Trinity - My Dying Bride

'Trinity' is a collection of Yorkshire gothic doom legends My Dying Bride's first three EPs, released between 1991 and 1994.

The first three tracks are from 'Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium', consisting of a mix slow and sludgy doom and mid-to-fast-tempo passages of unashamedly raw and uncomplicated rumbling death metal. The songs offer up some incredibly guttural and sickening growls courtesy of frontman Aaron Stainthorpe ...
...doom sections are accompanied by funereal violin. The whole thing has a deep and oppressive groove to it, and represents the band at their most coarse and brutal.

The next three tracks are taken from the band's 'The Thrash of Naked Limbs' EP, and here the emphasis is more on despondent, languishing riffs and more prominent sombre violin work, as the embryonic stages of their miserable-yet-melodic style begin to emerge. The songs still ... more

'Trinity' is a collection of Yorkshire gothic doom legends My Dying Bride's first three EPs, released between 1991 and 1994.

The first three tracks are from 'Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium', consisting of a mix slow and sludgy doom and mid-to-fast-tempo passages of unashamedly raw and uncomplicated rumbling death metal. The songs offer up some incredibly guttural and sickening growls courtesy of frontman Aaron Stainthorpe and have an ominous and claustrophobic feel, whilst the lumbering doom sections are accompanied by funereal violin. The whole thing has a deep and oppressive groove to it, and represents the band at their most coarse and brutal.

The next three tracks are taken from the band's 'The Thrash of Naked Limbs' EP, and here the emphasis is more on despondent, languishing riffs and more prominent sombre violin work, as the embryonic stages of their miserable-yet-melodic style begin to emerge. The songs still appear rough and dirty-sounding however, and are played in a loose style, with the Ep's title track drifting from lethargic slow sections to chugging mid-paced parts before reaching plateaus of sad and rousing melodies supported by haunting strains of violin. Elsewhere there are passages of ominous gothic ambience complete with sampled Gregorian style backing vocals, tolling bells, cavernous echoes and what sound like deep and distant horns, creating an atmosphere thick with Lovecraftian menace, although there are still plenty of nods to crude and beastial death metal, both in the guttural vocals and in the track 'Gather Me Up Forever' which merges the band's discordantly melodic style with energetic, almost punky mid-paced sections that remind strongly of UK death metal veterans Bolt Thrower.

Tracks seven and eight are taken from the band's 1994 EP 'I Am The Bloody Earth', and by now the band are beginning to hint at the style of mournful and distorted mid-paced riffs for which they would become best known, the two tracks being similar in style to the desolate and romantic style of 1994 full length 'Turn Loose The Swans'. The sparse songs drag onwards with a slow funereal feel, accompanied once more by delicate and sombre violin and vocals that are still deep and growled but are starting to sound less aggressive and more despondent. There are moments of relatively up-tempo lurching urgency, but as a whole the songs sound moribund, always seemingly on the brink of breaking down completely and slowing down into nothingness. The final track on the album is a remixed version of the excellent 'Turn Loose the Swans' track 'Crown of Sympathy'. This is a fantastic, slowly-evolving, epic track, that merges long passages of slow and sorrowful clean melody with chugging doom sections supported by despondent and subdued clean vocals that replace Aaron's previous coarse, growled style, although there's very little difference between this version and the original apart from some very mild manipulation of vocal effects/vocal placing, a slightly shorter runtime and a more intrusive and moderately annoying drum sound. You'd be better off just listening to the original version to be honest.

'Trinity' is an excellent collection of doom/death releases that is well worth tracking down for fans of raw death metal, gothic doom and funeral doom alike, and offers a great insight into the band's humble early days. The booklet gives the poetic and intriguing lyrics to tracks 4-9, but not those of the first EP for some reason, but this remains a minor criticism. My Dying Bride's music DVD 'For Darkest Eyes' shows the band performing a number of the songs from this collection live, as well as the early music videos they made for each of the 3 EPs, and is also well worth picking up.

Tracklisting-

1. Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium 11:38
2. God is Alone 04:51
3. De Sade Soliloquay 03:45
4. The Thrash of Naked Limbs 06:12
5. Le Cerf Malade 06:31
6. Gather Me Up Forever 05:22
7. I Am the Bloody Earth 06:35
8. The Sexuality of Bereavement 08:04
9. The Crown of Sympathy (Remix) 11:10

Total playing time 01:04:17

Summary: A great collection highly reccommended fans of raw and oppressive doom 

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