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My Dying Bride - The Angel And The Dark River



8.8 | 693 votes |
Release date: 22 May 1995
Style: Gothic doom metal

Owners:

970 have it
80 want it
1 trades it


Disc I
01. The Cry Of Mankind
02. From Darkest Skies
03. Black Voyage
04. A Sea To Suffer In
05. Two Winters Only
06. Your Shameful Heaven
07. The Sexuality Of Bereavement [digipack bonus]
08. Your River [Live at Dynamo '95] [digipack bonus]
09. A Sea To Suffer In [Live at Dynamo '95] [digipack bonus]
10. The Forever People [Live at Dynamo '95] [digipack bonus]

Disc II [Live At The Dynamo '95 (1996 re-issue)]
01. Your River [live] [bonus]
02. A Sea To Suffer In [live] [bonus]
03. Your Shameful Heaven [live] [bonus]
04. The Forever People [live] [bonus]

Top 20 albums of 1995: 9
Top 200 albums of all time: 109

Additional info
Recorded and mixed at Academy Studios Dec/Jan 1994/95
Produced by Mags & My Dying Bride. Cover and photos by Aaron.

Released on cassette by Metal Mind.
Released by Megarock Records on picture disc vinyl with no sleeve in 1997, limited to 500 copies.
Reissued by Peaceville in 2001 and Soyuz Music in 2002, restoring the original cover art and track list.

Remastered and reissued in 2003 by Peaceville as a single disc digipack (using the black version of the cover) with four bonus tracks, including "The Sexuality Of Bereavement" and Live at the Dynamo '95, excluding "Your Shameful Heaven" which appeared on that year's reissue of Turn Loose The Swans.

Reissued in 2010 by Peaceville in a super jewel box CD/DVD package, with entirely new cover art. The CD is the same as the 2003 reissue and the DVD is For Darkest Eyes (originally released on VHS in 1997).

Staff review by
KwonVerge
Rating:
10
After the exceptional and mourning aesthetic of "Turn Loose The Swans" My Dying Bride returned with another opus of emotional intensity and esoteric feelings, "The Angel And The Dark River".

I don't know how the fans of "As The Flower Withers" and "Turn Loose The Swans" expected their successor to be back then, but they were not expecting it to be like "The Angel And The Dark River" for sure, as far as I am concerned. This time My Dying Bride remain heavy and powerful, yet not aggressive. A more fragile and gentle approach is overrunning their sound and this is not something that shines only through the music, but from the vocals as well. Aaron Stainthorpe, the dramatic persona of My Dying Bride, this time chose to express himself only through his wailing clean vocals, pouring his soul to his personal and beauteous lyrics, leaving behind the grunting way of expression and thus lending a more poetic approach to the sound of My Dying Bride.

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published 01.12.2005 | Comments (11)

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Comments

Comments: 13   Visited by: 1232 users
02.01.2011 - 08:25
Rating: 10
ramin

Best album
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03.05.2012 - 11:02
Rating: 8
Tiglath Pileser

I've never heard a better Gothic song than The Cry for Mankind. It's the most melancholic song imaginable!
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13.09.2012 - 20:06
Cuca Beludo
Account deleted
This one must be the most melancholic album I've ever heard.
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25.03.2013 - 22:56
LordHypnos
Account deleted
I still think that Turn Loose The Swans is better than this one. I didn't want to say this, but I think that Aaron's "sorrowful" clean vocals suck; it's not moving at all. But his spoken word and growling are amazing, though. I think this album would be better with these two kinds of singing as well, even though it wouldn't bring anything new.
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31.08.2015 - 18:01
Rating: 9
MelancholiaC

Written by Guest on 25.03.2013 at 22:56

I still think that Turn Loose The Swans is better than this one. I didn't want to say this, but I think that Aaron's "sorrowful" clean vocals suck; it's not moving at all. But his spoken word and growling are amazing, though. I think this album would be better with these two kinds of singing as well, even though it wouldn't bring anything new.


Funny, after years I still think The Angel And The Dark River is the better of the two. As for the vocals, I always thought they're just good enough to suit the mood of the music - to be honest I never felt the vocals are exceptionally spectacular, but they're not a nuisance either; there are better vocalists in and outside this style. The atmosphere on this album showcases MDB at their zenith though, and that's why this is my favourite album of theirs.
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29.04.2016 - 18:42
Rating: 10
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
One of greatest MDB albums ever, maybe best, so melancholic, awesome song titles and violin fits perfect together whit Aarons vocals ... its damn awesome,
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Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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24.05.2016 - 12:03
Rating: 9
The Melting Snow

Two Winters Only is heart-wrenching. anyone know the idea/story behind it?
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25.04.2017 - 00:40
Rating: 10
Redel


Up there with Turn loose the swans and Like Gods of the sun.
MDB's holy trinity. Untouchable.
Cry of mankind one of the best songs ever written.
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02.10.2017 - 21:26
Rating: 10
terroriser

I was listening to the album and especially to Cry of Mankind along with my father just before he passed away. Great album, I'd say probably in top 10 metal album ever but brings lots of sad memories
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https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4i2hn2aUeKBtxzw8UN2EML?si=_gXZwweyShiek4Dmk5UzpA
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03.10.2017 - 09:17
Rating: 9
Polaria

Listen to Cry of Mankind once, you'll never forget it.
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Life is all the pain we endeavour.
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12.03.2020 - 00:55
ickoriss

Book this band for my funeral please.
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06.05.2021 - 18:22
Rating: 9
nonZero

The Cry Of Mankind is definitely the stand-out track here. From Darkest Skies, A Sea To Suffer In and Your Shameful Heaven are also great IMO.

8.9/10 from me - Easily My Dying Bride's best album.
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30.08.2021 - 05:05
Rating: 10
Samot

MASTERPIECE!
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Um, Dois, Três, Quatro! Yeah! PORRA!!!
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