Most of the dirge-doom metal style from My
Dying Bride’s previous release are gone. However, “A Line
of Deathless Kings” also re-forges a style that had long been missed
from the days of The Angel & the Dark River and from Like Gods of the
Sun. Also somewhat surprising is the practical loss of Aaron’s half-clean
/ half-growled vocals. Although not entirely gone, the growled vocals are
used sparingly on this album. Whence the more latter parts of "Deeper
Down" (which a video was shot for), "The Blood, the Wine, the
Roses", and "Loves Intolerable Pain". If you've come to expect
a slower metal pace from MDB than most other bands, don't worry. Most of
the album is the same MDB that we've all grown to love. Poetic, sad, majestic,
epic, dark. Hamish and Andy collaborate nicely on several occasions with
some of the most melodic medleys and immensely heavy riffing spewed forth
in the Bride’s history. Ade’s bass lines are perhaps the most
beautiful melodies on a bass I've heard. At least, the most beautiful since
Like Gods of the Sun. Seemingly also, he has to adjust to a different drummer
on every album- hah! So that is another hit sprinkled into the mix. Speaking
of which, John Bennett of The Prophecy handled all of the session drum duties
on this album. A job very well done! Not sure if he will become the new
full-time drummer? Another area that seems lacking from album to album are
the keyboards. Though Sarah is definitely doing a spectacular job, MDB just
needs that extra little violin-magic back! Where the hell is Martin these
days? Ehh, who am I kidding, this album is one of my top 5 albums of the
year and it should be- it's bloody brilliant!!! (just find Martin, will
you?)
Rating: 94
Reviewed By: Thomas Mitchell |
