Apoch's Metal Review - My Dying Bride: Evinta CD Review

Discography	Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed.
Full-Length(s):	As the Floor Withers (1992) • Turn Loose the Swans (1993) • The Angel and the Dark River (1995) • Like Gods of the Sun (1996) 34.788%... Complete (1998) • The Light at the End of the World (1999) • The Dreadful Hours (2001) • Songs of Darkness, Words of Light (2004) A Line of Deathless Kings (2006) • For Lies I Sire (2009) • Evinta (2011)
EP(s):	Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium (1992) • The Thrash of Naked Limbs Am the Bloody Earth (1994) • Bring Me Victory (2009) Excerpts from Evinta (2011) • Evinta (2011)
Single(s):	God is Alone (1992) • Unreleased Bitterness (1993) • The Sexuality of Bereavement (1994) • The Cry of Mankind (1995) For You Sampler (1996) • Deeper Down (2006)
Demo(s):	Towards the Sinister (1990)
Compilation(s):	Trinity (1995) • Meisterwerk 1 (2000) • Meisterwerk 2 (2001) • Anti-Diluvian Chronicles (2005)
Live CD(s):	The Voice of the Wretched (2002) • An Ode to Woe (2008)
DVD(s):	For Darkest Eyes (VHS) (1997) • For Darkest Eyes (2002) • Sinamorata (2005)

Review

My Dying Bride has astonished listeners all oer the world for years. Originally a Death Metal and Doom Metal group, as time went on, the band shifted to a more Gothic Metal approach, but still retaining that Doom Metal approach. These pioneers in the Metal world have put out stunning album after album, of course some releases in that line, as well as throughout their discography, haven't worked out so well for the group, but the stunning musical approach the band offers with each release is still present, and the potential is there whether it's recognized or not. Now, after being a band for twenty one years, and with ten full-lengths under their belt, My Dying Bride releases what could possibly be their most epic of opuses yet: Evinta.

Evinta can easily be one of the darkest releases from My Dying Bride since the gradual shift towards a Gothic and Doom Metal sound started. The music here definitely shows off the band's more artistic side through classical compositions, instruments and vocal performances, all working together to really create a dark cascade that sometimes can feel like a gothic-era performance, and others like a dark and sinister void of pure black with the tiniest bit of light shining through that's far out of reach. A sense of hopelessness will come over the listener with many tracks, such as the Ambient song "You Are Not the One Who Loves Me", which starts with ambient effects behind some really deep piano notes that will shake the listener straight to the core. A violin eventually picks up, adding to the sense of cascading darkness with the most hopeless of musical environments. The music eventually shines that small beam of light through softer, more emotionally driven music as a spoken word poem is read, and the second that overall touching peace of loneliness and desperation passes, we're greeted with absolute depressive darkness once more, leaving to another spoken word section that offers no remorse, light, or hope of any sorts. This all follows "In Your Dark Pavilion", a more operatic vocal fused song that feels dark and grim, but still has a slight element of hope amid the crushing, gothic sound of the track. Some vocals appear in the song in the background near the end, but the overall atmosphere is nothing compared to the slow paced Doom performance of "You Are Not the One Who Loves Me', and the overall toll it will take on the listener emotionally. This is just the first two tracks of the recording, and not even quite the seventeen minute mark.

And that's one of the better things about this album. The atmospheres given to the album are so rich and dynamic that you can't help but be swept away by them no matter what approach the band takes. The slower paced Doom Metal accompanying such beautiful, melancholic, or desperate musical passages weave the album into a jaw-dropping musical experience like no other. The classical musical overtones with operative vocals dueting with the spoken word narratives make for the most amazing and gut wrenching musical (not technically an opera since there are, in fact, spoken word passages) you may ever get to witness, and it's assault on the listener just never stops. But, the most perceptive of listeners will realize that this is actually not a truly new and original album. In fact, the album is a collection of re-worked songs and melodies that have been extended into more Symphonic compositions, as well as utilizing spoken word passages from Aaron Stainthorpe, the band's vocalist. It becomes a unique concept, especially for an anniversary release, and in many it truly does create one of the most convincing and emotional albums in the Doom Metal style in many years. A fresh take on the songs instead of reimagining material from their history would have been a more fan-acceptable approach, but given the care the band clearly shows on this recording to capture that original sound and incorporate it all to to create an album that puts the most depressing and sorrow filled outlook on the band's history is one that fans of the doom and gloom atmosphere of past recordings will absolute love.

While the first disc contains roughly forty three minutes of really dark and sorrowful material, the second disc contains just about as much material that often still feels rather depressing, but in a more remorseful, memorial manner. "Vanité Triomphante", for example, is an emotionally jerking song that has a fluid atmosphere of regret to it, enough to make the listener feel a truly crushing sensation of sadness, as if bidding a final farewell to someone who may have passed, such as a lost love or family member in a tragedy from long ago. The music builds up towards the end with beautiful keyboards and violins to capture the genuine emotion to the music and bring the listener to his or her knees while a vivid picture of someone standing lost and alone, leaving that someone to become the listener if their mind is creative enough to embrace the music fully. The rest of the album doesn't quite have that real deep darkness to it that disc one does, and it feels a little more artistic in comparison, but still beautiful and engaging on many levels that many of today's bands only wish they could reach the listener at. In a sense, it's like disc one is the night, and disc two is the dawning of a new day, but in a manner that seems to progress over the four tracks, which becomes evident by the time "And Then You Go" kicks in, which is a beautiful song that seems to capture the joy of the dawning of the sun well, looking forward to a new day, but at the same time remains mournful, knowing some kind of tragedy is about to befall, or even perhaps witnessing it yourself.

From start to finish, Evinta is an absolutely amazing release. The band clearly put a lot of time and effort into fine crafting such beautiful and melancholic music to fit on two discs, covering the band's history well. This artfully crafted release easily marks the band's twenty first anniversary well, and given the supposed fifteen year period alluded to around the net, it was a time of concept that was utilized well, allowing the band to truly work up the perfect execution for such a fantastic release. Fans simply will not be let down with Evinta, and even if you are not a fan and you just want something that is emotionally stirring while musically vivid with atmospheres that pain lifelike images in your mind despite how creative an individual you are, then this release is simply a must have for you. This is perhaps the pinnacle album for My Dying Bride, but at the same time perhaps the most remorseful, as after your first spin you'll want to relive it time and time again, but fear that perhaps the band cannot top such a magnificent musical masterpiece such as this.

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	Digital review copy of this release provided by: Peaceville Records via Fresno Media.

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