Customer Reviews

Line of Deathless Kings

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Before this album was released I read scary things about My Dying Bride experimenting with their sound. Needless to say, I was a bit worried. My worry was all wasted energy. MDB have brought the menace back into their compositions with "A Line of Deathless Kings." After the Gothic beauty and despair of their last album, "Songs of Darkness, Words of Light", which was virtually devoid of Death Metal leanings, their new release brings back the aggression, mixing it with Doom and Gothic Metal....and what a difference it has made. I did enjoy their last album, don't get me wrong, but without the aggressive attitude it didn't demand to be heard. But here the riffs are raw as open wounds and there are definitely more hooks to be had and savored. I found myself playing air guitar on more than just a few songs. The only track that doesn't quite work for me is "Deeper Down" which has the cleaner vocals mixed with Death/Doom riffing. It would have worked much better with the snarling or growling vocals, the cleaner vocals are better suited to the epic Doom sections that mesmerize through lengthy repetition of mood and atmosphere. The lyrics are as depressing and dark as ever with some even reading as poetry. "The Blood, The Wine, The Roses" is an excellent example of this where the words convey a diabolical story of seduction and eventual damnation; an explosion of Death Metal ends this song as the protagonist becomes one of the damned obsessed with bloody revenge. Sweet! It should be mentioned that this album works best as a whole, so time should be set aside to listen to it in its entirety for the full effect to be absorbed. So turn off the lights and let these legendary masters of Doom embrace you with dark, leathery wings. Thank you.

This long awaited MDB release of 2006. Here, the british Godfathers of Doom once again proves that they rule the genre. Fans will appreciate that the band stay true to the style that was once created by the same people. AODK will not surprise neither disappoint any listener. At a glance, the record may seem a bit shallow compared to the dark and hauting Songs Of Darkness, Words Of Light. Well, dig Deeper Down, the songs will grow more and more as you play the record on repeat. I did, and still am. 5 out of 5.

A grand kaleidoscope of poisonous doom. I first heard My Dying Bride when Turn Loose the Swans was released on cassette tape. Man I am old! Ever since the Turn Loose the Swans album, I have heard many triumphs and many failures. Then came A Line of Deathless Kings. Legendary through and through. Each song on this album has been well thought out, and not a one is a filler. They bring back a little feel of the old days, and mix in some new bride stile as well. In my opinion, it is Bride's strongest release since Turn Loose The Swans. Grab it up and enjoy.

I've followed this band since 'Turn loose the Swans', and it's been an up-and-down ride. The last two albums, 'dreadful hours' and 'songs of darkness...' did not 'click' with me. While they weren't drastically different stylistically, the songwriting seemed uninspired, leaving the tracks with no hooks to hold my attention. I'm glad to say that 'a line of deathless kings' doesn't suffer from that problem. The songs on the first half do an especially good job of holding my attention and being easily distinguishable from one another. And while MDB always has a tendency to fall back into their death metal formula, such occurences are few on this disc. Some fans may be disappointed in the lack of death growls and churning beats, but personally I'm happy to see the band minimize their useage of the death metal tricks, as I consider it to be a weak pointof their older material. Anyways, fans of the band should be at least content with this album; it may not become your favorite MDB album, but it's certainly comparable to much of the bands atalog, and their best since 'light at the end of the world' IMO

MBD had been one of my favorite bands before this album came. But the one problem I always had with them is that they had great songs, but no great albums. Each album would have 2-3 amazing songs and the rest would be, well, of various quality to say the least. Kings is simply great from start to finish. If there is a week link, it's "Deeper Down", the song they released as a single.

Overall this album flows from song to song creating a mood and atmosphere that moves from aggressive to mornful to reflective to defiant. You can't go wrong with this album.

I must say this is the first MDB album ive heard. Now ive gotten most of there other albums, but this is one Doomy, Heavy, Beautiful piece of music. Highly recomended for anyone who likes heavy melodic music.

Listen. Rinse. Repeat. This year brings us yet another excellent album from MDB. Full of doom, despair and the familiar crushing guitars and mournful vocals that are the benchmark for these masters of the morose. There is nothing all that new here, and yet their sound always remains uniquely "them". It sounds like "My Dying Bride"! Sometimes, "what you expect" can be a very good thing. Using that model as criteria, you should know what you are going to get. What you expect. Which is very good.

Most of the songs are in the mid-tempo range, but backed creatively by new drummer John Bennett (The Prophecy). This release was mixed at The Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire and mastered at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London. Having the experience and the money for good studios and engineers, it should come as no surprise that the production is nearly spotless. Walls of dark, aggressive guitar mixed with some of the very best vocal work I have ever hear from Aaron Stainthorpe.

One of the features most noticeable in this release is that the large bulk of the singing is performed "clean", with only a bit of the death vox toward the end. The vocal harmonies are multi-tracked wonders; Aaron even takes your breath away at one point by jumping an entire octave on "Love's Intolerable Pain", a tour-de-force I am tempted to adopt as a personal theme song. I was very impressed with the vocals on this album. The lyrics are like the compositions; mid tempo with Aaron's usual stream-of-consciousness poetic vibe throughout.

I can always depend on this band to remind me that no matter how miserable and lonely I may feel about my pathetic life, I am not alone. In fact, Aaron must hold the patent on loss, pain, regret, betrayal and thwarted vengeance. "A Line of Deathless Kings" on the whole seems to be about a man unable to die, who, albeit immortal, suffers from every kind of indignity ever invented. Just when you think that the guy has managed to finally end himself in the eighth track "Deeper Down", he is incarnate one more in the final track, and in pursuit of another poisonous relationship "The Blood, the Wine, the Roses". The sign of a good doom album is to remind you that sometimes you just can't win, no matter what.

The music does its job. Goth-rock mixes with doom in an artful display that sets this a little bit apart from many other MDB releases. Though sometimes tough to get your head around at first, this album definitely grows on you, and should be heard in its entirety for best effect. At the very least, I can say that no matter how lonely or miserable I may feel, Aaron probably feels worse. Misery loves company, and this album is good company. Listen. Despair. Rinse. Repeat.

A Line of Deathless Kings is My Dying Bride's ninth studio release, consisting of nine tracks and over sixty minutes of running time. Most of the tunes are between the five and seven-minute range, the second track "L'Amour Detruit" (Ruined Love) being an exception. At over nine minutes, this is also one of the more daring pieces where they have experimented with their compositional style while retaining the core elements of the My Dying Bride sound. Complete with a slight tinge of gothic atmosphere in the intro, the song is filled with strong riffage to underscore Aaron Stainthorpe's unique, emotional clean vocals. Halfway through, the sombre tone is broken up by intense and bleak silences where all you hear is minimalistic acoustic guitar notes ringing atop dreary, mournful vocals. The song concludes with stunning light/heavy dynamics and climaxes with a brief but haunting lead solo.

Unlike their previous two albums, A Line of Deathless Kings features almost entirely clean-sung vocal parts, with only few growled parts on two cuts. "To Remain Tombless", the opening song, which is also among the finest on the album, puts forth a heavy mood, backed by marching drums courtesy of new drummer John Bennett, and sublime clean vocals. Aaron's growls provide a much-needed balance to the otherwise morose tempo of the piece. There is even a great bass guitar solo in this song that is eventually capped by heavy, fierce rhythm guitars. Likewise, "Love's Intolerable Pain" treads the same musical path, except that also highlights the powerful drumming of Bennett and features a beautiful section where Aaron recites a great poem in his confident monotone.

The engaging guitar theme of "I Cannot Be Loved" works perfectly beneath cracking cymbals and the sludgy bass that basically drives the whole song alongside the painful vocals; whereas "And I Walk with Them" is another song with sinister acoustic guitars and spoken vocals. The band's guitar duo build a powerful thread of melody around which every riff is centred at the end, rendering it one of the best parts on the entire album. On the keyboard front, Sarah Stanton only seems to take the lead on "Thy Raven Wings" in order to contrast the epic riffage and "Deeper Down", a song whose finale is certainly unusual for most My Dying Bride songs. It's a blend of weird noises that mess with the head. Unfortunately, the main body of the song is a tad dragging, failing to impress like the first couple of tracks on this album. The disc ends on an interesting note in that the final song "The Blood, the Wine, the Roses" is more of a midtempo number where the twin guitar harmonies churn out catchy hooks only to transform into crushing death metal riffery at the end, leaving the listener quite baffled. It's arguably the heaviest thing they have recorded in years and I'm not sure how well that fits this particular album.

The average doom metal fan will undoubtedly enjoy this release while die-hard MDB fans may even declare it the band's finest work to date. To me, however, while good in its own right, out of the band's last three records, their most essential release is The Dreadful Hours.

This album may not be as heavy, but it still has it's charm.

It is one of the best since Song's of Darkness, Words of Light.

Still, many will agree Turn Loose the Swans is the best.

A Line of Deathless Kings is by far the beat album of the year by far.

This CD from doom metal titans My Dying Bride blends gothic dark atmospheres with devilish metal perfectly. Songs like "L'Amour D'etruit", "Thy Raven Wings", "Deeper Down", and "The Blood, the Wine, the Roses", prove mentally and emotionally that this world we live in today harbors a fierce, sinful, and ugly side most people who have never contemplated suicide do not even know exists. The only way out of the depression on this killer, kickass album is maybe an ecstacy pill. But believe me, if you hate the world we live in today and just want to die, this album will give you a huge, hard-hitting reason to shed a tear & fill with angst. (I have to note that very many songs that this band makes is far more depressing than Nine Inch Nails; if you really have a death wish). Here is a track breakdown-

1. To Remain Tombless - 9/10

2. L'amour D'etruit - 11/10 (the best song)

3. I Cannot Be Loved - 9/10

4. And I Walk With Them - 9/10

5. Thy Raven Wings - 10/10

6. Love's Intolerable Pain - 8/10

7. One of Beauty's Daughters - 10/10

8. Deeper Down - 10/10

9. The Blood, the Wine, the Roses - 10/10

Overall excellent.