For 27 years, MY DYING BRIDE from West Yorkshire have been the voice of the hopeless and broken, combining haunting sounds with crushing misery and melancholy. With their signature sound they’ve shaped the doom metal scene like barely any other act and integrated both soft violin melodies and violent death metal growls into their music, whilst always staying strictly loyal to themselves. And since the early Nineties, the band’s masterminds and founding members Andrew Craighan and Aaron Stainthorpe forged beautiful grief into twelve studio albums with songs of epic length.
However for their 13th release, the band is now bound for new horizons and proudly announces their signing to Nuclear Blast Records!
Singer and lyricist Aaron Stainthorpe comments:
“It is with great pleasure that MY DYING BRIDE can announce they will be joining forces with the formidable Nuclear Blast Records in early 2017 and have already begun working on material for the next LP and singles. It is no secret that Nuclear Blast have continued to expand greatly over the years, signing epic bands from all corners of the world and giving them the chance they deserve to make something of themselves in the ever expanding metal scene. And it’s time that MY DYING BRIDE came along for the ride. We are hoping that this wedding between a very solid label and a well-established act will bear fruit of mighty proportions in the exciting years to come!”
Since MY DYING BRIDE rarely leave their damp catacombs to perform live rituals, each show is a highlight in itself and on April 22nd, the group will expose their legendary album ‘Turn Loose The Swans’ in its entire length at Roadburn Festival. Together with Shaun ‘Winter’ Taylor-Steels on drums and a special backdrop lighting, the band will haunt the Dutch stage and deliver a truly unique experience.
You know when you listen to an album and then look the band up and realise you have missed out a fair few albums and some cracking music? Well that’s how I feel about IT and the album ‘W.A.I.T.T.’ (We’re All In This Together) after just a couple of plays. It is definitely an album of, and for, its time. 2017 is a time of flux politically with some scary things happening to everyday people everyday right now. This album is one that reflects that narrative very well.
Nick Jackson (mastermind No 1), Andy Rowberry (mastermind No 2), James Hawkins (Bass), Will Chism (Drums), and Ryan McCaffrey (keyboards/saxophone) form the band, each seem to have their hands in many pies but they still feel like a unit on this album. Check the website out for whom and what they are, it’s fascinating to see the influences they cite, no spoilers from me I promise.
Thematically the album is roughly the equivalent of “I am Daniel Blake”, the narrative of an austerity ridden country on the wrong end of one too many cuts and the impact these make on the key characters. In 10 songs we are taken on a journey cutting from the political voice to the personal voices of the characters. Opening with Power, a menacing bass line drags in a driving guitar riff with an urgent riff building tension relieved only briefly by spoken voiceovers, talking of the selfish power mad political masters.
Now, before I go any further I want to stop and reflect that the subject matter is dark and filled with insurrection and revolution. Although political in context this in no way makes this preaching or ranting in the way it delivers. Think of Pink Floyd’s‘Animals’ or Steven Wilson with ‘Hand Cannot Erase’ as topical and full of insight but still damned fine albums rather than the protest songs that will be filling your minds from my first few paragraphs. Much has been said by Prog Fans about politics and music and how they should never mix. Although I fundamentally disagree with that, I accept that some think this and I do not want to prevent anyone from even trying to hear what I see as an excellent album.
Moving swiftly on, the music flows from one song to another and has been considered and crafted to have the feel of a single suite rather than 10 songs glued together in the name of a “concept”. The Working Man is catchy and has a rather gloomy, if eminently ‘singalong’, chorus line. “Living on a landfill of plastic and bone” is an ear worm if ever there was one, if a tad strange to anyone not tuned into to your headphones. This is melancholy in the mould of Porcupine Tree or Steve Thorne, at its best poppy & accessible but also with hidden depths.
Gamble The Dreamis a real rock out with a hard guitar riff driving the song, reflecting the pressure on the economy and the drive to achieve. In the gloomy Voices we find ourselves in the head of the protagonist of the album. A George Galloway speech slots in here assaulting Blair and Bush directly on the impact of the Iraq War and the aftermath. The most challenging song on the album but it is anthemic in its delivery.
The epic in length and content The Path Of Least Resistance, at just under 12 minutes, showcases the song writing and musicianship. The key and time signature changes with a wailing guitar solo are wholly worthy of a Guthrie or a Gilmour.
The album ends with Revolution, a thundering bass line with a malevolent tone and a Theremin (?) wailing in the background. The ultimate end to all corrupt systems or a desire change things in extreme circumstances? Again another riff and hook line here that you may well find yourself singing along to on the commute home.
This album has something for everyone – strong riffology, melody, song writing at its core and a tongue in it’s cheek throughout. If art is a reflection of society then this album is art. Fans of Pink Floyd, Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree or Steven Wilson will find something in this to delight in. This is the face of modern Prog shown in a bright light. It blows the cobwebs away stimulates the brain and challenges us to think.
As ever this is not a song by song review nor is it highlights but a whistle stop tease and my opinion of the Album.
The Mute Gods: ‘Tardigrades will inherit the Earth’
I had to do some googling to find out what a Tardigrade was, upon first reveal of the albums title I thought Tardigrades were what I achieved in my A levels all those dim and distant years ago, and it was ‘great my time has come’.
Upon reverting to the nearly always accurate Wikipedia it turns out a Tardigrade is not a D in media Studies but an odd looking water dwelling eight legged micro animal, sometimes known as water bears or moss piglets, it appears that these animals can survive in extreme conditions that would kill everything else, hence the title, which suggests that long after we’ve gone and done our damage to the worlds ecosystem, these little guys (no more than 0.5mm in length) will still be here.
Dark stuff indeed from the Mute Gods on their second album.
Following on from 2014’s ‘Do Nothing til you hear From Me’, Nick Beggs, Roger King and Marco Minneman have gone into even darker territory than on their debut.
Here Beggs and co are full of anger and despair at the current global situation, and this is reflected in some heavy musical passages, angry and impassioned vocals from Beggs and a musical sound that veers from outright darkness to shades of lighter music, where the mix of almost progressive metal turns on it’s head to a more melodic sound.
Having worked together as part of the Steve Hackett band, Beggs and King found a musical rapport that comes to fruition in the Mute Gods, and adding Minneman, who Beggs worked with in the Steven Wilson band, you find a musical collective who are so in tune with each other that it drives the music on.
Instead of utilising guest musicians, this record is firmly focused on the diverse and multi faceted approach that the three members bring to the table, a contemporary progressive power trio if you will. However there is none of the pomp and circumstance that you’d get from an ELP, or the look at me battle for supremacy that destroyed Cream.
Instead this is all about the music, and more importantly all about the songs on here. Tackling both his trademark Chapman stick and guitars on this album, as well as the vocals, Beggs is firmly at the forefront on this record, stepping away from the sideman role he does so well into the role of frontman, which he carries off with style and real musical presence throughout this record, the sublime sound of his guitar and bass on tracks like The Dumbing of the Stupid is one of the defining sounds of this record.
Roger Kings keyboard, guitar work and production make this a sonically adventurous release, with some real beautiful musical peaks, this is not a record for the faint hearted by any stretch, if however you want your horizons broadening and your music and lyrics full of inconvenient truths, then this is for you.
Drumming powerhouse Marco Minneman is the driving force on this record, his mighty drum sound thundering through like the hammer of Thor, as tracks like the first single We Can’t Carry On demonstrate.
The heaviness is reined in on tracks like the Early Warning, which has a melodic feel to it, not dissimilar to Lifesigns debut (which Beggs was an integral part of).
The title track has an 80’s vibe to it, with a fantastic guitar line some classic synth sounds and great vocals by Beggs, this is probably the closest to a single on the album, and one which mixes Beggs pop and prog sensibilities to create a superb song. Highlight for me on the album has to be the wonderful The Singing Fish Batticaloa with its superb vocals, and the way it grows into a moving anthemic modern prog song, is sheer ecstasy for the ears.
This album pulls no punch when it comes to painting a picture of the state of the world currently, and there are some people out there (mainly on Facebook & twitter) who think that artists shouldn’t comment on what’s happening in the world, I say why not? Some of the greatest art and music has come from a time of trouble and darkness in the world, and there’s no point our musical heroes going all ostrich on us and ignoring the current global climate of hatred and fear.
This makes this album an uneasy listen, but when it’s wrapped up in such intense and well crafted music and a superb production that allows the songs to shine, this is something you have to hear, whether you like the message or not.
There’s a storm brewing and it’s name is not Doris.
Welcome to the world of Telepathy who’s sound is self described as ‘furiously played progressive sludge, intricate soundscapes and a bucketload of riffs’. Their new album ‘Tempest’is as heavy as your Grandad’s pit boots and blacker than the coal face he worked on, this is serious intelligent metal and your Granny better not forget it.
Formed in 2011 this Colchester, ‘almost instrumental’ Quartet comprising of, Piotr Turek, Albert Turek, Richard Powley and Teddy-James Driscoll, are loud and furious balanced with lighter passages and awash with melody, setting them apart from many contemporaries. I’ll enlighten you on the ‘almost’ later.
There is a huge variety of riffs bursting from every track of this, their sophomore concept album which is based around the harrowing journey of a person tormented with grief and facing total isolation on awaking after a great flood.
The album leads you on a journey from the awakening on First Lighta delicate short piece with the peaceful sound of water lapping on the shore then the waves of emotion hitting you with force.
You rise dazed from the pounding and survey the devastation around you and see Smoke From Distant Fires, as the grimy tendrils rise in thick clouds of guitars, pushed skywards by the heavy beat of drums. You are teased by moments of light as the cacophony fades momentarily and you try to recover your thoughts and bearings, mind swirling with cloying dark thoughts like the smoke blotting out the sky.
With the realisation of what has occurred, you stumble forward, faced with Mother Nature’s Celebration Of Decayeverywhere you turn, tortured walls of sound painting a grim picture as you tread a path through the desolate landscape.
The ebb and flow of the waves recedes as you clamber over broken buildings and is blotted out by the Echo Of Souls from the shattered bodies strewn like beached fish after the waters returned to Neptune on bitter sweet echoing notes. It is here where the tortured background vocals put paid to the instrumental sway.
Screams of the injured instruments and damaged limbs like an Apparitionfrom Hell as people whimper for help, trapped beneath the rubble. People stagger toward you blood soaked and mauled from the brutal phenomena. Closing in around you their cries for aid building and you push your way through in no state to help them as you are as much a victim.
This does not make sense, how did this come to be? The grief rises in you in terrible waves and Hiareth overcomes you, as you remember your family and the dawning realisation they may too have been caught in this. Are they still alive, are they injured, is anyone helping them? Your head spins with the music of suffering and panic raises nausea in you and you drop to the ground, retching in the muddy pools.
The recent memories flood in, The Water Divides The Tides, as pieces fall into place. Wiping your mouth with the back of your hand you push yourself to your feet the oppressive weight of guilt strapped to your back and you make for the road and head homeward, to find what you will find.
What caused this? Is it punishment for our sins, could we have done more? Have I been the best Father and Husband I could be? Retribution has been brought down upon us like a huge hammer, crushing everything underneath it. What can we do, just accept the aftermath and try to make amends? Is this what is expected of us, a Metanoia, repentance, to change our hearts?
The heavy price paid, must be earned back and not gambled on as a game of reckless roulette. All must atone or all will suffer and perish.
This is an album of structured complexity, a catharsis of experimentation and one you need to immerse yourself in, pulling yourself back to the surface to breathe then dive back in to listen again so you can fully appreciate the unbridled sonic tapestry.
Not music to be taken lightly and only to be approached if you can swim with the tide and stay afloat. Not for the faint of heart but numerous listens will reward on an album of superior metal.
If this is your type of music you won’t need telepathic persuasion to buy, it’s a must.
