Requiem

Kind of like how the cool people are naturally cool, but if you try to be deliberately cool you end up not cool?

As a footnote to more valid musical discussion: One of the alluring aspects of this band back in the 90s for me were the atmospheric and mysterious album titles. As a 16-17 year old (in a much more innocent time than this one), the names bespoke elegance and romantic sophistication. I can still remember being fascinated by titles like 'The Angel and the Dark River', 'Like Gods of the Sun' and of course 'Turn Loose the Swans'. Just amazing gothic titles that to this day are unmatched. Recent titles like 'For Lies I Sire' (umm, huh?) and 'Feel the Misery' don't quite resonate with me the same way. 'A Map of All Our Failures' is a good title, as is 'A Line of Deathless Kings', although with this latter title I've always wondered how it works. If they're all deathless is it like a line of living kings waiting at a store? Or is it the father/son line of undead kings, so there are a whole bunch of them just hanging out? "Hey there great great great grandfather". What the hell does the title mean? 'The Light at the End of the World' is also a great title, backed up by an amazing song that explains the name. It's just awesome. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet and all that, but still, their titles are fascinating.

I think you've summed up how I see the band really well, and not for the first time. It's the miscues and non-sequitur aspects that I find more difficult to tolerate in my grumpy old age, and I hear a lot of them on the last two albums. My only other criticism would be that despite some varied albums in their history, they are fairly locked into a melodic template that can sound very tired. Sometimes those single note melodies are wonderful, sometimes they're emotionally void. Agree it's all part of their charm though, and that's why I keep buying their stuff! I'd be interested to hear what you think of 'A Map of All Our Failures' and 'Feel the Misery'. As much as I like aspects of 'Feel the Misery', I think I'm also unimpressed with what it says on the tin - because I don't really feel any great sense of misery listening to that album and am a little bemused by the bold claim. Come to think of it, 'A Map...' doesn't deal much with our failures either, what with songs about blind girls and Odysseus... I saw them live in London on Paradise Lost's 21st anniversary show that also featured Anathema. I'm sure you can imagine how chuffed I was to be a part of that crowd!

Don't stand too close to the fireworks... and shield your eyes!

I definitely enjoyed it back when it was released, but I certainly haven't listened to anything from it in the last decade or so - possibly longer. I own three or four Devin Townsend albums, and I love 'Infinity', so that more poppy end of his work. 'City' did have a lot in common with 'Demanufacture', at least sonically, and yes it did feel like a grown-up Fear Factory. I remember my housemate a year or two later was really obsessed with it ('City', not 'Demanufacture'). I'd like to give it another spin and see how it goes.

Daytona I guess. Would you rather only listen to music already released, or only music still to be released (presuming you'll be alive for at least a couple of decades)? To put that another way, what would you choose if I said: a. You can only listen to music released on and before 2017 and you can never listen to anything released after this moment. b. You can never listen to pre-2017 music ever again, but everything released from now onwards you can have.

My Dying Bride - 'Evinta' My Dying Bride - 'A Map of All Our Failures'

There are quite a few My Dying Bride fans on this forum, and I've searched high and low but couldn't find a thread dedicated to these Yorkshire doomsters. If my searching has been amiss then please delete this or add it to the existing thread and accept my apologies. Once upon a time my favourite band, My Dying Bride has been very special to me since I first heard the track 'Like Gods of the Sun' played on Australian radio in 1996 as a 16 year old. MDB was one of those bands that I'd read about but had never heard the music, but they were already one of my favourite bands (in a manner of speaking) based on the exotic and romantic name and the knowledge that they used a violin which I found enormously fascinating. I was lucky enough to tape that track and 'Grace Unhearing' which was also played that night. After that I went to the next town over (that actually had a music store) and ordered the 'Like Gods of the Sun' album. Once it arrived - probably about a month later - a love affair had begun. After that I ordered and received, 'Turn Loose the Swans', then 'The Angel and the Dark River', then 'As the Flower Withers', then 'Trinity', then they released '34.788%...Complete'. That album left my friends and I scratching our heads, but we still loved tracks like 'Base Level Erotica' and 'The Whore, the Cook and the Mother' which remain two of my favourite songs of theirs. Over the years I've stuck phat with them and have purchased everything they've released with the exception of 'Ode to Woe' and 'Sinamorata'. I don't believe they're the perfect band though. I really feel that the last ten or fifteen years there have been some albums that miss more than they hit. I really wanted to sort through my feelings for them, so here are all their studio albums ranked in order of my least favourite to my favourite. Requiem's My Dying Bride Studio Albums Ranked 13. Evinta (2011) I was really excited by this concept of creating basically a classical/ambient album based on MDB songs, but the end result is pretty boring. It sounds a little cheap too, truth be told. Maybe I need to give it more quality time. 12. A Map of All Our Failures (2012) The track 'The Poorest Waltz' is one of their best songs of the last decade. What a stunning song. The rest of this album is really only ok at best. I don't mind the more organic production, and the packaging/artwork is great. There's just not a lot that really sticks in the mind and the band feels a bit tired. 11. As the Flower Withers (1992) Placing this album so low could be anathema to some people, but I've always struggled to love it. It's got a little more death than my doom/death appetite usually enjoys, and it's generally a work in progress as they move towards better things. There's no doubting the classic quality of it though, and it's a great moment in time. Do I love it objectively? Not really, but I really like it as a friend. 10. For Lies I Sire (2009) This is a good album, but not a great one. I struggle a little bit to see the connection between the artwork and the musical content and it all feels a bit randomly thrown together. The songs are well produced though and well played. There are some really cool songs on this album but overall it doesn't buzz me. 9. Feel the Misery (2015) There was a lot of hype surrounding this when it came out, with Calvin back in the band (hooray!) and I have mixed feelings about it. The singing in the title track just feels all wrong and I can't unthink how awkward it feels. The singing across this album is actually quite annoying - sort of whiny or something. There are some killer songs and lots of killer moments on this album though. I love the cover artwork and felt disappointed when I looked through the booklet to find no further exploration of the awesome stained glass/religion theme, and I felt a little ripped off. Overall though, this is a pretty happening album. 8. 34.788%...Complete (1998) There are really only two songs that I like on this hugely experimental album, but they happen to be 'Base Level Erotica' and 'The Whore, the Cook and the Mother' which are phenomenal songs. Just stunning. The rest of it is ok. It's a good album and it reminds me of a great time in my life too. 7. A Line of Deathless Kings (2006) This album is actually pretty awesome. The artwork is bewilderingly bad, with the Darth Vader style helmets on sticks(?!), and I always think I don't like this album very much, but when I check the tracklist and put it on I realise that this is actually a quality album. I think what throws me is that the opening track 'To Remain Tombless' is a bit flat (although has an amazing title), and the single 'Deeper Down' is one of their worst ever songs. Everything else is really surprisingly emotional and effective. 6. The Dreadful Hours (2001) Now we're into the next level of quality. This is a fantastic album. 'The Raven and the Rose' and 'A Cruel Taste of Winter' are great songs, and this whole album gels really well. It feels like a unified and focused release and I really like that in this band. 5. The Light at the End of the World (1999) Amazing album and a great comeback after the experimental '34.788%'. Every song here is brilliant and I don't miss the violin at all, which really surprised me at the time because I thought the world was ending when Martin left (even though he left before '34%' that album was such an experiment that he wasn't missed). This also contains my (maybe) favourite MDB song in 'Sear Me III'. This album probably more than any of their others transports me to another world. 4. Songs of Darkness, Words of Light (2004) This album was such a brilliant surprise. It's dark, haunting, professional and sounds like a world class band. It really has that x-factor that later albums really missed out on. Check out that opening track 'The Wreckage of My Flesh'. Holy moly. 3. Turn Loose the Swans (1993) The classic. This is an untouchable death/doom album and one of those moment in time type of releases. I hate being an old fuddy-duddy, but music was so exciting and fresh back then. When Aaron sings 'See the light and feel my warm desire' without any accompaniment at the start of 'Crown of Sympathy', we all used to go nuts for it. The instrumental songs are also ambitious works of genius. Where did that spirit go?? 2. Like Gods of the Sun (1996) For me the album that started it all. Many fans point to this as the odd one out, but for me this is the perfect sound of My Dying Bride because it's the exact moment that I got into them. Dark, melodic, romantic. Aaron's clean singing is on point and the use of violin is amazing. Back as a 16 year old it was just beyond. We played this album to girls all the time and I'm sure we hooked up a lot due to this album, so I want to thank the boys for that. 1. The Angel and the Dark River (1995) On any given day my favourite MDB could come from any of the top 3 here, and today it's this one. I still get roaringly excited by 'The Cry of Mankind', 'From Darkest Skies' and 'A Sea to Suffer In'. Amazing production, great epic songs. A companion for a lifetime.

'City' was a real tour de force when it came out. One of the more extreme things my naive little ears had heard. 'All Hail the New Flesh' and 'Detox' being personal favourites.

Ha. Well yes I can easily imagine that someone's personal hell could include being forced to watch Alestorm videos for eternity. *shudders*.

I'm a fan of sub-genre labels, so Viking Metal is fine by me. It definitely has a fairly clear style and set of aesthetic (both aural and visual) values that are generally shared by some bands. As far as my CD collection organisation goes, I tend to conflate Viking (Einherjer/Thyrfing etc) and Folk Metal (Lumsk/Eluvietie etc) under one general banner called Pagan Metal which I find works for me as far as storage goes, as well as my belief that they tend to share similar historico-geographic values. As for the topic, Bathory black metal vs Bathory viking metal, this is indeed a tough one. As much as I really like and admire those early black metal albums, especially 'Under the Sign of the Black Mark', the viking material is amazing too. 'Hammerheart' is truly inspired. Ok, if I have to pick one I'm going to say Bathory viking.

Seeing Primordial this Friday night. Can't wait. I saw them back in 08 and they were amazing.

The only part of this post that i don't feel the exact opposite to is the 11 lost years of MDB. Everything else, reverse it and that's me. I want to give an especial shout-out to the latest Katatonia album 'The Fall of Hearts' which has now become my second favourite of theirs and about three times more interesting than 'Dead End Kings' which feels a bit lost and unengaging to me. ANYWAY, that's enough of that from me. Now playing: Trees of Eternity - 'Hour of the Nightingale'.

Connor McGregor, although I'd be downgrading my toughness levels... Would you rather sit and chat with Ozzy and Tony Iommi or Geezer and Bill Ward?

"Fuckmothering" - that's a new one. Happy birthday (for yesterday I guess?) @MacabreEternal! See you in the crypt!

Ok my lol call was flippant and dismissive, and for that I'm sorry. 'A Fine Day to Exit' has its moments but it's ultimately pretty weak sauce, so I agree with you there. But 'Alternative 4' is depressive melancholy at its best and one of my favourite albums of all time. If you feel like it check out the track 'Lost Control'. It's practically suicidal art and I love it - hardly boring alternative rock, as you put it. That violin. That swinging riff!! For me, the whole 1992 - 1998 era of that band is near perfection and 'Alt 4' is the jewel in the crown. A few years ago, by the by, I got to hang out with Duncan Patterson for a night of drinking and stories. Just my friend, Duncan and me at my friend's house. It was a night I will never forget. God the last few Anathema albums are totally boring and engaging, so you're right there, too. What makes it worse is that the current band actually believes that they're these super deep geniuses. The last two albums reek of self-indulgence and back-patting. Edit: I just realised that I'm repeating myself from last night when I was getting all worked up and downing beers. Just to qualify my agitated MDB comments, I own all their albums and do more or less like 'Feel the Misery' and 'A Map of All our Failures', but even those albums just don't feel right. They just feel really unprofessional somehow. Compared with their 1992 - 1996 output they are shadows of their former selves (although with only two - now three - original members left in the band it's little wonder that the magic is gone). Compared to pretty much all their contemporaries who are still going (Paradise Lost, Moonspell, Amorphis etc) MDB aren't even in the same zip code for quality releases, musicianship, and innovation. This all just my opinion of course.

I pulled it off the rack specifically to give it some more air time because I've really ignored this, and to see if I liked it more than I remember. And there are just no riffs. Where are the emotional gut-twisters that shoot the hairs up on your neck and give you the courage to ask the hot girl out? They're not there.

So much lol. Anyway, I'm currently listening to: Sentenced - 'The Luxury of a Grave'.

i can assure you I read that post with a wide open mouth! 'Eternity' and 'Alternative 4' are two of my all time favourite albums. They are works of true suicidal beauty. Please go back to them and look upon them kindly!

Finally dragged My Dying Bride - 'The Vaulted Shadows' out again. i think I have to face facts. If bringing out an MDB release and putting it on the stereo is tantamount to going to the dentist, then I think we need to part ways. My Dying Bride, I love you, but this is just bollocks. You idiots. It's not just about playing slow. You have to feel something yourselves. Because we're not just going to feel random notes. Why would anyone sit through this? it's terrible. And once 'The Manuscript' kicks in we have that quality. The emotion is there! Anyway. What a dumb ass band these days.

I listened to a decent chunk of each of these albums (and I feel sad doing it online because I feel like I'm changing radio stations), and they're all pretty cool in their own way. Emotionally focused black metal is alive and well. As it should be.

I think it's pretty obvious why you stored him away...

Nice nautical metaphors.

I'd rather listen to the travails of your ear wax than the new Anathema album. I can understand your post completely. And it's 'Judgement' that is the first chink in the armour for me because I'm such a Duncan Patterson fan. I was really lucky to meet him while I was recording my second album, and he told me a heap of amazing stories about Anathema. He was drinking cider the whole time. It was amazing. You really need to hear 'We're Here Because We're Here' as it's a great emotional album. But 'Alternative 4' is their last 10/10 album (in 1998)!

Saor - 'Guardians' Scottish black metal that brings a right tear to the eye. The Requiem clan are actually descended from a tiny village called Lochore in the Kingdom of Fife, which I had the privilege to visit a few years ago. Proudly we wore the tartan. Willingly we ran into battle. Thirstily we drank all the beer.