My Dying Bride
Meisterwerk 1

THE REVIEW

"My Dying Bride": never has a name been so morbidly fitting for an extreme band. Born, or better yet Dead considering the musical genre they propose, in 1990 in the north of England, they immediately stood out for their atypical Death Metal. Long compositions saturated with arcane, otherworldly, gothic atmospheres, with such a heavy Doom imprint that it brings them closer to key groups of the genre like Black Sabbath and Candlemass. Adding to that is a growl voice so lugubrious as I have rarely heard before.

And after twenty-five years of career, they released their thirteenth full-length work this year, "Feel The Misery" is its title, confirming once again as a truly unique band that has very rarely made a misstep in their discography. But today I want to focus on a compilation, released in the year 2000 for "Peaceville Records" (another formidable label on par with the more renowned "Earache" and "Nuclear Blast"), which explored the first part of the English band's career. For me, the best period of My Dying Bride.

It's the nine minutes of the sluggish "Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium" that open the album: just a few seconds and the thick, dark voice of Aaron enters the track. You are catapulted to Hell directly through the main gate; the two guitars weave suffocating and slow textures, with a series of riffs heavier than any measure. This is how the track proceeds for the first five minutes, until an almost unexpected swerve with a brutal and dramatic acceleration, entering Death Metal territories. A song taken from one of their primordial demos: in fact, the recording level is nothing short of indecent, but it works very well like that.

From a sound quality perspective, things improve, and by a lot, already with the second track "The Crown Of Sympathy" taken from that Gothic-Doom masterpiece that was their second album "Turn Loose The Swans". This time the minutes are twelve, and we are faced with a much more considered sonic assault, but no less raw and ruthless for that. The voice has also become clearer and is supported, in addition to the impeccable work of the two guitars, by the icy sound of a violin. A long journey into the darkness, with some moments of such slowness that it's hard to withstand: in a nutshell, one of their best pieces.

With "The Grief Of Age," you plunge back into the sick atmosphere of the first demo: only four minutes are in this track. A violent slap in the face, savage fury in its chaotic pacing: a Death ride that annihilates and destroys everything. Frightening. Finally, you can breathe because in the second part of the compilation, the atmospheres become less dark. And it is good and right to point out at this point a track like "For You"; a long auditory marvel, with atmospheres that have become much more rarefied, expansive. A clean voice, that less oppressive violin sound supporting the graceful and at times dreamy embroidery of the guitars.

These are My Dying Bride, a truly unique band in the Metal field; I often return to the deathbed of the dying bride, having their extensive discography. Do so too, with due caution given the majesty of their sound.