MY DYING BRIDE: A Mortal Binding (DOOM): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

The years go by and My Dying Bride aren't getting any better. Admittedly, the band has never been renowned for its joie de vivre, but "A Mortal Blinding", its fifteenth official offering, reveals to be more funereal than ever in its tragic expression. This is all the more surprising given that its predecessor, "The Ghost Of Orion", and the EP that followed it, "Macabre Cabaret", seemed to push it onto a more luminous, if not romantic, path (of the cross), a kind of cathartic response to the ordeals its emblematic singer had just endured.

More funereal then, and above all more brutal, as immediately illustrated by 'Her Dominion', whose otherworldly vocals echo from the abyss, drills plunging into the depths of a coal mine. It's been a long time since we've heard Aaron Stainthorpe sing with such rage, to the point of being unrecognizable and rekindling the sinister wounds of the past, imposing the image of a My Dying Bride reviving its deathly cold beginnings, albeit without the raw, pallid sound. The opening is nonetheless magnificent, thanks to the haunting riffs typical of UK doom and the keyboards with their unchanging Victorian ambience, but these are not enough to soften the surprising aggression of the message.

Such a dark opening did not augur well for a particularly accessible album, certainly not as accessible as "The Ghost Of Orion". 'Thornwyck Hymn' and then 'The 2nd Of Three Bells' seem to contradict this sentiment, with the return of the violin and a clear voice that dominates (although it has to battle against some snarling growls on the third track), Already, 'Unthroned Creed' has a heavy, oppressive feel to it, despite Aaron's more delicate register, while 'The Apocalyptist' has something of the feel of a bruised wanderer through the sinister maze of an asylum, combining moody violin and contrasting vocal lines.

These two compositions reflect a complex record which is less a simple return to the pure sepulchral doom death of its origins, some of whose trappings it resurrects, than the modern emanation of a secular dolorism. The final track, 'Crushed Embers', is no different, a long, agonizing and dramatic piece, classically constructed yet vibrantly contemporary in scope.

"A Mortal Blinding", with its unaccustomed aggressiveness, is not without its great beauty, and shows a My Dying Bride who tirelessly continues to shape the doom death that is as much in their soul as in their heart. - Official website

MY DYING BRIDE

A MORTAL BINDING

NUCLEAR BLAST

DOOM