Britain as we all know is a dark and dour place, where people die young due to excessive intake of greasy foods, alcohol of all types and cigarette fumes. We have bad teeth and mope all day long about the fall of our great empire, which was built on such Victorian values as child labour in mines and public flogging. Ah yes we’re a nation born with a stiff upper lip but in our old age we’ve turned to self misery to get by. Anyway this big review will be taking you to Yorkshire, the heartland of all that is shite in Britain, and to the kings of depression themselves, My Dying Bride. Expect songs of love terminated by bereavement and, eh, well that’s about it.

My Dying Bride
The Light At The End Of The World

My Dying Bride where a great white hope for British Metal. Together with Paradise Lost and Anathema, they threatened to become huge - so what happened? Well, the less said about Nick Holmes et al the better, and Anathema, despite still producing great stuff, have failed to light the imagination of the Metal world. My Dying Bride toured with Iron Maiden on the back of their great Angel and The Dark River album and promptly followed that up with the lacklustre Like Gods of the Sun [lacklustre? I don't think so!! - Ed]. Following this they lost their violinist/keyboardist and decided to move out of the gloomy realm with last years hit and miss 34.788% Complete.

Ok that’s the history, here’s the present. The band have just released their new album, The Light at the End of the World, which just to confuse matters is a return to the sound of their 1993 classic, Turn Loose the Swans. Ok so is it any good? Well again I find myself saying that its better than their last release but still lacks that vital spark of their early stuff. The death vocals are back in place, but to me everything seems so safe, so done it before. Some of the riffs are frankly turgid, and the best song on the album is a return to the Sear Me series which was on the first two albums, with the thoroughly imaginative, Sear Me III (I’m waiting for the prequel). Now all this may sound scathing, but My Dying Bride where a great band and I feel that on their last three albums that they have lost their way a bit. A return to this gothy stuff is perhaps a good thing, but hey without the violin it loses a lot of its mournfulness. This is the first album by the band that I have not bought myself, and having heard it I’m not that concerned about rushing to the shops. Maybe I’ve grown away from this stuff, but I still feel that they’re treading water. However to remove personal opinion a touch, I will say that if you are a fan then this is the best stuff since The Angel and The Dark River album.

Graeme's Rating: **********

Graeme's pretty much got it summed up above. To me it sounds like a mixture of Turn Loose The Swans and The Angel And The Dark River, but more dull and more bland. The lack of violin really makes their sound a lot less interesting. The songs themselves are quite good and there's some damn fine riffs there backing everything up, it's just missing a certain spark. My Dying Bride have definitely found a rut and are firmly sticking to it. They have basically lost their way. Their previous release 34.788% Complete was a big disappointment, and the band seem to have realised that so have moved back to charted waters. While the album is not by any means terrible, I'm glad it didn't cost me £15.

Kevin's Verdict: Moments of mastery, masses of mediocrity.