MY DYING BRIDE — Towards the Sinister (review)

MY DYING BRIDE — Towards the Sinister album cover Demo · 1990 · Death-Doom Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Towards the Sinister" is the first demo recording by UK doom/death metal act My Dying Bride. It´s the band´s first and only demo release and it was independently released in February 1991 (originally on cassette tape). The band were at this point a four-piece consisting of Aaron Stainthorpe on vocals, Andrew Craighan on guitars and keyboards, Calvin Robertshaw on guitars, and Rick Miah on drums.

The demo contains four tracks and a total playing time of 23:27 minutes. Both "The Grief of Age" and "Catching Feathers" are exclusive to this release while re-recorded and re-arranted versions of "Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium" and "Vast Choirs" would appear on subsequent studio releases by the band. The former on the "Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium" (1992) EP while the latter would appear on My Dying Bride´s debut full-length studio album "As The Flower Withers" (1992). While there are certainly crushingly heavy and doomy parts on the demo, the paced is often mid-paced and there are even some faster sections in some songs. So this is definitely the fastest and most old school death metal release from My Dying Bride featuring only hints at what they would do only a few years down the line (that is ultra heavy and sollow filled doom/death metal). The vocals are predominantly deep growls although Stainthorpe adds a more raw and aggressive edge to some parts. His tortured clean vocal delivery would only appear on later releases.

While the music on the album is actually pretty solid compared to other releases in the genre from the early nineties, the production drags this demo down. The sound is muddy and not even close to being professional. I thought it was a rehearsal demo until I read that the demo was actually recorded and mixed in Nov. 24-25, 1990 at Revolver Studios, UK. So this is a warts and all type demo release, but there´s enough dark charm and gloomy promise here to warrant a 2.5 star (50%) rating.
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