Warthur Katie Stone joins My Dying Bride as their new keyboardist, and also brings violin back into their sound for the first time in a good long while. (Would you believe it hadn't featured in their sound since Like Gods of the Sun?) This is well suited for what is, for the most part, one of the most gentle and intimate releases from the band.

"Gentle" isn't usually a term used in metal - especially not in doom metal - but it's apt here, with the band allowing more quiet and acoustic moments to work their way into their sound and keep proceedings varied. In fact, this album might see Aaron Stainthorpe's most diverse vocal performance yet.

Lest you think that they've lost their teeth, though, there's still some grim surprises to be found in here - in particular, A Chapter In Loathing represents My Dying Bride's deepest dive into the depths of black metal up to this point.

If I had one criticism of the album, is that it's sound is just a little *too* diffuse; each My Dying Bride before this one has its own particular sound, but this time it's not really clear what overall atmosphere they were going for. Still, with a collection of songs this good, that's a minor complaint.

UMUR "For Lies I Sire" is the 10th full-length studio album by UK doom metal act My Dying Bride. The album was released in March 2009 through Peaceville Records. There have been quite a few lineup changes since the release of "A Line of Deathless Kings (2006)" as long time bassist Adrian "Ade" Jackson has retired and has been replaced by Lena Abé, session drummer John Bennett has been replaced by Dan "Storm" Mullins and keyboard player Sarah Stanton has been replaced by Katie Stone. In addition to playing keyboards the latter also brings back an instrument that has been absent from My Dying Bride´s music since "Like Gods of the Sun (1996)": The violin.

...probably much to the joy of older fans of the band. To be honest (and I know I´m probably in the minority here) I actually haven´t missed the violin much. I think My Dying Bride have managed to evolve their sound and create interesting music without the use of violin just as they successfully did on the early albums which featured the instrument. With that said the violin is a great asset to the sound on "For Lies I Sire". It´s played with finesse, used tastefully in the soundscape and it doesn´t dominate the album. With or without the violin the music on "For Lies I Sire" is unmistakably the sound of My Dying Bride. Aaron Stainthorpe´s melancholic clean vocals (and some pretty convincing growling/raspy ones too), the heavy guitar riffs and harmonies and the usual flair for details and intriguing songwriting. "For Lies I Sire" is yet another testament to why My Dying Bride are widely considered one of the most important acts in doom metal.

The quality of the material is generally very high and tracks like the opening "My Body, a Funeral", "Echoes From a Hollow Soul", and the closing trio of tracks "Santuario di sangue", "A Chapter in Loathing" (a most convincing blackened death metal track) and "Death Triumphant" are among the highlights to me. The goth tinged and rather Paradise Lost sounding "Bring Me Victory" took me a while to warm up to, but in the context of the full album it makes great sense to include a goth tinged track like that. The track brings variation but doesn´t ruin cohesion.

The musicianship is as always on a high level. New drummer Dan "Storm" Mullins has a great organic style and I enjoy the fact that he is a pretty active drummer considering the fact that he plays in a doom metal band. But then again My Dying Bride always had pretty busy drummers for their style.

Time and time again these guys amaze me with how consistent they are but never to a point where they don´t make little tweaks to their sound to keep it fresh and interesting for their fans. They´ve done it again with "For Lies I Sire" and a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.