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My Dying Bride - The Angel and the Dark River Audio CD

A fair review of the My Dying Bride "The Angel and the Dark River" 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.

My Dying Bride Band: My Dying Bride
Title: The Angel and the Dark River
Rating:
Release Date: 2003-05-05
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Cry of Mankind 2: From Darkest Skies 3: Black Voyage 4: Sea to Suffer In 5: Two Winters Only 6: Your Shameful Heaven 7: Sexuality of Bereavement [*] 8: Your River [Live][*] 9: Sea to Suffer In [Live][*] 10: Forever People [Live][*]

A perfect album
It was the first MDB CD I've bought and, after buying all the others, I still think it is the best one. I bought this album 12 years ago and I've been listening to it over and over again.

The harmony between the violin and the guitars are just perfect and Aaron's vocals sounds better and more melancholic than ever. I think this is a perfect album in all possible aspects.
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Epic Melodrama
From beginning to end, the power and melodrama is perfectly evident, and even displays shades of the epic sense they derive as fans of Dead Can Dance. This is My Dying Bride's masterwork. His voice is not as assured as it is with later releases, but the emotion and despair is palpable. This is in my top ten in ANY genre. Some have complained about the guitar sound in the production, but, trust me, you get over it by the second track. If you don't own it, buy it, and find out what all the cool chaps on your block are talking about.


The Angel & the Dark River
Second, the music, as with most of My Dying Bride's work, is phenomenal. First of all, I must say I love the title. Even though I've always felt that Aaron Stainthorpe was the bane of MDB, he can't destroy their masterful works. The opening track, "The Cry of Mankind," is one of my favorite MDB songs ever. The only complaint I have with this album is the live tracks. They were a nice addition, but they don't sound quite that good. Anyway, I recommend The Angel and the Dark River to any fan of good dark metal.


Making Opeth look pop.
The opener The Cry of Mankind is one of the most beautiful compositions I've ever heard (in metal or otherwise). ~This is thee modern Doom metal album to own as far as I'm concerned. The piano and gutiar melodies blend into an etherial abiance that the band had never achieved before. After I heard this song, I knew that their last album Turn Loose the Swans was no fluke. And while the end of the song is a cacophony of the sounds including that of a seashore, a woman gently whispering "Hello. " and a chorus of voices pushing the first track into double digit time. . . the actual meat of the song is heavy yet magnificent enough to even make Enya cry.

~And while the other songs brood about in the direction Swans was taking (gutteral guitar riffs seamlessly blended with violin piano and keyboard accompanyments making the listener wonder why the keyman Martin would join the cheesy Cradle of Filth instead) they are far from filler. This might in fact be the last My Dying Bride album to have lyrics that don't retread into old territory or otherwise sound forced. The Death metal vocals are absent, but weren't a neccesity to their sound at the time. Most obvious on display in Two Winters Only, which could almost be mistakenly called Doom metal's answer to a power ballad. With each note it is obvious that time was taken in recording this album. But perhaps patience is necesary for the average listener.

~The final track Your Shameful Heaven (along with Cry) displays the band's willingness to experiment with more straight-forward song structures. Yet it is far heavier than any other track on the album, with a midpaced almost thrash-like appeal. And it makes a nice sandwich of the original studio recorded material.

~This newly remastered edition seems to include the Live at the Dynamo mini disc. Which was a brilliant idea, yet I notice that one of the tracks is missing, (Your Shameful Heaven I believe). This is unfortunate since the album includes The Sexuality of Bereavement, which could have been sacrificed for the missing track due to it's original and remastered appearance on the Trinity album.

~Still I give the album 5 stars for it's original content. Looking back many might wonder why the band hasn't truly evolved from the sound they established on this and Turn Loose the Swans, (with the exception of the experiental but not unlikable 34. 788% Complete)? Perhaps there is no perfect answer, not every band can get better plus evolve with each album like Death did. But then I'm not so sure that My Dying Bride need to.

~I highly recommend this to any Doom fan (and maybe even the goth interested, although that's an inappropriate title here). Also I think thrash, speed, death and black could learn something from My Dying Bride. This an an excellent album to start with, and this album in particular is completely on the opposite end of the spectrum from more upbeat bands like In Flames or Iced Earth. the lyrics are very downtrodden and ready to take you to a level of sadness you may not even know existeted. At their shows more often than moshing you'll hear audience applause instead. But make no mistake, the band can tear up the heaviest tunes with the best of them. And you needn't worry about them treading into blues, country or. . . cowpunk as I call the last album Metallica.


I was a fan and this one is their best (from non-metal fan)
I lost this one a few years ago & I just wanted to have this feeling again' so I purchase it again !!! 2track is the best
the doom era has pat away most of the bands became alternative rock bands I see it as a good thing !! enjoy!.


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.

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