My Dying Bride - I Am the Bloody Earth (1994)^{Release ID: 956}

The title track is fantastic but the remainder is disappointing.

I Am the Bloody Earth is the third EP by My Dying Bride and was released in January 1994, only three months after the bands classic Turn Loose the Swans album. This was a golden period for the Brits and I for one was chomping at the bit for anything the band wanted to send my way. The first two EPs, Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium and The Thrash of Naked Limbs, both contained three original tracks that were firstly, not available anywhere else, and secondly, of a very high quality. The same cannot be said for I Am the Bloody Earth, but that doesn’t mean there is nothing of value here. On the positive side, the title track is fantastic! With its heavy riffs, dark atmosphere and beautifully integrated violin, it certainly wouldn’t have seemed out of place on Turn Loose the Swans. While I can’t confirm it anywhere on the net, I can only imagine I Am the Bloody Earth was recorded in the same sessions as the album, as the tone and techniques are really very similar. The raspy guest vocals by Ghost (from industrial label mates Global Genocide Forget Heaven) work really well, particularly when combined with Aaron’s deep growls. In short, this is classic My Dying Bride!

As for the remaining two tracks, well that’s an entirely different story. Transcending (Into the Exquisite) is an attempt to put My Dying Bride’s death metal tinged gothic doom to dance music. I’m sure anyone that’s experienced the band’s music would know just how bad an idea that is, and yet someone called Stevie Dachau has given it a shot. Basically it’s several sections taken off the Turn Loose the Swans album (mostly from The Songless Bird) patched together and given a house music beat with looping electronics. It’s just as bad as that description sounds and I have to wonder who thought it was a good idea to begin with. The final track is a remixed version of The Crown of Sympathy off Turn Loose the Swans. I love the original track immensely so hearing it in any form is nice, but this remix makes so little difference to the track apart from a looped vocal line at the beginning and a minute missing from the running time. It adds absolutely nothing of note to the original meaning this EP is only worth hearing for the title track. Thankfully that is worth checking out, but the I Am the Bloody Earth release is undoubtedly the worst of the trilogy of early My Dying Bride EPs.

As with the first two EPs, there’s no real reason to track down I am the Bloody Earth in its original form. It’s far easier, and no doubt cheaper, just to pick up the Trinity compilation Peaceville put out in 1995, which combines all three EPs in one neat package. Strangely, although not unjustifiably I guess, the label replaced Transcending (Into the Exquisite) with The Sexuality of Bereavement on Trinity. It would not be particularly surprising if this decision was made due to the generally negative response this track received by fans, and considering how magnificent The Sexuality of Bereavement (originally released as a 7” vinyl single and as a bonus track on The Angel and the Dark River) actually is, it’s hardly a bad substitution. It does mean though, that if you want to hear this EP the way it was originally intended, you will have to shell out for the out of print original release, or track down the limited to 3000 box-set called The Stories that contained all three separate EPs. I highly recommend you track down the title track if you’re a fan of My Dying Bride, but in which format probably depends on how much of a completist you are. I’m sure you know where you sit.