My Dying Bride – Macabre Cabaret – EP Review

Artist: My Dying Bride

Album Title: Macabre Cabaret

Label: Nuclear Blast

Date of Release: 20 November 2020

Not content with releasing an incredibly strong and emotionally-wrought full length album earlier in the year, Yorkshire’s gloom and doom merchants have returned this autumn with a three-track EP entitled ‘Macabre Cabaret’ that provides fans with another twenty-plus minutes of dark, soul-crushing melancholy. Huzzah, I say. Bring it on.

Those that read my review of ‘Ghost Of Orion’ will know that it struck a chord with me and I lavished it with much praise, ultimately awarding it with a score of 93%. Of it, I concluded:

“The more I listen, the more I fall in love with the music that these experienced musicians have created. It has become a constant listening companion over the past week or more, a week where I discover new words, new meaning, new subtle musical nuances within the songs and in so doing, I take it to my heart ever more fondly.”

I think it is fair to say that the quality shown on the full-length has found its way onto this EP also, which is a wonderful thing to report. One also hopes that this three-track venture was the result of a more collaborative writing process, following the line-up changes and personal trials of the band leading up to ‘Ghost Of Orion’. Either way it shows that unlike the music itself, there’s no sign of My Dying Bride slowing down anytime soon.

The EP, which coincidentally is adorned with beautiful artwork, opens up with the title track. It is a beast in terms of its length, clocking in at ten minutes exactly. But it is also a beast in terms of what it offers the listener. A prominent bass line duets with an organ, before a typically powerful, lumbering, lurching riff kicks in alongside Aaron Stainthorpe’s clean vocals. I love the fact that we get to hear plenty of his snarling growls on this composition too, lending an even more aggressive edge to the music. There’s a Gothic splendour to the quieter sections of the song, as keys, synths and echoed instrumentation bathe the listener in a dark and unsettling minimalist soundscape.

If I had a favourite song on this EP however, it’s be ‘A Secret Kiss’. I love the chunky riffs, and the pinched harmonics are a bit of a weakness for me. Then there is the understated melody that’s led by layers of vocals, creating a hypnotic feel. If anything, this track is heavier than the opener with some seriously crushing guitar notes as well as a vocal approach that’s more aggressive and spiteful than just about anything on ‘Ghost Of Orion’. Or at least, that’s how it feels, as there’s a death metal vibe at times to accompany the more familiar doom of My Dying Bride.

Final track, ‘A Purse Of Gold And Stars’ is a much more atmospheric affair. There are no guitars to speak of, as the song prefers to take a different approach. It is significantly different but nonetheless, thanks to the deep spoken word tones from Stainthorpe, it carries an echo of ‘For My Fallen Angel’. Here, it is pianos, dark, dystopian sound effects, and later, a strong drumbeat surrounded by string orchestration and choral effects. Delicate and disquieting in equal measure, it works and shows a different side to My Dying Bride that we all know is there, lurking under the surface.

As a bonus for 2020, ‘Macabre Cabaret’ is an excellent one. It underlines the strength of the band, as well as their hunger to create more material. But it isn’t just material for material’s sake – the three tracks that comprise ‘Macabre Cabaret’ are more than worthy successors to ‘Ghost Of Orion’, further underlining just how lucky we are to have a band like My Dying Bride making music for us all to enjoy. Revel in the doom and gloom, people, for the nights are becoming ever-longer as we head inexorably into the dying embers of 2020.

The Score of Much Metal: 89%