Review by Daniel for My Dying Bride - I Am the Bloody Earth (1994)

By the time 1994 rolled around, Ben & I would have to have been considered to be enormous My Dying Bride fanboys. I was hooked from the first few seconds of the title track from the Halifax doom/death legends' 1992 "Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium" E.P. & had religiously followed everything they'd done since with Ben even claiming them to be his favourite band at the time. I still consider that E.P. as well as the three releases that followed it (i.e. debut album "As the Flower Withers", 1993's "The Thrash of Naked Limbs" E.P. & their career-defining sophomore album "Turn Loose the Swans") to be genuine extreme metal classics so there was a whole world of anticipation around the release of My Dying Bride's next release which ended up being the third in the trilogy of annual E.P.'s the band would produce. I remember it being another rewarding experience too but I can't say that I've ever placed "I Am The Bloody Earth" alongside those earlier classics for one reason or another, despite returning to it a number of times over the years. Let's take a look at why.

As with the "Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium" & "The Thrash of Naked Limbs" E.P's, "I Am The Bloody Earth" contains just the three tracks. The title track & the remixed version of "The Crown of Sympathy" (i.e. one of the absolute stunners from "Turn Loose The Swans") were recorded as a part of the album sessions at Academy Studios in Wolverhampton during June & July of 1993 with producer Robert Magoolagan (aka Mags). The other inclusion (a lengthy dance remix track by the name of "Transcending (Into the Exquisite)") was created at Finsbury Street Studios in York some time afterwards. When listening to the three tracks back-to-back, there's a clear separation between them in that they all come at you from different angles. Mags was starting to make a name for himself as a metal producer following his work on Anathema's first couple of records & 1994 would be a big year for him with his name being attached to Cradle of Filth's "The Principles of Evil Made Flesh" debut album & Solstice's "Lamentations" as well as engineering credits on Enchantment's "Dance the Marble Naked" & Paradise Lost's "Seals the Sense" E.P. so he was definitely building himself a reputation. "Turn Loose the Swans" turned out brilliantly too with his co-production arrangement with My Dying Bride appearing to work a treat. The same can be said for the two doom/death tracks included here as they both sound very much like the My Dying Bride that had completely annihilated us all the previous year. I do have one issue with the remix of "The Crown of Sympathy" though & I apologize for mentioning it if it forever scars your listening experience moving forward. For some inexplicable reason, the snare drum has had some reverb & panning done to it that makes it stand out like a sore thumb. It's not enough to impact my love of the overall track but it does take just a touch of gloss off what should have been musical perfection as far as I'm concerned. "Transcending (Into the Exquisite)" is another story altogether though as it represents one of the bigger challenges that any remixer has had to face in terms of metal.

Let me be very clear, my love of "I Am The Bloody Earth" & "The Crown of Sympathy (Remix)" is everlasting & undying. Both clearly articulate the magic of My Dying Bride in their prime & are classics in their own right. In fact, listening back now, I find it surprising that the title track wasn't deemed to be a strong enough fit for "Turn Loose the Swans" because it's a doom/death classic in every respect. It probably wouldn't have sat amongst the very best few tracks but I enjoy it a little more than I do opener "Sear Me MCMXCIII" if I'm being honest so I think it could have made the album even better. All of the ingredients are there from the melancholic atmosphere to the intimidating death growls to the heart-wrenching guitar harmonies to the gorgeous violin melodies, this is classic My Dying Bride in all their glory. "The Crown of Sympathy" may well be my favourite song from my favourite My Dying Bride release too so it was always likely to float my boat in a slightly different arrangement. The differences from the original are only subtle here with the track duration having been slightly reduced & some haunting echoes having been added here & there for added mystery. Despite my qualms with the snare drum, I absolutely adore this track & place it right up there with the greats of the genre. It's the dance remix piece that is the real talking point here though & I feel that I'm well positioned to discuss its merits given my background as a techno DJ. Look, I think it's fair to say that the majority of extreme metal fanatics were always going to struggle with this concept even if it was done splendidly but what we receive is very much a dog's breakfast. The arrangement sounds jerky & unfocused with the beats having been poorly integrated & the electronic splashes coming across as abrupt & off-putting. It's not an absolute abomination but it is a significant disappointment that has single-handedly caused My Dying Bride to descend from the realms of unanimous perfection to more human territories. I can't imagine how Aaron & co. must have felt upon hearing this piece for the first time because I can't see them being fans of its industrial metal meets electro-industrial approach.

There are those that can be pretty harsh on "I Am The Bloody Earth" based purely on the inclusion of "Transcending (Into the Exquisite)" & the fact that the remix track isn't all that different to the original. Personally, I choose to rate each release based purely on the quality of the music included on that release while ignoring the perceived value for money aspect that may impact listeners who are well across the rest of a band's back catalogue. With that in mind, "The Crown of Sympathy (Remix)" has only been received positively by this MDB fanboy but I can't deny that the dance remix has tainted the holistic package, particularly given its length. I still very much enjoy my time with this E.P. but I can't say that I regard it as being on the same level as the band's earlier work when it contains a nine-minute piece that I'd rather forget.

For fans of Paradise Lost, Novembers Doom & early Anathema.