MDBftm_2015

UK band MY DYING BRIDE is a veteran band in the world of metal, with a 25 year long history as a band at this point and with 13 studio albums to their name at the time of writing. “Feel the Misery” is their most recent studio effort, and was released through UK label Peaceville Records in the fall of 2015.

While My Dying Bride is a name I’ve often encountered over the years, I don’t think I’ve ever heard their music until I was handed this album for review, and as an old time metal fan I was curious about what to expect from this band. I did know they had a reputation as a doom metal band though, and that aspect is a dominant trait throughout this album. As such this isn’t a band that pulls out any big surprises in the style department. On general terms, this is music of a kind and nature as expected.

The opening three compositions, all of them among the longest on this album, are the highlights here in my opinion. On each of them we’re treated to an accomplished band that manage to alternate the proceedings quite nicely, with slower doom-laden passages alternating with pacier interludes quite nicely, keyboards and violin used to complement and supplement the guitar-dominated arrangements quite nicely, and with an effective use of clean vocals and a grittier, growl-oriented vocal delivery that fits the proceedings quite nicely. Fairly sophisticated stuff at times, of the kind that makes a description such as progressive doom metal tempting to sum up the material.

But following this intriguing opening run, the material lessens in interest for me. The arguably classical inspired piano and keyboards driven affairs A Thorn of Wisdom and I Almost Loved you gets to be too monotone for my taste in music, and the lack of contrasting features, alternating sequences with marked differences and the stronger focus on the sorrow-filled vocals all combine to make tracks like Feel the Misery in part and I Celebrate Your Skin in particular to come across as more bland to my ears. Rich in sorrow-filled moods and atmospheres though, so for those with a particular interest in melancholy with distinctly tragic under- and overtones those tracks should appeal rather strongly though I suspect.

Concluding epic Within a Sleeping Forest also starts out in a similar monotone manner, and while organ and violin alternates in the initial phases and we’re treated to the clean and growl-oriented vocals alternation as well, the over all themes explored are too much of the same, and with a too heavy emphasis on the tragic serenade aspect of the band to my ears. A rougher section introduced halfways and repeated towards the end, with more of a menacing sheen to it in a Triptykon kind of way, becomes the saving grace here though for the total experience of this particular creation, as this latter aspect of the composition is so well made and performed that it manages to elevate the total experience, at least for me.

At the end of the day my first encounter with My Dying Bride comes across as a mixed experience. I like and at times adore the band when they opt to explore  territories of a more complex and sophisticated nature, relatively speaking, but when they focus overly much on either a particular mood or a more narrowly oriented style spectrum the end result fails to capture my imagination as well as fascination. While this production is a mixed experience for me, I’d suggest that those with a keen fascination for doom-laden, sorrow-filled moods and atmospheres should seek out this album, and perhaps especially those who recognize themselves in that description that are in their teens or early twenties.

My rating: 68/100