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Thread: Featured CD - My Dying Bride : Songs Of Darkness Words Of Light

  1. #1
    Moderator Duncan Glenday's Avatar
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    Featured CD - My Dying Bride : Songs Of Darkness Words Of Light



    Be big and brave - and try something very different. Prog? Not really, though it pushes certain boundaries.

    From the best reviewer in the history of prog :
    If you don't know My Dying Bride's music, you'll need this primer:

    This music redefines the word 'dark'. The British goth/doom rockers' songs are slow, depressive and very heavy. There are the occasional death grunts, but like many other 1990s death metal bands they have progressed to a cleaner style of vocals. The singing is in the low-registers, melodic, somber, and held back in the mix. These atonal sounds are surprisingly similar to their contemporaries Tiamat and Moonspell, which also graduated from pure death. But the difference between My Dying Bride and those bands is in the simplicity. You'll never confuse this music with progressive metal. MDB's music is incredibly simple, using standard death metal chord progressions and slow, sludgy riffs that are repeated in several tracks with minor modifications.

    The darkness permeates every aspect of the album. The tortured angel in the cover-art, the band's very name, the emphatic minor key chords, and song titles like "The Wreckage Of My Flesh", "A Doomed Lover", and "And My Fury Stands Ready". This is not uplifting stuff, and will hardly inspire you to run out and do a batch of unprompted good deeds!

    If you are familiar with MDB, you'll probably agree that this is not their strongest release. Songs Of Darkness Words Of Light is slower and more brooding than their prior 7 releases, but also mellower and more approachable than before. But don't worry – they aren't selling out just yet. The most commercial track is "My Wine In Silence", and it won't see a lot of radio time. In fact the start of "My Wine In Silence" could have been a gothic version of Leonard Cohen – that morbidly deep voice, pleasantly melodic in a dull sort of way, poignant lyrics. But the comparison disappears a few minutes into the song and we're back to classic MDB.

    My Dying Bride is not for everyone, but if you can stand the excessive negativity in this genre of music, this one will pull you into the depths of gloom in an interesting, melodic way.
    http://www.seaoftranquility.org/revi...ontent&id=1260

    And here's a rarely granted interview with the band leader:
    http://www.seaoftranquility.org/article.php?sid=161





    Regards,

    Duncan

  2. #2
    Member WytchCrypt's Avatar
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    I love MDB! Though my favourites are their early EP's ("Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium" & "The Thrash of Naked Limbs") along with the 1st album "As the Flower Withers". The early releases have only the growly vocals many prog fans can't get into, but if you're ok with early Opeth, those will probably be right up your alley. The album featured here veers a little more toward dark goth than growling doom metal though so would probably be more of a hit with the prog crowd. Either way, if you're into the darker stuff, check out some MDB
    Check out my solo project prog band, Mutiny in Jonestown at https://mutinyinjonestown.bandcamp.com/

    Check out my solo project progressive doom metal band, WytchCrypt at https://wytchcrypt.bandcamp.com/


  3. #3
    Member Just Eric's Avatar
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    Of course I'll give this a thumbs up, even though MDB are in my current rotation, they certainly are in my key genres!

    Duncan's going to make a Horns Emoticon!!!

  4. #4
    chalkpie
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    Never heard of the bloody bastards. They get spotified after Mahler 2, then either I'm a fan or they can go swim in my cesspool.

  5. #5
    I know of them but haven't really given them much thought. If memory serves, they're on the bill for the Maryland Deathfest so maybe I'll catch their set while I'm there
    If you're actually reading this then chances are you already have my last album but if NOT and you're curious:
    https://battema.bandcamp.com/

    Also, Ephemeral Sun: it's a thing and we like making things that might be your thing: https://ephemeralsun.bandcamp.com

  6. #6
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    What's the one I have? Sort of their best loved album... Should pull it out.

  7. #7
    I have great love for My Dying Bride. This is probably my 2nd favorite after Turn Loose the Swans, and that's saying a lot since I consider Turn Loose the Swans to be one of the absolute classic 90s albums.

    Songs of Darkness Words of Light is very aptly titled since there is a lot of light and shade here - but of course like anything MDB have ever done darkness dominates. Lots of beautifully sad melodies here, and nice keyboards, even some mellotron. I don't even miss the violin.

    J.

  8. #8
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    ^ Oh, yeah, I have Turn Loose the Swans. Need to have another listen.

  9. #9
    Member Just Eric's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by battema View Post
    I know of them but haven't really given them much thought. If memory serves, they're on the bill for the Maryland Deathfest so maybe I'll catch their set while I'm there
    Rub it in .... how you are going to MDF and most of us aren't.
    Duncan's going to make a Horns Emoticon!!!

  10. #10
    Moderator Duncan Glenday's Avatar
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    Hell - I live in "M" and have never bee to the "DF" yet...
    Regards,

    Duncan

  11. #11
    Member Just Eric's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Duncan Glenday View Post
    Hell - I live in "M" and have never bee to the "DF" yet...
    For shame!

    That's alright, I've never been to any SF festivals and we have quite a few, Outside Lands, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Treasure Island Music Fest and Download West.
    Duncan's going to make a Horns Emoticon!!!

  12. #12
    Member The Czar's Avatar
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    I love MDB, thanks for selecting this Duncan!

    Another band MDB fans might like is SIRRAH. They had two albums ACME and DID TOMORROW COME (sometimes called Will Tomorrow Come) and they just reunited and have a new single. They are from Poland

    " My advice is to get them off right after your shoes and before your trousers... that's the sock gap. Miss it and suddenly you're a naked man in socks. No self-respecting woman will let a naked man in socks do the squelchy with her. "

    http://thefairlysecretarmy.bandcamp.com/

    http://wavesofmercury.bandcamp.com/

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Just Eric View Post
    Rub it in .... how you are going to MDF and most of us aren't.
    Heh heh heh heh....
    If you're actually reading this then chances are you already have my last album but if NOT and you're curious:
    https://battema.bandcamp.com/

    Also, Ephemeral Sun: it's a thing and we like making things that might be your thing: https://ephemeralsun.bandcamp.com

  14. #14
    I never warmed myself up for MY DYING BRIDE. Didn't like the combination of doomish death metal and gothic influences. The same feelings I have for Paradise Lost, metal phase Anathema, Tiamat and the Gathering. "As the Flower Withers" is probably their only album I could relisten...
    Macht das ohr auf!

    COSMIC EYE RECORDS

  15. #15
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    Big fan of the Bride here. Goth rock and goth metal are two of the styles I listen to most, much moreso than prog.

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