UMUR "Towards the Sinister" is the first demo recording by UK doom/death metal act My Dying Bride. It´s the band´s first and only demo release and it was independently released in February 1991 (originally on cassette tape). The band were at this point a four-piece consisting of Aaron Stainthorpe on vocals, Andrew Craighan on guitars and keyboards, Calvin Robertshaw on guitars, and Rick Miah on drums.

The demo contains four tracks and a total playing time of 23:27 minutes. Both "The Grief of Age" and "Catching Feathers" are exclusive to this release while re-recorded and re-arranted versions of "Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium" and "Vast Choirs" would appear on subsequent studio releases by the band. The former on the "Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium" (1992) EP while the latter would appear on My Dying Bride´s debut full-length studio album "As The Flower Withers" (1992). While there are certainly crushingly heavy and doomy parts on the demo, the paced is often mid-paced and there are even some faster sections in some songs. So this is definitely the fastest and most old school death metal release from My Dying Bride featuring only hints at what they would do only a few years down the line (that is ultra heavy and sollow filled doom/death metal). The vocals are predominantly deep growls although Stainthorpe adds a more raw and aggressive edge to some parts. His tortured clean vocal delivery would only appear on later releases.

While the music on the album is actually pretty solid compared to other releases in the genre from the early nineties, the production drags this demo down. The sound is muddy and not even close to being professional. I thought it was a rehearsal demo until I read that the demo was actually recorded and mixed in Nov. 24-25, 1990 at Revolver Studios, UK. So this is a warts and all type demo release, but there´s enough dark charm and gloomy promise here to warrant a 2.5 star (50%) rating.

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.

Warthur Emerging as My Dying Bride suffered a swathe of personnel issues and behind-the-scenes difficulties, The Ghost of Orion finds the veteran death-doom unit in fine form. (It's a genre which thrives on gloom and world-weariness, after all.) In some respects it's a bit of a back-to-basics album, because the musical backing is very much in their classic style, though Aaron Stainthorpe's vocals tend more towards a clean approach than in the band's earliest days.

Their Spinal Tap-esque turnover of drummers, with Jeff Singer (formerly of their Peaceville Three compatriots Paradise Lost) slipping into the drum stool and doing a decent job. Meanwhile, Andrew Craighan takes on all the guitar duties, rhythm guitarist Neil Blanchett having only joined to help out live at this stage, and does a credible job there.

It's not a genre landmark or classic of the field, but it's a much better album than one might have expected from the band given the challenges facing them at the time, and will be enjoyable to anyone who enjoyed their early style.

SilentScream213 On their third album, My Dying Bride pretty much perfected the Gothic Doom style, leaving all of their Death Doom roots behind for a melodic and mournful masterpiece. Seeing as how the growls are gone, vocalist Aaron had to really find his cleans here, and they are pleasantly somber and melodramatic throughout.

The opening track is an easy highlight, with a roaring wall of guitar lead by marching piano scales that add a great urgency to the song, while Aaron’s vocals on the other hand sound entirely devoid of life. The album remains quality throughout, with more standard Gothic Doom songs making up the meat of the album. It ends on another fantastic note, “Your Shameful Heaven,” easily the most energetic and aggressive song here. The band goes from depressive to disturbing as both riffs and lyricism take on a more evil atmosphere, finishing the album off in triumphant darkness.

This thing became the standard against which Gothic Doom was measured, and for good reason. Every track here is of great quality, but there’s still decent variation running throughout. A fantastic run through negative emotion in a mature and poetic package.

Warthur Later paired with The Barghest o' Whitby on the compilation The Vaulted Shadows, whereas the Barghest EP consisted of only one long track, this consists of a clutch of (comparatively) shorter songs which didn't quite make the cut for A Map of All Our Favours. With Shaun Macgowan's violin cutting a particularly haunting and beautiful air on the title track, this is an EP which finds the band deep in the gothic death-doom realm they defined with their early work and have further refined ever since, and refine further here. The quiet section at the end of the title track, in particular, feels like it's influenced somewhat by early Opeth, which feels new in My Dying Bride's sound.

I can only assume there was some thematic reason why they weren't included on Map of All Our Failures, because goodness knows the quality here is very solid - if not even stronger than that album.