“Long have I waited for this”
Congratulations to My Dying Bride as they celebrate 30 years of innovative, influential and thoroughly miserable metal. It’s an especially pleasing achievement given that the last five years have been particularly trying for the British band. When vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe’s young daughter was diagnosed with cancer in 2017, he was forced to take leave from the band. And when a further two band members decided to quit during this hiatus, the band’s future looked extremely doubtful.
Thankfully Aaron’s daughter was given the all clear and the band not only survives, but thrives. On their latest album The Ghost Of Orion they sound as vital, relevant and glum as ever. With its glacial pace, less obvious song structure and Andrew Craighan’s mournful riffs, The Long Black Land is definitely one of the album’s less instant and accessible tracks. But its also one of its most powerful: a black void right at the heart of the record. Like all the best doom, it’s laden with feeling and at the 6:25min mark, when a mellow breather bursts into a lumbering, seismic riff, it’s exquisitely powerful.
You wouldn’t know it from the music but, three decades in and at the top of their game, My Dying Bride and their fans have many reasons to be cheerful.
HEAVY METAL OVERLOAD 
I had no idea they had been around that long. Glad to see they still got the goods.
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Yes I think this is their 15th album or thereabouts? Great stuff!
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Dang, an album every two years. You gotta love that.
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My bad. Thirteen studio and two live. They’ve had lots of comps and box sets and stuff too. Still pretty good going! Especially since the latest one took five years.
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Still good album to year ratio.
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You are right about that seismic riff from 6.25..
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Yeah it’s a great moment. Love how they make something so simple sound so amazing.
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I like those adjective trios, HMO – innovative, influential and thoroughly miserable / vital, relevant and glum, people know what they’re getting & the band keeps delivering!
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Yes, they are definitely reliable on the misery front! But they’re creative and varied within that remit which is what keeps them important I guess.
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And I imagine that’s one of the secrets to longevity – to be reliable, without being repetitive
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I like glumness in music, its a much underrated quality I reckon.
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I think the Welsh invented it.
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