Since I'm a huge fan of this band for about 9 years I can easily judge this song after one listen. And... it's definitely a good song. Not amazed by it in any way though. Glad I hear some violins too, but a shame there aren't any growls to be heard. And I have to get one thing off my chest: Aaron's clean vocals aren't what they used to be. In comparison to, say, Like Gods of the Sun, his voice is more whiny and I definitely like it less now. I wonder why his voice changed during these years.

Weird to hear acoustics on MDB, that ending was really Opeth-like Good song.

Written by Erik M. on 10.05.2013 at 19:54

Since I'm a huge fan of this band for about 9 years I can easily judge this song after one listen. And... it's definitely a good song. Not amazed by it in any way though. Glad I hear some violins too, but a shame there aren't any growls to be heard. And I have to get one thing off my chest: Aaron's clean vocals aren't what they used to be. In comparison to, say, Like Gods of the Sun, his voice is more whiny and I definitely like it less now. I wonder why his voice changed during these years.

I wouldn't say that he's more whiny, but his melodies are definitely brighter. I mean, MDB has always been whiny per se--just not nasal whiny cry baby bullshit. They've always captured sorrow in a pure form without sounding like angsty bitches; imo anyways. I know you're familiar with this, but I thought I'd just state it.

With Aaron's cleans lately, I can't help but to get imagery of sunshine glaring through a light spring rainfall. It really isn't something I want to imagine while listening to doom. Though I can appreciate his need to expand on his vocal abilities, this path he's meandering on isn't something that craves my attention--even though I buy everything they put out. I can listen to their entire album from front to back without skipping a song, but it's A Line of Deathless Kings where the brighter vocal melodies creep out. They've stuck around ever since, and I'd enjoy the music if he'd keep them to a minimum or drop them completely. SoD,WoL was the pinnacle of his best vocals. However, like I said, I can appreciate them, they're beautiful and he needs to fulfill his artistic needs; this I can relate to. Perhaps I'm a fanboy. Oh well.

edit: And it's not just in his vocals, the guitars/violin have been brighter as well.

Written by Carrion Misery on 10.05.2013 at 21:42

I wouldn't say that he's more whiny, but his melodies are definitely brighter. I mean, MDB has always been whiny per se--just not nasal whiny cry baby bullshit. They've always captured sorrow in a pure form without sounding like angsty bitches; imo anyways. I know you're familiar with this, but I thought I'd just state it.

With Aaron's cleans lately, I can't help but to get imagery of sunshine glaring through a light spring rainfall. It really isn't something I want to imagine while listening to doom. Though I can appreciate his need to expand on his vocal abilities, this path he's meandering on isn't something that craves my attention--even though I buy everything they put out. I can listen to their entire album from front to back without skipping a song, but it's A Line of Deathless Kings where the brighter vocal melodies creep out. They've stuck around ever since, and I'd enjoy the music if he'd keep them to a minimum or drop them completely. SoD,WoL was the pinnacle of his best vocals. However, like I said, I can appreciate them, they're beautiful and he needs to fulfill his artistic needs; this I can relate to. Perhaps I'm a fanboy. Oh well.

edit: And it's not just in his vocals, the guitars/violin have been brighter as well.

Aside from the whiny part, I totally agree with you. You summed it up pretty nicely here. I also think his vocals went downhill after SoD, WoL (which is still their best album, along with Turn Loose the Swans). But I think For Lies I Sire is in every way their worst album, so also vocally (they are pretty damn whiny sometimes), and it's so incredibly inferior to The Angel and the Dark River and Like Gods of the Sun it's not even funny. Obviously I compare these three records because those are the gothic doom albums MDB created (with For Lies I Sire being a little bit death/doom as well though).

Written by Erik M. on 10.05.2013 at 23:13

Written by Carrion Misery on 10.05.2013 at 21:42

I wouldn't say that he's more whiny, but his melodies are definitely brighter. I mean, MDB has always been whiny per se--just not nasal whiny cry baby bullshit. They've always captured sorrow in a pure form without sounding like angsty bitches; imo anyways. I know you're familiar with this, but I thought I'd just state it.

With Aaron's cleans lately, I can't help but to get imagery of sunshine glaring through a light spring rainfall. It really isn't something I want to imagine while listening to doom. Though I can appreciate his need to expand on his vocal abilities, this path he's meandering on isn't something that craves my attention--even though I buy everything they put out. I can listen to their entire album from front to back without skipping a song, but it's A Line of Deathless Kings where the brighter vocal melodies creep out. They've stuck around ever since, and I'd enjoy the music if he'd keep them to a minimum or drop them completely. SoD,WoL was the pinnacle of his best vocals. However, like I said, I can appreciate them, they're beautiful and he needs to fulfill his artistic needs; this I can relate to. Perhaps I'm a fanboy. Oh well.

edit: And it's not just in his vocals, the guitars/violin have been brighter as well.

Aside from the whiny part, I totally agree with you. You summed it up pretty nicely here. I also think his vocals went downhill after SoD, WoL (which is still their best album, along with Turn Loose the Swans). But I think For Lies I Sire is in every way their worst album, so also vocally (they are pretty damn whiny sometimes), and it's so incredibly inferior to The Angel and the Dark River and Like Gods of the Sun it's not even funny. Obviously I compare these three records because those are the gothic doom albums MDB created (with For Lies I Sire being a little bit death/doom as well though).

I don't find For Lies I Sire too bad, but I do find myself sighing a lot when I listen to it. There's a lot of potential on that album then it sort of falls flat when it runs into brighter parts. Their dark progressions definitely aren't the focus on that album which makes it fall beneath the other albums. I think the sound production is phenomenal though.