After 27 years in the music scene, MY DYING BRIDE are a dark monumental pillar that always stayed loyal to their depressive and beautifully miserable sound. Currently writing on new material, the band is now off to new shores. Their latest release, titled “A Mortal Binding,” was released via Nuclear Blast Records on April 19. “Her Dominion” is first. The opening tones are low, weighted, and the vocals have a vile snarl to them. The main riff however is fairly simple, and the sound is just a bit on the thin side. “Thornwyck Hym” doesn’t have a lot of energy, and the first two songs have failed to impress me much. I get Doom Metal, and love Doom Metal, but a band of this caliber needs to keep pressing forward hard, and it doesn’t seem like they are right now. “The 2^nd of Three Bells” is more like it. The opening drips with emotion, like despair and hopelessness. The twin guitar work is nice, but again, the sound is thin.

 “Unthroned Creed” has more power in its core, from a dark, heavy riff. But from there, the band seems to fall back to old habits once again. “The Apocalyptist” is a lengthy eleven-minute opus, beginning with soft string and clean guitars.  But again, it’s too thin. In Doom Metal, a simple riff can carry the sound, if you let it reverberate. The heavy bass notes and violin are nice, but not enough to ride out the song. “A Starving Heart” begins with smooth melancholy tones, and I feel like if the band would expound on these, it would really help the album. The riffs are massive here, and the bass guitar parts are solemn.

 “Crushed Embers” closes the album. The initial sound is melodic and quite sad, and the violin helps that feeling along. But the clean vocals are pitchy. Overall, it would be safe to say that the album was a disappointment for me. They didn’t offer anything new to the genre, which, in and of itself, isn’t anything necessary. But if you don’t, the music had better be that good. They played their sound too safe here.