Review by Ben for My Dying Bride - Songs of Darkness, Words of Light (2004)

Emotionally engaging and horrifically dark in tone, this is My Dying Bride at their classy best.

2001’s The Dreadful Hours was by far the best thing My Dying Bride had released since The Angel and the Dark River back in the mid nineties. Not only had it shown that the band were still capable of creating enthralling death doom metal while still remaining relevant in the metal scene, it also changed my opinion that the Brits’ best years were far behind them. With this renewed hope for what is one of my very favourite bands, my expectations for a follow-up went through the roof. Often it’s this sort of high expectation that can only end in disappointment, so I was stoked to see that the same line-up used for The Dreadful Hours would create My Dying Bride’s eighth full length studio album, with the positive exception that they’d finally recruited a full time keyboard player named Sarah Stanton after using session musicians since Martin Powell’s departure back in 1996. I can’t find much information on Sarah’s background and can only observe that she appears to be the partner of guitarist Hamish Glencross. Whether that was the case when she joined or it occurred at some stage later I can’t confirm, but either way, it appeared My Dying Bride had finally settled on a line-up they were happy with, which could only be a good thing. On February 23rd, 2004, Songs of Darkness, Words of Light was released and I was first in line to see whether the band could continue their flourishing resurgence.

The first thing to notice is just how dark in tone this release is. From start to finish, Songs of Darkness, Words of Light drips with suffocating, brooding misery. After the band’s forays into more accessible and gothic territory in the mid to late nineties, their return to this haunting tone was both unexpected and satisfying. Apart from the shift further down into despair, the material doesn’t venture far from the precedent set by The Dreadful Hours, which means lengthy, predominantly slow, emotionally engaging doom tracks that seamlessly shift in style without ever losing the aforementioned tone. There’s never any doubt who you’re listening to as My Dying Bride always contain that unique flavour that I assume will always be present while vocalist Aaron and guitarist Andy (who’ve both been with the band for their entire existence) are part of the line-up. Speaking of Aaron, I really think that Songs of Darkness, Words of Light holds the finest performance of his already impressive career. Just as on The Dreadful Hours, he utilises numerous techniques while avoiding crossing the line into cheesy, melodramatic pomp. It’s a performance of real strength and variety, with powerful spoken word, black metal-like screams of torment, heartstring pulling melodies and gloriously brutal growls. Fifth track The Prize of Beauty in particular finds him covering the whole spectrum and stands as just another testament to the man’s immense talent.

The atmosphere of the album is set by the wonderful opener The Wreckage of My Flesh. The intro not only displays the dark and evocative layer that Sara brings to the band, its evil atmosphere of tribal-like drumming and horror-tinged shrieks gives you no doubt that My Dying Bride mean business with this release. That nastiness continues unabated throughout the album, with the possible exception of My Wine in Silence, which I guess could be considered a romantic ballad, albeit one filled with wretched sorrow and dejection in true My Dying Bride style. Other highlights are The Scarlet Garden, where Hamish and Andy really crank out the doom, while And My Fury Stands Ready’s oppressive nature, not-particularly-pleasant acoustic interlude and shattering climax hold the listener completely entranced. But if there’s one track on the album that stands as pure My Dying Bride genius, it has to be closer A Doomed Lover. The slowest of beats, heavy simplistic doom riffs and crooning vocals will push you down into gloomy despair, before a flawlessly executed transition at the three minute mark injects a stunning melody in combination with Aaron’s increase in emotion. The final few minutes stand as one of the finest closing moments of any album I’ve heard, expertly “raising the house” on a consistently engrossing album. Songs of Darkness, Words of Light is My Dying Bride at their classy best and another five star rating is obligatory.