User
Reviews 3 Approval 95%
Soundoffs 1 Album Ratings 2927 Objectivity 68%
Last Active 12-30-22 5:00 pm Joined 03-11-12
Review Comments 8,077
| My Dying Bride Ranking
Ranked list of the British gothic doom metal band with lyrics from my favourite tracks off each album. | 11 | | My Dying Bride 34.788%... Complete
My Dying Bride's little experiment has some nice riffs intertwined with the electronics and the oblique songwriting makes for a handful of fairly interesting moments. However, the occasional distortion of the vocals can become bothersome and the repetitive nature of the tracks may not help in this case due to the lack of a truly dark atmosphere that their other albums are so perfectly able to create. Overall, an enjoyable effort unworthy of the flack it got.
"Now I'm a killer, and I have no faith, you play the victim as I come for you" | 10 | | My Dying Bride As The Flower Withers
The debut brings forth solid death-doom material and showcases the sparse use of the violin, while Aaron Stainthorpe is growling furiously with no accompany of his clean vocal style. On subsequent releases the gothic aspects would be greatly expanded upon and the band would - just as their Peaceville peers - branch out and create their signature sound in a truer sense.
"The female is such exquisite hell" | 9 | | My Dying Bride The Light at the End of the World
A return to form after the experimental record, albeit with the absence of the violin. Characteristically oppressive and melancholic, but it slightly overstays its welcome due to its 71 minutes runtime - the longest album in the entire discography, and not as engaging as its follow-up.
"In floods of blackest death the ghost will take my breath" | 8 | | My Dying Bride For Lies I Sire
The violin raises its head again since 1996's "Like Gods of the Sun" to great effect in a bleak yet somewhat slicker album with solid performances all around, especially the drumming. The penultimate track, "A Chapter in Loathing", oddly harkens back to the band's death-doom days, despite being surrounded by tracks with clean vocals only.
"A strange mix of innocence and horror" (quite a good description for the sound, actually) | 7 | | My Dying Bride Like Gods of the Sun
"Like Gods of the Sun" is a more straightforward approach compared to its predecessors, presenting the main elements of My Dying Bride's music at the time (the doomy riffs and violin touches along with Aaron's mournful vocal style creating the despondent atmosphere) in one compact package, with song lengths peaking at 7 minutes and a half. The violin-centered "For My Fallen Angel" is also one of the most emotional songs in their catalogue.
"Come with me, my friend, come and see the end" | 6 | | My Dying Bride Songs Of Darkness, Words Of Light
The music definitely lives up to the first half of the album title. Excellent mix of heaviness and melody, containing some of their most terrifying moments, along with some of their most hauntingly beautiful.
"When April sheds her fitful rain, glory be, we may live again" | 5 | | My Dying Bride A Map Of All Our Failures
One of Aaron's best vocal performances and a suffocating atmosphere backed by rawer production show the consistency of the band with quite a long career behind and no indication of starting to sound tired or stagnant. All their typical traits are still present, but are used in different manners in order to avoid the feel of a rehash. More conservative listeners will certainly appreciate the subtler use of the violin and keyboards.
"The sea gave up his daughter for the moon" | 4 | | My Dying Bride A Line Of Deathless Kings
A very guitar-oriented album that churns out misery uncompromisingly. Sinister melodic passages, conspicuous bass lines and keyboard parts are more impactful, being the ones responsible for breaking the barrage of heavy riffing. A similar behaviour is manifested through the harsh vocals, becoming more memorable on the rare occasion when they show up.
"In fiery death we will crawl away, content we lived for each and every day" | 3 | | My Dying Bride The Dreadful Hours
The perfect demonstration of all elements of My Dying Bride's music sans the violin. Constant fear and sorrow escort the listener on a journey filled with diverse tempos and gothic imagery.
"The silence, the waiting then the pain" | 2 | | My Dying Bride The Angel and the Dark River
The emotion conveyed by this album is unparalleled, the violin is at its most evocative. Acoustic guitar sections and ominous organs give specific tracks a whole new layer of depth, even if the main instrumentation might not be as developed as on other works. It is also the first time Aaron only uses clean vocals (not counting the bonus track), flawlessly displaying why his approach is ideal for the band's music and the genre as a whole.
"Self-pity strangles me, I'm lashed by grief" | 1 | | My Dying Bride Turn Loose the Swans
My Dying Bride's immediate evolution from the debut happens to remain arguably the strongest outing in the band's repertoire. "Turn Loose the Swans" embraces instrument diversity and all of Aaron Stainthorpe's vocal styles to weave a unique atmosphere full of desolation and anguish, yet also with a bizarre epic feel. A few parts that may seem unfocused strictly from a songwriting perspective end up empowering the quality of the record due to the feelings they are able to spread.
"Your river holds a feast of danger" | |
EvoHavok
11.02.14 | Been listening to this band so much lately and having done that PL list, I figured I could do it for another Unholy Trinity band, as well. | manosg
11.02.14 | Great work Evo, excellent descriptions. Your top 3 is the same with mine with the exception that I love 2 a bit more than 1. | EvoHavok
11.02.14 | Thank you, manos. Glad you like it :D. | cryptside
11.02.14 | Nice work on this one as well, I think The Dreadful Hours is probably my favorite MDB though. | NeroCorleone80
11.02.14 | Good top 3. 10 would be much higher for me though | laughingman22
11.02.14 | would have to 2 as 1, cry of mankind destroys | EvoHavok
11.03.14 | @signal Thanks!
@Nero 10 is still very good, best starting album of the three Peaceville bands.
@laughingman Cry of Mankind is awesome indeed, although it could have done with a certain part shortened a bit. | DikkoZinner
11.03.14 | Nice list. 1 is 1. | NeroCorleone80
11.03.14 | Serenades is easily the best peaceville debut for me | Pestiferous
11.03.14 | 2 is 1, one of my easiest 5/5 | EvoHavok
11.04.14 | Nice to see all the Angel and the Dark River love here.
@Nero that would be a close second of course. It seems I just don't dig it as much as many users around here. | Flugmorph
11.11.14 | Ur rankings are great. Do more :) | EvoHavok
11.12.14 | Thanks a lot. Sure, Anathema will come at some point to complete the Peaceville Three. | NeroCorleone80
11.12.14 | I hope Serenades will be at least top 5 | EvoHavok
11.12.14 | I will most likely disappoint you again, Nero. But I need to rejam most of their stuff anyway for a clearer view. | Flugmorph
03.31.15 | The Light at the End of the World is pretty low. love their music | EvoHavok
03.31.15 | It has some very strong individual parts, but as an album I prefer many others over it. | chinesewhispers
03.31.15 | 3 and 6 are my top 2 | Flugmorph
07.09.15 | Oh god I love this band. And i still feel like I just scratched the surface of their music so far | HellPriest
07.09.15 | 11 is too low.
1 is 1
6 is 2 | manosg
07.09.15 | If we made a list of underrated vocalists, Aaron would be near the top. | CaptainAaarrrggghhh
07.09.15 | 1 and 2 are a no-brainer but I think the middle of the list is where personal taste is dominant. I would definetely put "Songs..." higher then both "A Line..." and "A Map..." and as much as I adore the title track on "The Dreadful Hours" I don't think the rest of the album is on the same level. | Flugmorph
07.09.15 | 9 should be higher on my list | NeroCorleone80
07.09.15 | "If we made a list of underrated vocalists, Aaron would be near the top"
Agreed. His harsh vocals on TLTS are awesome. | Flugmorph
07.09.15 | For real now, am i the only one who loves 9?
I have absolutely no problem with overlong records if they have such quality riffs and shit. In fact some of my alltime favorite records clock in about 70 minutes | EvoHavok
07.09.15 | "the middle of the list is where personal taste is dominant."
Indeed, Captain. I find the mid section of all ranked lists the hardest to make, anyway. "Songs..." is awesome, but there're a few tracks that I enjoy less than the stuff in the top 5.
Yep, Aaron is pretty underrated as far as both clean and harsh vocals go.
"The Light..." is still a 4, Flug, it riffs hard, but I find others have more quality in the package. | CaptainAaarrrggghhh
07.09.15 | Flug, 9 is incredibly atmospheric but so is much of their work, so the album has to stand on the sole merit of songwriting. And even though doom metal is supposed to have long, droning compositions, the ones exemplified on "The Light..." to a lot of people seem to be more self-derivative and repetative. I wish to give credit where credit is due as the atmosphere of this album on certain tracks (such as the title track) reaches new level of hopelesness and sorrow but the muddy flat production and the sub-par (to me, at least) quality of many melodies make this release a decent but not an essential part of their catalogue. | Flugmorph
07.09.15 | Well, thats your opinion. I for one tend to like repetitive songs if the repetitiveness is executed well. Thats the case with light imo | CaptainAaarrrggghhh
07.09.15 | I do too but there are melodies and then there are melodies. Different strokes for different folks. | BirchBlue
09.20.15 | Excellent list man. I don't think I can rank them personally. It would be the most difficult task. But the moment The Light at the End of the World would be higher in the list. And so would As The Flower Withers. But I could never make a definitive list because my fav albums keep changing all the time. Anyway, great work. | porcupinetheater
09.20.15 | Two Winters Only is just the saddest. | BirchBlue
09.20.15 | Unfortunately I over played that song. It definitely stands out. All the songs in The Angel and the Dark River are awesome though. | EvoHavok
09.20.15 | Thanks, Birch. They're all awesome albums, consistency ftw! | manosg
09.20.15 | New album is somewhere 6th or 7th for me atm, I think. | EvoHavok
09.20.15 | It's my new 5th, very close to the one on here. | Egarran
09.21.15 | Great list, although ranking them is a very ephemeral thing.
9 got me extremely hard into this band at a certain dark period in my life and I've been hooked ever since. | EvoHavok
09.21.15 | Thanks! 9 is still a hard 4 despite being there; would be easier if I could just use same number for some of them haha. |
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