My Dying Bride

Unlike Anathema, Cathedral and Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride are the only remaining band of that quadrumvirate that has adhered to the long established tenets of British doom's old guard. The spotlight still shines radiantly upon the group's founding dramatis personae: vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe and guitarist Andy Craighan both sound just as gloomy on this new album as they did on their 1994 breakthrough Turn Loose the Swans. Openers "To Remain Tombless" and "L'Amour Detruit" reprise those classic tones, and "I Cannot Be Loved" builds upon the band's imagination that swirled around 1996's Like Gods of the Sun. "And I Walk with Them" stands tall as an album highlight, thanks to the expert mix of Stainthorpe's spoken word vocals, Craighan's melodic guitar lines and Sarah Stanton's ethereal keyboards. The immediate hooks of "Loves Intolerable Pain" sink deep into the darkest recesses of the metal psyche, propelled by Stainthorpe's growling vocals. The band even take a stab (albeit brief) at their earliest death metal efforts in the coda of "The Blood, The Wine, The Roses," hearkening back to the heady days of 1992's As the Flower Withers. My Dying Bride are true doom stalwarts, and the consistency of A Line of Deathless Kings proves that the band are indeed immortal.