It's fanboy time for me.
First track sounds promising, though not mind blowing.
I better dont expect too much from this album.

Watch MY DYING BRIDE's Music Video For 'Your Broken Shore'

Aaron's vocals are on another level this time but overall, the album is monotonous and simply feels incomplete.

During my first listen I just kept thinking about how fake the review magazines and sites are nowadays. Out of the 56 minutes, 12 minutes is pointless filler material (The Solace, The Ghost of Orion, Your Woven Shore). Absolutely nothing happens in those songs. I doubt I'll ever listen to them again. But in the reviews I read online there was so much praise for these songs being mood setters, and perfect interludes and what not. Bullshit. It's like the band specifically asked the reviewers to say all that.

The other 44 minutes is pretty good though. I understand now what MDB meant when they said the album will be more "accessible" than previous ones. The riffs, while sounding really good, are quite simple to understand/play for even beginners I guess and there is plenty of repetition in the songs. The clean vocals are always catchy and memorable. The violins are used really well too.

The main 5 songs are really good. Standard My Dying Bride. But the other 3 are a waste of time.

Written by Paradoxical on 06.03.2020 at 05:50

Aaron's vocals are on another level this time but overall, the album is monotonous and simply feels incomplete.

my thoughts exactly. they said in an interview they recorded 80 minutes of music out of which 20 odd are left out for an EP to be released later.

I wonder why they couldn't cut out filler material and just release one 'complete' album

Written by The Melting Snow on 06.03.2020 at 07:23

During my first listen I just kept thinking about how fake the review magazines and sites are nowadays. Out of the 56 minutes, 12 minutes is pointless filler material (The Solace, The Ghost of Orion, Your Woven Shore). Absolutely nothing happens in those songs. I doubt I'll ever listen to them again. But in the reviews I read online there was so much praise for these songs being mood setters, and perfect interludes and what not. Bullshit. It's like the band specifically asked the reviewers to say all that.

This is why you should only read Metal Storm reviews

First spin.

A...a...are you serious?
Tooootally uninspired.
I cant help it, I told myself not to judge this album after first listen.
But now I am so afraid that I am never going to listen to this one again....

This is the first MDB album I've picked up in several years and I loved it from start to finish. It definitely has a fairly consistent tone and pace for most of the record, but not in a bad way at all. Aaron's vocals are outstanding and the rest of the instrumentation and production is tight as hell. Went and ordered this thing right away after first listen.

Written by Redel on 07.03.2020 at 00:35

First spin.

A...a...are you serious?
Tooootally uninspired.
I cant help it, I told myself not to judge this album after first listen.
But now I am so afraid that I am never going to listen to this one again....

Exactly my thoughts. My favorite band since Tlts, but this is possibly their weakest work since...ever!? I am really sad about it. Hopefully it will grow on me, but i cant see how. :/

Slow but deathly, could be the slogan to this new album of My Dying Bride, after 5 years of waiting, this is a very good return. All songs have a perfect tuning in between them, even the song The Ghost Town (instrumental one) that take me by surprise but make me love it. It will probably be the doom album of the year.

I like the new album very much. In my opinion the atmosphere in this album is incredible and the songs are all beautiful, inspired, new. I have to say that they did a great job, as always (since the first time I heard of them, in 1993, they never disappointed me). The evolution and changing once again are in a good direction and don't go too far from their glorious roots. Bought the cd immediately.

Written by Thorgoth on 07.03.2020 at 14:29

My favorite band since Tlts, but this is possibly their weakest work since...ever!? I am really sad about it. Hopefully it will grow on me, but i cant see how. :/

My favourite band, too. And I share your hopes.
Actually, I was so disappointed after the first spin that I cant really believe my first impression was correct.
Thus, I am going to spin it again just now.
I must have been wrong about it....

Okay, I have spun this some 4-5 times by now.
I guess that suffices for a first assessment that is a bit more elaborated than my initial impression.
I was certainly going too far when I said this was totally uninspired after my first spin.
But I do claim that this album lacks inspiration over a large part.

Some brief track-by-track assessment:
01. Your Broken Shore: The most accessible track here, I like it
02. To Outlive The Gods: Lame, uninspired
03. Tired Of Tears: Lame, mostly uninspired, monotonous
04. The Solace: Actually a quite nice filler
05. The Long Black Land: This could have been a highlight. It starts off pretty promising, builds up over the first half, but then just lingers on and on. This song is incomplete (someone said that before me).
06. The Ghost Of Orion: The title track is probably the most dispensable track here.
07. The Old Earth: Here I almost cried! This one starts off so wonderfully over the first 3.5 minutes. This is how I would have wanted the whole album to sound like. Unfortunately, that does not hold for what comes thereafter. Some nice double base in the end, not much more.
08. Your Woven Shore: Album lingers out...


All in all, I have a 6.7 for this album. My rating is most probably biased upwards as well as downwards.
Upwards because I am an MDB fanboy and downwards because I am a really disappointed one, now that I have seen the result of what I have been waiting for over the last five years.

I'm loving To Outlive The Gods. It's growing on me with every listen. The violins are so perfectly placed in the song and Aaron's vocals are heavy and heartbreaking. He is a great narrator of sorrow

I listened this, ok It never will be as As The Flower Withers, Turn Loose The Swans, The Angel And The Dark River and Like Gods Of The Sun albums, never but this and prev one are quat ok. This is year of the doom, new bands old farts. I like it pure gothic doom classic. Violin also is from mid 90's when we had such trend as Ashes You Leave. I like this one, for old MDB its decent work, because in mid period they sucked, last 2 are some how come backs to doom.

I have written just under a thousand words for this album's review. I need to edit it somehow.

Written by nikarg on 13.03.2020 at 11:39

I have written just under a thousand words for this album's review. I need to edit it somehow.

NO dont

Written by nikarg on 13.03.2020 at 11:39

I have written just under a thousand words for this album's review. I need to edit it somehow.

Don't

Written by RaduP on 13.03.2020 at 14:27

Written by nikarg on 13.03.2020 at 11:39

I have written just under a thousand words for this album's review. I need to edit it somehow.

Don't

Man remember your comment on Kevin Demons n wizards concert reviev

Written by nikarg on 13.03.2020 at 11:39

I have written just under a thousand words for this album's review. I need to edit it somehow.

Nah.

Nothhhiiiinnngggg newww........ dejected.

It's a grower. I like the main 5 songs even more now. The opening of The Old Earth is perfect. The "Beast broken by time" lyric gives me goosebumps

One more shitty album from MDB. Except for TLATEOTW and TDH, every album without Calvin have been mediocre. It's no surprise he was the main writer in the TLTS and TAATDR days.
My hopes went up when he returned for FTM, and indeed it was a reasonable album, but now we're back to completely average stuff.

Written by thisempty on 24.03.2020 at 04:27

One more shitty album from MDB. Except for TLATEOTW and TDH, every album without Calvin have been mediocre. It's no surprise he was the main writer in the TLTS and TAATDR days.
My hopes went up when he returned for FTM, and indeed it was a reasonable album, but now we're back to completely average stuff.

holy shit i feel like punching guys who write like ABCDEFG, XYZMOGH.

MOFO

Written by The Melting Snow on 25.03.2020 at 10:06

holy shit i feel like punching guys who write like ABCDEFG, XYZMOGH.

MOFO

I fully got his point, though I dont agree.

Pretty good album for me. The growls are really good, has so much of a Paradise Lost vibe to it. The long black land is one of the perfect doom songs I have heard.

Really decent album .....i love it!

Written by Paradoxical on 06.03.2020 at 05:50

Aaron's vocals are on another level this time but overall, the album is monotonous and simply feels incomplete.

Exactly ......

I can honestly say that I'm not able to get into this one, it's not their worst release exactly, but not that good either imo. The songwriting seems kind of stale on this, usually there's at least one moment that stands out for me on a MDB album, however on here there is none.