My Dying Bride are a British doom/death metal band. They were formed in 1990.
During the 1990s My Dying Bride were part of what was known as the death/doom 'Big Three' with Paradise Lost and Anathema. Their music is characterised by romantic, sensual lyrics and an obsessive attention to atmospheric detail. Early demos were death metal in a traditional sense, though much slower than most. However, debut album As The Flower Withers saw the addition of violins and keyboards. Turn Loose the Swans built on that foundation, utilising clean as well as death grunts and - unusually - lead violin on several tracks. Trinity is a compilation of four early EPs and 7" releases. The Angel and the Dark River saw the abandonment of death grunts all together and added a more gothic feel to the songs.
The highly experimental 34.788%... Complete was widely regarded as an embarrassing detour, and — with the possible exception of 'Base Level Erotica' - it was musically and stylistically unlike any of the band's other works. The Light At The End Of The World represented a return to the My Dying Bride of old, but was lambasted by some critics as being a complacent exercise of treading water. My Dying Bride entered something of a hiatus after this, releasing two retrospective albums Meisterwerk 1 and Meisterwerk 2. These albums lay halfway between best of albums and rarity compilations and had no clear target audience. Completists of the band - while appreciating the early demos and rare tracks bemoaned the many album tracks included - while those new to the band acquired a peculiar, career-spanning introduction which lacked coherence.
It was not until 2001's The Dreadful Hours that My Dying Bride managed to win round the bulk of their former fans. More innovative than The Light At The End Of The World, yet retaining all the key elements of the My Dying Bride sound, The Dreadful Hours was slightly darker, although a long way off the intense darkness of the first two demos. 2004's follow-up Songs Of Darkness, Words Of Light showed a band continuing to expand and refine their sound and purpose. A substantial increase in live performances (once an unheard of rarity) has lead to much greater recognition by a new generation of fans.
