Grey lingering clouds of melancholy form once more as My Dying Bride returns with A Mortal Binding.
There are moments before any sound appears that a name alone can conjure a mournful excitement; this is personally the case for Yorkshire’s My Dying Bride, who aim to continue carrying the torch for the tormented on album number 15.
Opener “Her Dominion” has visceral touches amid a cascade of atmospherics and signature sounds. The slow, brooding bass and sorrowful violin pieces always add a splash of familiarity, which fans of the band have become accustomed to over their career. This is followed up with some really nicely delivered twisted horror on “Thornwyck Hymn”.
Newest single “The 2nd of Three Bells” comes accompanied by a bleak backdrop and accompanying video, as one of the founding , Andrew Craighan, explains:
“The 2nd of Three Bells” sees the band in a more musical performance role juxtaposed with artistic metaphor of the struggles between the death knell itself and the lust for life’s brief joys.
Although there are a plethora of soundscapes that any fan over the band’s three decades would salivate over, it is actually “Unthroned Creed” that has me the most excited. In particular, the spoken word parts with delicate secondary vocals encased in raw fragility are something that has had me coming back time and time again, reminiscent of my discovery of the band in April of 1995.
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The album’s longest track, “The Apocalyptist”, has the honour of quite a few things, one of them being easily the album’s heaviest track. Again, the undercurrent of grief is there, and the mournful melodies that sweep around the heavier elements really highlight their raw nature. This is complemented wonderfully with the follow-up “A Starving Heart”, which, dare I say, could be a future classic. Its throwback elements are goosebump-inducing, and I defy anyone who listens to this in pitch-black darkness at 2 AM not to shed a tear.
A Mortal Binding concludes with “Crushed Embers”, integrating effortlessly and once again demonstrating their signature sound. They’ve shaped the doom metal scene like barely any other act.
A weaving of solemnly gothic tales.
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A Mortal Binding is out on 19th April
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