitions to an almost acoustic break that preludes a splendid pseudo-chorus in the middle, stirring and emotional. Over all this, Stainthorpe's touching voice is striking, impressive both in clean vocals and in his typical spoken style. The truly heavy aspect can be spoken of in "Deeper Down", built with an obsessive and distressing structure, recalling the darkest side of the band, both in its devastating rhythms and in the funereal Doom of the finale. The album closes with another masterpiece: "The Blood, The Wine, The Roses", compelling and direct despite its depth, played out with splendid riffs and simplicity. The final 20 seconds are surprising: pure Death Metal blasted at high speed. And then silence.

Let us sum up at this point. The album is excellent, and the rating is effectively 4.5. Since half grades don’t exist, it's better to round down when in doubt. "A Line Of Deathless Kings" indeed presents a series of small flaws that honestly should not be ignored. First of all, there is a lack of the right dose of anger and immediacy (which had made masterpieces out of songs like "Catherine Blake", "The Dreadful Hours", "Christliar", etc.), such as the almost entirely vanished growl vocals. It's no coincidence that the best tracks are the most melodic and direct ones. Not to mention that a couple of songs decidedly below My Dying Bride's standard average place this album as slightly inferior to the two masterpieces that preceded it ("Songs Of Darkness, Words Of Light" in 2004 and "The Dreadful Hours" in 2001). Despite this, "A Line Of Deathless Kings" is yet another display of class from a band that, after years, is still capable of producing albums well above average.

An album worth listening to and capturing every emotion it exudes.