My Dying Bride, undoubtedly fathers and legends of doom metal are not quite prolific last years: if once they released an album in two or three years, then it took five years to release their last longplay, The Ghost of Orion. And to be honest, the time was not so good for the release (although, it was pretty relevant for the genre.) And now, four years later, we have a new, 15th album named A Mortal Binding.
However, “fast” isn’t always equal to “good” and if we take horrible events happened to vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe into consideration, it is miracle that this album was actually released. Back then, The Ghost of Orion was called “a new album from a new era of the band,” but there is no such thing was said about A Mortal Binding. So, what we’ve got from the band after four years of waiting? Briefly speaking, everything that was expected: doom, death doom, symphonic elements and almost an hour of depressing atmosphere. And of course an endless grief with impenetrable despair.
The first single from the upcoming album was “Thornwyck Hymn.” That’s what Aaron says about this song: “Set upon the rugged coast of Yorkshire, Thornwyck village has spent an eternity being haunted by the chill waters that wash it’s shore – and the hidden folk who dwell in the salty depths. Woe betide anyone who fares into the briny sea, or even steels to close to its edge for they may never set foot back on mother earth.” My Dying Bride always were excellent storytellers; along with intense intro, slow riff and continuous double kick, in the end it became a wonderful piece, mesmerizing with its atmosphere. Violin brings tragedy to the music, while somber brass end this song in a great way.
The next one “The 2nd of Three Bells” sounds more like “classic” doom: clean tragic vocals, heavy guitar sound with choir samples far on the background create an atmosphere of hopelessness and total melancholy very well. At some moment the main line changes, Aaron starts to sing with extreme vocals and the music goes death doom but it is not lasting long. The same can be said about “A Starving Heart”: heaviness, melody and a great work of drummer Dan Mullins, wonderful fills.
11-minutes long, monumental “The Apocalyptist” is a multilayered work of art, which reveals slowly with listening and it’s justifies the length. Death doom with dense guitar sound and potent drums are interspersed with melodic riffs and Shaun MacGowan’s beautiful violin, creating a canvas, full of despair. “Unthroned Creed”, in its turn, blends the simple yet heavy riff and Aaron’s doleful almost whispering. The ending “Crushed Embers” seems like sums up the album, taking Lena Abé’s bass to the forefront from time to time. It is also worth to mention fast (as far as it suits to doom) switch between clean and extreme vocals.
What wasn’t so good, in my view, is the opening “Her Dominion.” I mean, if I deconstruct this song, I have nothing bad to say about it: it has a pummeling riff, tragic violin, extreme vocals and everything is slow paced and full of sadness. However, put together, these things just not work. The song isn’t just “not memorable,” I really struggled to not switch it to the next track. And I can’t say something similar about another six songs, including mentioned “The Apocalyptist.” Also, there are sharp transitions from one main line to another from time to time, like they just put back together.
Overall, like I said earlier, My Dying Bride gave the fans exactly what was expected: a great in its melancholy and sorrow doom metal. In different times the band was labeled with death doom, funeral or else but in the end My Dying Bride just mixes various elements from these subgenres and even after 34 years and 14 albums they make it good. So if you are the fan of the genre, you won’t miss this album and if you are not… Well, A Mortal Binding can be a good soundtrack for doomscrolling in such dark days.
A Mortal Binding will be released on April, 19th via Nuclear Blast Records.
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