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The Dreadful Hours

My Dying Bride - The Dreadful Hours Audio CD

A fair review of the My Dying Bride "The Dreadful Hours" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all My Dying Bride reviews here, or go back to the My Dying Bride tabs.

Band: My Dying Bride
Title: The Dreadful Hours
Rating:

Release Date: 2001-10-29
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Dreadful Hours 2: Raven and the Rose 3: Figile Della Tempesta 4: Black Heart Romance 5: Cruel Taste of Winter 6: My Hope, The Destroyer 7: Deepest of All Hearts 8: Return to the Beautiful

NOT as good as the past..
But MDB have been doing this for so long this is still worth 4 star's. I have grown up with the BRIDE. . and really do appreciate that they have not quit or sold out!!!!

All the BRIDE moment's are here. . except they just arent as good as the last album LIGHT. . but HELL that was one of the best ever so they did manage to follow it up good!!

Buy it anyway though(just for the first song if anything!!!!). . and everey single other MDB album. . I myself have not heard their newest album at all!! I wonder if it is any good?? I would like to know one day!

IT'S MDB. . BUY IT UP!!!.

Crushing!
Go listen to J-pop. If you're the kind of person who likes their music to be upbeat, happy and energetic, then stop reading this review right now, because you're obviously looking at the wrong kind of music. On the other hand, if you want to explore the darker side of humanity and want to take a journey through music filled with pain and sorrow, then read on.

My Dying Bride, along with fellow UK bands Anathema and Paradise Lost, took a sound pioneered by bands like Candlemass and Black Sabbath. . . a sound so slow and heavy, and so filled with an atmosphere of gloominess and despair that it could only be called Doom Metal. Of the three, only MDB has really retained the original sound, but that certainly doesn't mean they've stagnated.

Allow me to reiterate that music like this is most definately not for everyone. Forget about phony "angst" that you might have heard from bands like Evanescence, the music on The Dreadful Hours is filled with bleak, despairing songs that make the stuff Amy Lee bellows about seem positively meaningless. But at no point does the album become whiny or self-pitying; rather, the lyrics and vocals of Aaron Stainthorpe radiate with painful honesty and sincerity. Combined with the powerful guitars and tastefully employed atmospheric keyboards, the whole album comes together in a way that can only be described as "gothic" in the most classical sense of the word. Some people will undoubtedly be put off the relentlessly hopeless and sorrowful tone of the album, but I personally found it to be some of the most darkly beautiful music I have ever listened to.

Song Summaries:

1. The Dreadful Hours - The title track begins with only the sound of rainful and a single, melancholy guitar melody, then explodes into a devastating middle section, with horrific, growled lyrics about an abused child. Sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the album. A+
2. The Raven and the Rose - About as "fast" as the album gets, with an ultra-heavy guitar riff and growled vocals throughout. In the latter half, it changes gears with singular piano and guitar melodies, leading into the following track. A+
3: La Figlie Della Tempesta - A more ambient song, dominated for the most part buy atmospheric keyboards and a single bassline. At ten minutes in length, it tends to overstay its welcome a bit, but it's still a good listen. B+
4: Black Heart Romance - A strangely erotic, almost baroque love song that's about as "upbeat" as the album gets. Yet it loses none of My Dying Bride's typical heaviness or atmosphere. A+
5: A Cruel Taste of Winter - Aaron easily changes between clean and growled vocals, with subtle yet haunting keyboard atmospherics. Plenty of heavy yet melodic riffing throughout; an MDB trademark. A+
6: My Hope the Destroyer - Easily the most heartbreaking and saddening song on the album, with more emotion in one song than most bands have in an entire album. Dark and intense throughout. A+
7: The Deepest of All Hearts - A woeful tale of unrequited love, is also one of the heaviest. But it's just a warm-up for the closer. . . A-
8: Return to the Beautifu - A remake of "Return of the Beautiful" from the band's debut "As the Flower Withers", this 14-minute track has pretty much everything, with double-tracked vocals, great use of keyboards, and even some blast beats near the end. A great way to end a great album. A+

Once again, some people will be undoubtedly put off by My Dying Bride's gloominess, but their music is truly like no other. I highly recommend listening to their other albums, most notably "The Angel and the Dark River" and "Turn Loose the Swans".

Amazing. Simply Amazing.
Trust me, I've been searching for a long time. There is nothing that can compare with My Dying Bride. My Dying Bride is the perfect blend. Their songs generally are in the genre of Gothic Death Metal Ballads, and The Dreadful Hours is no exception. It starts very slow and dark with The Dreaful Hours, speeds up for The Raven and the Rose, while Figile Della Tempesta is very slow and dark, starting with a blend of gothic choir and almost sci-fi alien sound effects. It then moves into heavy bass and synth with their standard dark singing. Black Heart Romance seems to be almost a mirror image of The Raven and the Rose, similar yet opposite, with Figile Della Tempesta acting as the mirror to separate them. It then slows to A Cruel Taste of Winter, which is slow and yet very powerful and, as with all MDB songs, very depressing. My Hope the Destroyer is a very nice, dark heartbreak, ending with that slightly hopeful and determined note that seems to characterize My Dying Bride (in my mind at least). The Deepest of all Hearts is a very heavy growling song, nearing the end of the album, preparing to take you from depression to anger, and Return to the Beautiful finishes that transition off with nearly all heavy growling. The album seems to me to be another in the style of The Light at the End of the World, and deserves a 5/5 at least.

Some of the Best Doom/Goth Metal You'll Find.
By far MDB's album, (respectively, next to "Angel and the Dark River") 2001's "The Dreadful Hours" saw a return to the majestic mood of "Turn Loose the Swans". If you're into dreadful, depressing, heartfelt, somber, gloomy death/doom/goth metal, this should be high on your "to buy" list. The classic MDB formula remains intact with its saddening guitar melodies, Aaron's crooning clean vocals and tortured roars fronting the atmospheric keys. If you sit back and listen to this album, you can imagine a rainy night in a desolate city, seeing a melancholic stranger walk the street, drenched in ice-cold rainwater and his own tears. Many of the lyrics in the songs play out as songs themselves, and these are far from cliche "heartbreak" lyrics. This is true emotion and depression that could come from only MDB. Aaron's poetic and beautiful lyrics speak of a tormenting past and heartbreak-induced feelings of suicide. . . Not a happy man, and that clearly shows in the music.

But the doom and gloom permeating this album enchants like no other doom metal band could. MDB never stay at one tempo like many doomsters do. They experiment around with some up-tempo rhythms, but maintain the atmosphere that is so well-acheived on this album. The guitars utilize some tasteful effects, and the crushing death metal parts somehow fit in with the gothic harmonizations. This shows best on "The Raven and the Rose", easily one of MDB's best songs. The drums seem a but haphazard at some points, and go off doing their own thing at times, seeming to lose focus, thus some of the later songs and longer passages seem to meander. But the album as a whole does not suffer, and even the longer songs never seem to bore.

1. The Dreadful Hours- Haunting lyrics. . . The song starts out with a desolate melody repeating itself with the sound of rain, and then kicks a few minutes later in with a funeral dirge tempo and Aaron's agonized crooning, later building into a chugging, forceful death metal passage with some great growling. This is a great opening song and sums up the album well. 5/5

2. The Raven and the Rose- Starts out fairly heavy with some crunchy guitars and ferocious growls. It later slows down with some soothing clean vocals. The pianos near the end are aboslutely mesmerizing. . . Which busts into my favorite part of the song of sore melodies on the guitar. Another set of great lyrics, and my favorite on the album. 5/5

3. Le Figille De Tempesta- Meh. . . This song didn't do much for me. The song structure is rather predictable and repetitive, and the song doesn't really change that much from its slow marching tempo and sub-par guitar melodies. A slow part here, a heavy part there. . . Pass this track. 2/5

4. Black Heart Romance- The shortest song on the album, and definitely one of the more haunting, especially with the pseudo-dominatrix lyrics and strangely sexual mood. A fair song I'd say, but not too special. 4/5

5. A Cruel Taste of Winter- Amazing keyboards and guitars here. . . In fact, it's just an all-around great performance. The crunchy guitars perfectly contrast Aaron's haunting clean vocals, even though the song picks up later on. Another of my favorites on the album. 5/5

6. My Hope, The Destroyer- A bit faster than the others and has some great guitar melodies, and amazing lyrics as well. Another great song. 5/5

7. The Deepest of All Hearts- Probably the heaviest song on the album. Definitely a crushing track. If you're wanting an estimation of what the album sounds like, this is the song to download. 4/5

8. The Return to the Beautiful- A re-make of an older MDB song. It's definitely more crushing, tighter, and much more aggressive than the previous version. Also a very aggressive song. . . (This one has some blastbeats near the end! Woah!) An epic closer. 5/5

I would reccommend other MDB albums with this, mainly "Angel and the Dark River". Reccommended to fans of goth metal, and to fans of Katatonia.
.

DREADFUL HOURS A GRANDE SONG
Ah yes. . the first tune on here is damn heavy. All about child abuse and whatnot. AND SO YOUNG BOY MY HAND BRINGS DOOOOOM!!! Heh, Heh. Good stuff. After that my expectations were so high.

Indeed it it is a great album. My only complaint is that perhaps the singer should stick to writing more about dark subjects like in the first song. . . the music loses a bit of intensity when he sings on and on about losing a lover. (Although that dark romance stuff is good too. ) Good music from our British friends.

You can see a complete list of all My Dying Bride discography, or go back to the My Dying Bride tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.