Review by Ben for My Dying Bride - As the Flower Withers (1992)
Far more death metal influence than on later My Dying Bride material, but an original and underrated debut!
After the staggering Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium EP in 1991, it was yet to be seen whether My Dying Bride could live up to the obvious promise they displayed. After all, it was really only the exceptional title track on that particular release that caused all the excitement, with the other two tracks taking a more traditional death metal path that wasn’t particularly revolutionary. Was that epic track merely a fluke or were we about to experience something truly breathtaking? As the Flower Withers answered the question in no uncertain terms and I thoroughly believe that the album doesn’t get the admiration it deserves for the simple fact that most listeners came across it after hearing the bands later work. There’s absolutely no doubt that Turn Loose the Swans in particular is a far superior album, so anyone listening to As the Flower Withers after experiencing that example of perfection is likely to be a tad disappointed. But when you place this album into its correct context, being that it was released in 1992 when death doom was in its absolute infancy, there’s just no denying that As the Flower Withers is a groundbreaking and classic album.
My Dying Bride were very much still a death metal band at this stage and were still figuring out the best ways to combine their ambitious mixture of heavy doom metal, raw death metal, classical elements, guttural vocals and surprisingly poetic lyrics. Probably the thing that makes As the Flower Withers stand out from the band’s later efforts is the production. It’s raw and dirty which certainly aren’t words you could apply to modern My Dying Bride, but it works quite well given the more death metal influenced material here. The guitars have a lot of weight to them and Aaron’s vocals are as vicious as they would ever be. Unfortunately, the drum sound is not ideal and given Rick’s rather pedestrian performance, come across as very flat throughout. The violins on the other hand have an immense impact every time they are utilised. Martin Powell was not an official member of the band at this stage but his presence is felt in a huge way, particularly on the three epics of the album, Sear Me, The Bitterness and the Bereavement and The Return of the Beautiful. There’s no doubt that this aspect helped make My Dying Bride so exciting, so it was no surprise that the band recruited him full time for the next album.
As with the EP, As the Flower Withers excels when the band ramp up the atmosphere and let the gothic flourishes kick in. The Return of the Beautiful is undoubtedly the highlight and it’s no surprise that the band chose to re-record this track on The Dreadful Hours. Interestingly, the final track Erotic Literature was originally a bonus track found on the CD and cassette versions of the album, but it seems to be considered part of the official track listing these days. Even the My Dying Bride official homepage has it listed as part of the album with not mention of it being a bonus track, so I guess it should be included when reviewing As the Flower Withers. I personally think the album functions better when finishing with The Return of the Beautiful, but Erotic Literature doesn’t seem out of place in the slightest and brings things to a close nicely enough. As the Flower Withers doesn't deserve to be considered purely the humble beginnings of a great band. It deserves to be considered a hugely important and successful attempt to do something truly original and an essential part of any death doom metal fan's collection.