My Dying Bride

BTW... My Dying Bride albums ranked:
  • 13) The Dreadful Hours
  • 12) Feel The Misery
  • 11) A Map Of All Our Failures
  • 10) The Light At The End Of The World
  • 09) A Line Of Deathless Kings
  • 08) Evinta
  • 07) Like Gods Of The Sun
  • 06) Songs Of Darkness Words Of Light
  • 05) For Lies I Sire
  • 04) 34.788%...Complete
  • 03) As The Flower Withers
  • 02) The Angel And The Dark River
  • 01) Turn Lose The Swans
 
Last edited:
I am SO FUCKING GLAD that someone else dislike The Dreadful Hours. That and Like Gods are my least favorites, but I always hear how much people LOVE Dreadful. I think it's the lyrics that kill me. It's so overwrought with 14 year old gothic poetry that it comes across as parody for me. There's a lot of good moments on the album, but on the whole I'm not a fan. You could basically make an algorithm that comes up with the same lyrics Aaron does. Later albums are better about lyrics, and the earlier ones where he was just completely aping Shakespeare are also really good.

Edit: Damn, you even rank 34.788% fairly high. So do I! I love that album; it's the ballsiest thing they ever did. I love songs on there like Der Uberlebende and Base Level Erotica.
 
The Dreadful Hours sounds really boring to me. They have done it waaaay better on that genre before (both music and lyric wise as you pointed out) that it sounds too hollow. LGOTS also suffers because it seems a poor man's version and more commercial reboot of its predecessor (yet with great songs... something that TDH failed to deliver). As for 34,788% the only defect I have to point is that the material is so all over the place it struggles to mantain coherency (from Psychadelia to Doom, Trip Hop to Death Metal - The Stance Of Evander Sinque's riff is so Morbid Angel! - everything goes). Other than that it's full of great songs and simply features my favorite MDB track: The Whore The Cook And The Mother. As for their first 3 albums no further comments: absolute classics (the same works for that era's EPs).
 
I think the variety of songs on 34.788% Complete is one of my favorite qualities regarding that album. And yea, the opening track is amazing. The bonus track that wasn't on the original album except (I think) in Japan and later on compilations called "Follower" is also really good. I can't believe I've been listening to this band for 25 years now!
 
BTW... My Dying Bride albums ranked:
  • 13) The Dreadful Hours
  • 12) Feel The Misery
  • 11) A Map Of All Our Failures
  • 10) The Light At The End Of The World
  • 09) A Line Of Deathless Kings
  • 08) Evinta
  • 07) Like Gods Of The Sun
  • 06) Songs Of Darkness Words Of Light
  • 05) For Lies I Sire
  • 04) 34.788%...Complete
  • 03) As The Flower Withers
  • 02) The Angel And The Dark River
  • 01) Turn Lose The Swans
I'd have The Light at the End of the World in my top 6. Your 6 and 5 would not reach my top 6. Your number 7 would be in my top 6 as well.
Basically: the best era: nineties.
 
Basically: the best era: nineties.
Basically. Even LGOTS has some great songs (title track, A Kiss To Remember, It Will Come and Here In The Throat) and some others that are quite cool... but it lacks the epic vein of their previous 2 works while being basically the same genre.
Your 6 and 5 would not reach my top 6
In that regard SODWOL is IMO way more precise (only now I noticed I ranked it below FLIS when I clearly like this record way more): way darker and features soul crushing anthems such as the absolutely majestic The Wreckage Of My Flesh (one of their best songs ever IMO), as well as the somehow disturbing My Wine In Silence and the pounding Scarlet Garden, while the last stretch of the record mantains that dark mood never achieved again since Turn Lose The Swans and As The Flower Withers.

Regarding For Lies I Sire it is less daring, intense and extreme than SODWOL but the melhancholic and depressive melodies are the ones that seem more authentic and well crafted since The Angel And The Dark River (their best record regarding that aspect IMO). My Body A Funeral is absolutely gorgeous, Santuario Di Sangue could easily be included in that classic while A Chapter In Loathing and Fall With Me are rougher cuts that contain really interesting passages.

As for A Line Of Deathless Kings and A Map Of All Our Failures the only songs of this 3 albums combined I really like are The Fever Sea, L'Amour Detruit, One Of Beauty's Daughters, The Poorest Waltz and Hail Odysseus... all the rest sounds generic at best. The Light At The End Of The World I really deslike appart from The Fever Sea. The Dreadful Hours makes justice to its name (dreadful) and only listened to Feel The Misery a couple of times and it completely failed to get my attention for more than a minute.

So, the my ranking corrected is:
  • 13) The Dreadful Hours
  • 12) Feel The Misery
  • 11) The Light At The End Of The World
  • 10) A Map Of All Our Failures
  • 09) A Line Of Deathless Kings
  • 08) Evinta
  • 07) Like Gods Of The Sun
  • 06) For Lies I Sire
  • 05) Songs Of Darkness Words Of Light
  • 04) 34.788%...Complete
  • 03) As The Flower Withers
  • 02) The Angel And The Dark River
  • 01) Turn Lose The Swans
 
Binging on MDB recently because of / thanks to you guys. A few more albums to do but so far:
- Songs Of Darkness, Words Of Light is to me still their best since Turn Loose The Swans;
- Like Gods Of The Sun seems to be, surprisingly to the extreme, and contrary to what my memories were, a better album than The Angel And The Dark River;
- Songs / Line / Lies was a pretty strong triplet, pity the first was the best;
- The Dreadful Hours is, I think, more interesting than the last two;
I think it's the lyrics that kill me. It's so overwrought with 14 year old gothic poetry that it comes across as parody for me.
I guess sometimes not being a native speaker is a benefit actually. My listening English is not that good so I easily miss lyrics unless I've read the booklet or they're simple enough to be hammered into my hammer, anvil, stirrup and, subsequently, brain.
- The Light At The End Of The World tends to be rather underrated;
- 34.788%... Complete might be better than I remember it, but still not a fave;
- Binging on MDB has interesting effects on your system.
 
One thing that no one ever talks about: the drumming on A Line of Deathless Kings. It's fucking incredible and has some really unique touches. The dude who did drums on that album was just a session drummer they hired (he's in other bands but I forget which) and I remember an interview where they said he just kinda came in, played whatever the hell he wanted, and was done. But yea, that album has by far my favorite drumming. Check out that weird cymbal play in "And I Walk With Them" to hear an example of what I'm talking about. Or some of that crazy snare work in "One of Beauty's Daughters". Why is no one talking about those amazing drums!?
 
No fucking way! That song is absolutely incredible, and the best thing they’ve written since Angel..., easily. I love those layered vocals and Aaron’s attempt to use harmonies a bit. Damn I’m excited for this album like I haven’t been in forever!
 
Already have the new album... quite good, defenitely their best in ages. Has a different feel to it overall while being MDB, kinda folky dare I say. Anyways pic it up: it's worth it.
 
Back
Top