|
|
|
|
The awaiting of a new My Dying Bride album is for me always an joyful event that goes hand in hand with a lot of impatience. For their latest opus the waiting was made even more unbearable because of the sneak preview they gave live at the Peacefest shows in early spring 2001. During this short tour covering Belgium and The Netherlands they played “A Cruel Taste Of Winter” which gave an impression of what to expect from the upcoming album. This song already moved me when they performed it live, and this feeling only grew stronger by listening to it over and over again on a bootleg I could get hold on from the Antwerp show, loving it more every time. The quality of this song raised my expectations for the new album, and I was very pleased when those high expectations were reached when the album finally got released at the end of 2001.
“The Dreadful Hours” is My Dying Bride’s 7th full-length effort. It became a very intense album, combining all the best from the old days but presented in a different way with new elements like the band does on every release. This gives the album a fresh sound and prevents a feeling of déjà vu. Nevertheless I can assure you that every time you listen to the album it will feel like travelling back into time, bringing back the vibe of “As The Flower Withers” or “Turn Loose The Swans”. This is maybe not comming as a total surprise because of the band’s return to their roots in 1999 with “The Light At The End Of The World”, but somehow this time it is more ear-catching to me. And the fact that they re-recorded “The Return Of The Beautiful” for this album only fortifies this feeling.
The album guides the listener from the beginning (a melancholic guitar intro combined with rainfall and the beseeching whispers of Aaron) till the very last note into a world of uncontrolled emotions. It pulls you into a deep dark pit of sorrow and suffering just to twist you around with an outburst of aggression when you accepted this sinister fate. It is a musical roller-coaster with tempo changes, mood changes, the familiar contrast between melancholic melodies, aggressive riffing, clean vocals and grunts or growls in which Aaron Stainthorpe confirms being an extraordinary vocalist. Jonny Maudling from Bal-Sagoth is once again responsible for the keyboard parts, and compared to “The Light At The End Of The World” where the keys are more in the background and in function of the atmosphere, they are this time equal to the other instruments and bring more accents into the music, giving a song like “My Hope The Destroyer” his powerful emotions and making it one of my favourites.
I can conclude that My Dying Bride was once again able to compose an diverse album of high quality within their best tradition. This will please both the old fans and the newer ones. Their superb mixture of melancholy, sadness and aggression delivers several outstanding musical highlights like “A Cruel Taste Of Winter”, “My Hope The Destroyer” and the title track. These songs can easily match classics as “Sear Me”, “Your River” or “The Cry Of Mankind”.
Once more My Dying Bride demonstrates that sadness can be beautiful …… buy this record and your salty tears will become sweet!
| Tracklist |
| 1. The Dreadful Hours |
| 2. The Raven And The Rose |
| 3. Le Figlie Della Tempesta |
| 4. Black Heart Romance |
| 5. A Cruel Taste Of Winter |
| 6. My Hope, The Destroyer |
| 7. The Deepest Of All Hearts |
| 8. The Return To The Beautiful |
: 70.51
| Buy other My Dying Bride albums |
