Doom/death metal legends My Dying Bride are primed to unfurl their 15th album, A Mortal Binding, via Nuclear Blast. The much-anticipated follow-up to The Ghost of Orion (2020) finds the Yorkshire-based quintet—featuring a revamped lineup of now-permanent guitarist Neil Blanchett and the return of drummer Dan Mullins—delighting in anxiety, loss, and toil to resplendent effect.
From the raw distress of “Her Dominion” and twisted horror of “Thornwyck Hymn” to the funerary violins of the 11-minute monolith “The Apocalyptist” and the classic-feeling “The 2nd of Three Bells,” A Mortal Binding is signature My Dying Bride. If Songs of Darkness, Words of Light (2004) elevated the Brits to new heights and A Map of All Our Failures (2012) expanded upon the group’s mid-tens grandeur, then A Mortal Binding stages My Dying Bride’s next exultant phase of elegiac misery.
As My Dying Bride edge past their 33rd year, they’re aging gracefully, remaining as vital and heart-wrenching as ever. A Mortal Binding proves that not only with its depth on tracks like “Thornwyck Hymn” and “Her Dominion” but also its breadth with “The 2nd of Three Bells” and “The Apocalyptist.” The group plan a riotous (for them, anyway) 2024, appearing at festivals (Brutal Assault, Rockstadt, 70000 Tons of Metal, Maryland Deathfest) across Europe and North America. The flower withers once more on My Dying Bride’s A Mortal Binding…
