Customer Reviews

For Lies I Sire

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

So how does the new album, For Lies I Sire, compare to the previous My Dying Bride efforts? Is it more of the same or does it incorporate anything new into their songcraft?

On the whole, the album tries to blend their earlier songwriting characteristics with the material that dominated their previous releases, most notably in the vocal department. To claim that it breaks new ground would be an overstatement, but there are certain areas where they have branched off a bit, employing violin and more multi-tracked vocal parts and death vocals this time around. That said, neither the violin nor the deathy growls are used excessively. Rather, Katie Stone's morose violin sections are subtly integrated into the compositins, while Aaron Stainthorpe goes for the growls on just a few of the tracks without overdoing it.

Some of the highlights include the excellent "My Body, A Funeral," where the addictive vocal melody is slowly repeated by the guitar and violin respectively, whilst the drumming beneath the mix is heavy and crushing. Likewise, the militaristic drums are also fiercely prominent on "Fall with Me," which gives a nod to the band's past. The vocals, however, carry on in the style of the previous album, A Line of Deathless Kings, although the singing sounds more inspired and emotional on this one.

Among the album's finest moments are the piano-based dirge, "Echoes from a Hollow Soul," and the title track. The guitar themes that preoccupy these tunes sound like they were readapted from the material on The Dreadful Hours, arguably My Dying Bride's last essential album, in that they are gripping and unbelievably sad sounding. It is moreso a similarity in the way the guitars are arranged rather than a musical similarity.

There are some extreme vocals to provide contrast on "Bring Me Victory," with an epic intro and tribal drumming, but honestly, Stainthorpe does seem to strain while doing the growls. It doesn't sound as powerful as his work on earlier albums. Similarly, when he opts for some growls on the comparatively whacky "ShadowHaunt," his singing recalls Black Metal type of singing, which does not quite suit the song. Add to this the somewhat experimental direction the band has taken, starting in a very stripped down way with violins and strummed acoustic guitars and morphing into a guitar-driven onslaught of riffs with eerie synth patches and harsh vocals.

The band further experiments in "A Chapter in Loathing," a track that contains plenty of blast beats, tense silences, and a storming mix of synths, violins, and gritty vocal stylings. The final track, at over eleven minutes, sees them expanding on this aesthetic, with strange results. Fast, rolling drums dominate the track in the beginning before Stainthorpe's spoken part emerges as eerie, desolate doom riffs are also introduced slowly into the mix. Then there is again some silence, and then some more riffing. It ends on a creepy note, as the song abruptly ends at the nine-minute mark -- the last two minutes of it is complete silence, thus making it one of their longest songs to date.

Besides the doomy material highlighted by dark guitar themes and excellent clean vocals, there are also relatively catchy tracks like "Santuario di Sangue" (Sanctuary of Blood), which also brings forth weird non-musical elements (deep breathing and horse sounds), some melancholic doom riffs, and powerful vocal harmonies. Also this track has the best bass lines of all.

Overall, while For Lies I Sire may be slightly better than the band's previous two studio albums, A Line of Deathless Kings and Songs of Darkness, Words of Light, but some of the tunes suffer from over-experimentation and the forced brutal singing does not really gel with the clean parts all the way through. That's why I still consider The Dreadful Hours their most accomplished and cohesive work in their last ten years.

By the way, the artwork of the album is very different from their other albums, possibly because it was created on a computer. I do miss the band's own drawings though. The booklet is also interesting as it contains tabs to some of the tunes, including "My Body, A Funeral," "Fall With Me," and "Bring Me Victory."

"For Lies I Sire" is another excellent album in the almost unprecedented line of albums by the best in the genre.

Some people obsess about My Dying Bride's music always comparing new albums to earlier albums, etc. While this is understandable and hard to avoid, I've always thought doing so was senseless. This album does't sound like "A Line of Deathless Kings", but it sounds like My Dying Bride, and that's a good thing; it's the whole point. After all these years, they still sound like My Dying Bride; yet the music still sounds fresh...far fresher than most bands who've been around this long...or even half as long. These songs feel like new and different compositions to me.

Either you get their music or you do not.

Even though the line-up has changed; it's still My Dying Bride mostly because of Aaron, Andrew, and Hamish [incidentally, Hamish has been around long enough he should be considered a TRUE member by now; that is, he's not just a replacement guitarist; he is My Dying Bride].

If you've never heard their music before, you could easily start here; it's a great album. It has a lot to offer.

I love this disc. The mood is beautifully carried from the beginning of the CD until the end. The music is emotionally complicated and just plain bad assed. It is perfect for practicing belly dance to.

Although I am not going to review this recording like a critic, I will say that the band kept their style intact. As opposed to earlier works where paint could peal between notes, this music moved along. As usual, the lyrics were spot-on. I can understand why My Dying Bride is more popular in Europe than America. American metal audiences tend to favor a more simple-minded approach to this genre. Buy it.

This MDB CD is as good as the past releases. Turn Loose the Swans has always been my favorite, but For Lies is up there with rest. It may take a couple of listens, but it will grow on you and then become a favorite. Well done in every aspect!

My top 3 favorite MDB albums along with 'The Angel And The Dark River' & 'Like Gods Of The Sun' .

Less "hard" as Line of Deathless Kings, but just as moving. Highly recommended. As always, to many words lessens the impact of listening to truly appreciate these guys.

I believe this album is the worst and most poor performance ever made by MDB. But this is just me!!
The album had no character, no clear destination and the songs are just thrown there randomly. The transitions from melodic to death are nothing like the brilliant "Words of Darkness, Songs of Light". It just saddens me to see my favorite band lose their identity.

Lately many bands have been attempting to come out as the darkest of the dark in the Metal universe. Few of these groups realize that the fans that listen to this style of music are interested in atmosphere and musicianship not just the 'evilest' sounding group.

My Dying Bride remains faithful to their style and fans bringing yet another solid gloomy Doom Metal album to the table. The tempo ranges from an almost depressing low and reaches a mid-fast pace at select points but for the most part the album sludge's along harmonically.

Andy and Hamish put down some very somber and entrancing axe work and as always push the limit's of their skill's with some above average lead sections that border on the faster-then-usual for My Dying Bride. The bass unlike other bands in the genre continue to take a back seat to the guitars which is a nice change to this style of music, the bass is normally over powering with many newer Doomish bands.

Percussionist Dan Mullins throws down some nice slow fills and even manages to pump out some head bang worthy double bass parts as the album goes on. The only real problem I have with the album is the use of so called 'clean' vocals. Aaron Stainthorpe has an amazing guttural roar matched by few at his best and the fact he held back on the roaring vocals forces me to take a whole star.

Except the vocals (which is simply a personal preference) this album is simply great Doom Metal from beginning to end. The band continues to prove that they are among the elite whom helped birth this style and also continue to prove they are overall a strong group of musicians. So far easily the best Doom Metal album of 09.

Whilst still a wonderful slab of doom I felt this ablum just did not quite measure up to "A line of Deathless Kings" or "Songs of Darkness..." their most recent previous albums.
Still better than almost all other albums I've heard this year though.