Info
- Band(s): My Dying Bride
- Label(s): Nuclear Blast
- Release Format(s): 12" vinyl, CD
- Release Year: 2024
- Review Date: October 11, 2024
- Author(s): VincentP
My Dying Bride is a band with a special place in my heart. I remember first learning of the band during high school when a classmate was wearing a ‘Like Gods of the Sun’ shirt. Before internet was a thing, the only solution was to buy the record. I took the plunge and became infatuated, first with that album, then with the preceding ‘The Angel and the Dark River’ and ultimately deeper down into the band’s grunt-laden beginnings. I embarked on a mutual journey that nearly 30 years later still has not ended.
That journey has been one of adoration, but certainly not without fall from grace. The path I have shared with the band as a fan has taken me through highs and lows, through abandonment and refound love. Though they never let me down as much as they did with ’34.788%… Complete’, or surprised me with the following comeback ‘The Light at the End of the World’ for that matter, it’s safe to say that not every album resonated with me equally. And thus, I have learned to treat every new album with as much of a sense of caution as a one of hope and expectation. And fairness dictates me to confess, outside the majestic opener ‘Your Broken Shore’, I wasn’t smitten by 2020’s ‘The Ghost of Orion’. But after spending substantial time with the 15th record in the band’s oeuvre I feel it safe to say that for me that ‘A Mortal Binding’ can be counted amongst my personal top echelon of their releases.
Out of their discography, ‘A Mortal Binding’ is one of the darker, more oppressing and haunting albums. Although perhaps not as bleak and heavy, it reminds me of ‘Like Gods of the Sun’ and ‘The Angel and the Dark River’, particularly in the yearning sense in the melodies. There is also a strong resemblance with ‘A Line of Deathless Kings’, with the main difference that on this most recent album Aaron Stainthorpe also growls. It’s the combination of the pulsating and oppressing groove with the longing tone in the melodies and violins that to me strikes right into the heart.
Opener ‘Her Dominion’ is a slow, groove laden song where the heavier sound of the album is first introduced. The subsequent ‘Thornwyck Hymn’ is a song that exemplifies exactly why I fell in love with the band in the first place. The haunting grace of the violins, the gorgeous guitar melody, it’s simply soul shatteringly beautiful. It’s one of those songs that instantly becomes a classic in their already impressive discography. The same sad and longing feeling is retained in the lingering guitar melody of ‘The 2nd of Three Bells’, until the song takes a short dark and twisted turn before the violins bring the song back to its knees. Through the ghostly choirs of ‘Unthroned Creed’ the album reaches its most ominous point, while ‘A Starving Heart’ is adorned with a beautiful clean melody that seems taken from a traditional British folk song. Closing track ‘Crushed Embers’ then brings a slow, bleak and entrancing apotheosis to the record, one of repetition, all the classic My Dying Bride elements and of saddened beauty.
The sense of longing and sadness combined with a darker sound has resulted in one of my favourite records in the My Dying Bride discography. It touches me in a way that reminds me of my beloved ‘Like Gods of the Sun’ and ‘The Angel and the Dark River’, but with the years of experience and experimentation that have followed since infused in it. I will not claim it is their best record to date. That is simply way to personal and should be left for each and everyone’s own judgement. But if you, like me, hold My Dying Bride dear to your heart, you must give ‘A Mortal Binding’ a listen. I find it a stunning record.
My Dying Bride
- Country: United Kingdom
- Style: Doom Metal
- Links: Homepage, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Youtube
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Nuclear Blast
- Country: Germany
- Style: Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Thrash Metal, Other
- Links: Homepage, Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, Youtube
