Memories: My Dying Bride

It's and unescapable fact: Metal is ridiculous. Flaming swords, ten minutes keytar solos, King Diamond, multiple murder; metal is crazy music for crazy people, and usually tries far too hard to look intense to not look silly.

That said, even a ridiculous and over-the-top band like My Dying Bride can be brilliant, without it being an accident. I listened to these guys a lot when I was 17 through 19 or so, especially after I bought their concert DVD For Darkest Eyes (which very sadly stopped working a couple years ago, but now we have YouTube!). At the time I was way into doom metal, especially of the dark, pseudo-gothy variety MDB perfected. These guys, early Paradise Lost, Morgion, and their ilk were all kicking my ass at the time. MDB in particular put out two of the best doom metal records ever, Turn Loose the Swans and The Angel and the Dark River. But eventually, I got bored or distracted or something and haven't listened to them in a good while (I have three songs by them on iTunes; one of them I ever listen to). They're still putting out albums, I'm not sure how good those are.

Then I thought about them earlier. And then I went on the YouTubes. And wow.

The video above was always a favorite of mine. Unfortunately, this is not the full 12-minute version of "The Cry of Mankind", but it gives a good idea of the great use of the main riff, which never stops throughout the song. Just six notes, completely brilliant. That's exactly what doom metal should be about: heavy, beautiful repetition. That said, the sad pasty Jesus singer was probably a step too far.

This other video ("Black Voyage") is from the DVD I owned, and is another song from The Angel and the Dark River. This is them notching up the heavy, and also giving some idea of what you are missing in the abridged version of "The Cry of Mankind" in the middle.