Released May 22, 1995 The Angel and the Dark River
(1995) Trinity
(1995) Release date 22 May 1995 Genres Doom metal, Gothic metal | Length 52:14 Artist My Dying Bride Label Peaceville Records | |
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Recorded Academy Studios, December 1994 - January 1995 Producer Robert 'Mags' Magoolagan, My Dying Bride Similar My Dying Bride albums, Doom metal albums | ||
My dying bride the angel and the dark river 1995 hq
The Angel and the Dark River is the third album by the British doom/death metal band My Dying Bride. The 1996 re-release contains one bonus track "The Sexuality of Bereavement" and a bonus CD titled Live at the Dynamo. The Live CD was recorded during their appearance at the Dynamo Festival in 1995.
Contents
- My dying bride the angel and the dark river 1995 hq
- My dying bride the cry of mankind better quality
- Production
- Musical Style
- Themes
- Touring and Promotion
- Track listing
- Live at the Dynamo
- Credits
- Songs
- References
Aaron Stainthorpe's lyrics continued in the vein of Turn Loose the Swans (focusing on religious symbolism and relationship problems), whilst non-English phrases were omitted once more. Stainthorpe has said in many interviews that "Two Winters Only" is his favourite My Dying Bride song.
Five of the album's six tracks appear on the band's VHS and DVD For Darkest Eyes.
My dying bride the cry of mankind better quality
Production
For the first time in the band’s history, guitar player Andrew Craighan was the sole composer of a My Dying Bride record, which was considered “strange” to the guitarist. Many song ideas for The Angel and the Dark River were completed during the recording of the album at Academy Studios. Craighan cites "The Cry of Mankind" as an example: "we had the vocals, we had that guitar line [Calvin Robertshaw's repetitive arpeggio background guitar], we had the drums and the bass. The other guitar line, the heavier guitar line, was non-existent."
Musical Style
The Angel and the Dark River was arguably the release that saw the band travel furthest from their death metal origins. Aaron Stainthorpe dispensed with his death grunt entirely, and Martin Powell's violin and keyboard playing now seemed to be the basis around which the rest of the arrangement was built. Apart from the final track of the original release ("Your Shameful Heaven"), the tempo was unremittingly slow.
Themes
This water-charged inspiration comes from their home, the north of England. Andrew Craighan said that they "subscribe very much to the ideas of the mist and the fog and the castles. All of that typical English stuff. Constantly fucking raining. And it's just always bleak here. It's always cold. It's always miserable. We actually kind of enjoy that in a sick way, so to write about it and to sing about it is nothing new."
Touring and Promotion
My Dying Bride were invited by Steve Harris to be the opening band of Iron Maiden's European tour. Harris himself made the invitation, phoning Andrew Craighan to tell him that he thought The Angel and the Dark River was "a killer album". Peaceville later on reissued the record in a limited double-CD edition, featuring an alternate cover scheme and an extra disc with their 1995 Dynamo Open Air live performance. About the concert, MDB guitarist Andrew Craighan revealed:
Track listing
- "The Cry of Mankind" – 12:13
- "From Darkest Skies" – 7:48
- "Black Voyage" – 9:46
- "A Sea to Suffer In" – 6:31
- "Two Winters Only" – 9:01
- "Your Shameful Heaven" – 6:59
- "The Sexuality of Bereavement" – 8:04 *
Live at the Dynamo
- Your River – 8:13
- A Sea to Suffer In – 6:21
- Your Shameful Heaven – 6:21
- The Forever People – 4:52
Credits
Songs
1The Cry of Mankind12:13
2From Darkest Skies7:48
3Black Voyage9:47