|
| |
|
|
|
Review Summary: Forget all hope and surrender yourself to misery. Bring out the bottles and obsess over sad memories because My Dying Bride has returned with their thirteenth album Feel the Misery. For 25 years they have been the measuring stick in depressive doom metal, releasing one great album after another and influencing countless bands in both death/doom and gothic/doom genres along the way. And this new album continues this legacy and cements My Dying Bride's position at the top of their craft.
This album marks a change in the lineup with the departure of long time guitarist Hamish Hamilton Glencross. But that also allows Calvin Robertshaw to return who performed in all of their classic album in the 90s. However this change in lineup hasn't made a big difference in the sound of My Dying Bride. The album consists of trademark My Dying Bride riffs that mixes slow death metal riffs with massive doom metal riffs. The death metal riffs chugs along most of the time and provide the album with enough aggression. They never get boring or feel stuck, the riffs feel destructive and move fluidly with a purpose throughout the songs. They also never get too repetitive as new riffs are introduced in almost every new verse. Bigger, doomier riffs are also used which are most notable in Within a Sleeping Forest. The bass is not always distinguishable but when there are some independent basslines, they are typically sorrowful like in A Thorn of Wisdom.
All songs here are long but the album still can be divided into two parts. One consisting the longer songs that exceed the nine minutes mark and the other consisting relatively shorter songs that only exceed five or six minutes mark. As the songs progresses violins and keyboards are introduced in them. However they are used more prominently in the relatively shorter songs than the longer ones. Both violins and keyboards are very melancholic and they mostly used for atmospheric purpose. But they can also take centre stage like in I Almost Loved You which is a neoclassical piece in the vein of Sear Me MCMXCIII and For My Fallen Angel. While the drums are not present in that song, they are in others and the drumming in the album is solid and dynamic. Sometimes the drums plod along but changes pace before it can get monotonous. They enable the flow of the songs very effectively.
Aaron Stainthorpe growls, sings, recites and whispers over all these instrument throughout the albums and his vocals are as good as ever. His crooning clean vocals are absolutely mournful and they will definitely make you feel the misery. His growls are also wretchedly hateful. The does not growl fast like in older albums but even with slow pace he can get the job done in style. You can really feel the emotion in voice. He is not just blurting out the words, he means them. The lyrics are also very depressive as expected. Along with the pensive gothic imagery, there's also enough nihilism which will appeal to your inner misanthrope.
My Dying Bride has done it again. With Feel the Misery they have released yet another miserable opus that will satisfy their loyal fan base and also anyone who likes their doom metal depressive. When the scene is plagued with this so called new wave of retro hipster doom where 70's psychedelic rock rip off wanna be bands get passed as doom metal, My Dying Bride keeps bringing the much needed fix of misery that all misery junkies desire. While listening to this album you will have no choice but to feel the misery and be doomed.
| other reviews of this album |
|
I haven't heard a single album from them, need to fix that
Great review, pos
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
I need to hear this.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Hmm, this could work as a starting point, Tuna, but if you wanna get into them also check Turn Loose the Swans, The Angel and the Dark River, The Dreadful Hours.
As for the review...
"thirteenth album" - It's the twelfth, unless you're counting Evinta for some reason
In the second paragraph, some rephrasing could be done to avoid writing the word "riff" over and over, as much as I love them riffs...
"While the drums are not present in that song, they are in others" - Uhm, of course. This reads awkwardly.
"there's also enough nihilism which will appeal to your inner misanthrope." - nihilism=/=misanthropy
"also anyone who likes their doom metal depressive" - I like my doom happy, fuck it!
Last two sentences made me chuckle.
Anyway, keep on writing and jamming good music! ;)
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
@Tuna, I feel The Angel and the Dark River is the best gateway album. Then you can work your way into the heavier and more varied albums. And thanks for the kind words
@Havok, I see Evinta as a full length, and not a compilation. Both wikipedia and metal-archives lists them as such.
I don't know any other synonym for riff. English is not my native language but still I apologize for my limited vocabulary.
I tried to use that sentence as a segway into the drums. But you are right. It may sound a bit awkward. But it was also kinda intentional as I was aware of that.
Of course, I understand nihilism is not similar to misanthropy. But I thought nihilism should appeal to a misanthrope.
All doom is not depressive. Many stoner doom, some traditional doom, epic doom and drone doom are not depressive.
Always go for a melodramatic finish. lol
Thanks for the criticism though. I appreciate it and will keep these things in mind if I write anything else in the future. I'm sure it will be helpful in writing in a better way. Always good to be able see things from a different perspective.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
No problem!
Regarding the riff commentary, I mean it's more important to build your sentences in a way that it can show you are referring to riffs without needing to rewrite the word since there's no proper synonym for it, as far as I know.
I find doom in general brings morose elements to the music. Of course, it's not always as depressing as some bands can get, but certainly not really happy; that's why I made that comment. You could probably tell it was more of a jest.
| | |
@Evo thanks for the recs, I have a lot to listen to by the looks of it
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Yeah. This may be shameless advertising, but I have a ranked list for the band, if you wanna have a bit more insight about every album except this one.
| | |
I'll check it out
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Great list Havok. Even though, I don't agree with it completely, I definitely like it.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
I was absolutely blown away by this. Harks back to their old days, where metal was just a spoke in the wheel, not the whole car.
The atmosphere in this is phenomenal. The moments when it comes alive come from nowhere and hit you hard. The repetition in riffs, the poetry, the violins... MDB are back to their best imo.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
"I thank my enemy for having thought of me."
Am I really going to like this more than A Map?
This band blows my mind.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
I do, unexpectedly.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
It's too early for me to say whether this is better than their previous album. Both are top quality albums.
| | |
| |
