Warthur For some bands - especially once they have become as established as My Dying Bride are - EPs are an afterthought, if they're even bothered with at all. However, for my money a My Dying Bride EP is always worth at least a cusory listen, because right from the start of their career their EPs have accounted for some of their best material. Take Macabre Cabaret - produced by the same lineup as The Ghost of Orion (and likely a product of the same sessions), I actually think it has a mild edge on that studio album, with a more immediate and gripping sound and some wonderfully pensive moments.

Kev Rowland There was a gap of five years for fans waiting for new material until March 2020 saw the release of ‘The Ghost Of Orion’, yet later the same year the band were back with this three-track EP of more new material, checking in at 22 minutes in length. Apart from drummer Jeff Singer, who joined in 2018, and the addition of guitarist Neil Blanchett in 2019 (who is not credited on this release), the line-up of MDM has been stable for quite some time, with singer Aaron Stainthorpe and guitarist Andrew Craighan having been there since the very beginning in 1990, while bassist Lena Abé and keyboard player/violinist Shaun Macgowan have both been there for more than 10 years as well. This continuity of tenure means everyone knows what to do to create the classic My Dying Bride sound, and while the doom may be slightly quicker than it used to be, it still has the presence and emotional feeling of a band at the very top of their game.

Melancholic, thoughtful, passionate, powerful, crunching, it is all these things and so much more. Aaron has the perfect baritone for this style of music, while Andrew’s guitars have rarely sounded so on point, with a hard edge to the thunderclaps. Yet what makes this band such a dominant force is their understanding that it does not always need metal to dominate proceedings, such as adding touches of piano to take their music in a very different direction, such as on the introduction to the closing number, “A Purse of Gold and Stars”. Here the guitars take a back seat to a song about holding all our precious things close to us in a purse: it is incredibly dark, brooding, and intense. Somehow the delicate piano creates as much force as crunching guitars, even with simple chords being picked out, with just a hint of reverb – the production and overall sound is incredible. Overall, this is a wonderful piece of work and one can only hope there is yet another new album coning soon.

UMUR "Macabre Cabaret" is an EP release by UK doom metal act My Dying Bride. The EP was released through Nuclear Blast in November 2020. It´s the follow-up release to My Dying Bride´s 14th full-length studio album "The Ghost of Orion" from March 2020. The "regular" version of the EP features 3 tracks, while the 12" vinyl version features the bonus track "Orchestral Shores (Buiksloterkerk Cathedral Mix)".

"Orchestral Shores (Buiksloterkerk Cathedral Mix)" is a slow and melancholic atmospheric track dominated by vocals, keyboards, and acoustic guitar and the track comprises vocals/lyrics and instrumental elements from the two tracks bookending "The Ghost of Orion (2020)": "Your Broken Shore" and "Your Woven Shore". The three remaining tracks on the EP are new originals exclusive to "Macabre Cabaret". The 10:00 minutes long title track and "A Secret Kiss" are both melancholic doom/death metal tracks in a similar style to the material on "The Ghost of Orion (2020)", but "A Purse of Gold and Stars" is a subdued melancholic and atmospheric track. It´s Stainthorpe showing his most gentle poetic side predominantly accompanied by keyboards.

The EP features a similar sounding production to the sound production feautured on "The Ghost of Orion (2020)", and while I´m not sure if it´s true, the material on "Macabre Cabaret" could well have been written and recorded during the same period as the material on the preceding album release. They don´t really feel like leftover tracks though, and "Macabre Cabaret" is definitely what I would call a high quality release and well worth having if you enjoyed "The Ghost of Orion (2020)". A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.