Year: 2024
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Rating: 8,4 / 10
Say what you will, but, at least from time to time, musicians have to be hungry (both in a direct and figurative sense) in order to get a taste of their own creativity again. ”The Ghost of Orion", which was created at a time when Aaron Stainthorpe's daugther had cancer, was half-ambient, but the other half contained almost the best songs in the history of the band. During the recording of "A Mortal Binding", some new problems arose within the band, and as a result they led to the fact that MY DYING BRIDE cancelled their tours put their activities on a short pause. Aaron even became a full-time member of another band for the first time in his life - I mean the gothic metal outfit HIGH PARASITE.
But - here's a miracle - it was during this turbulent period that MY DYING BRIDE ecorded their most powerful album in at least 20 years! Like all old bands, MDB is in a sense hostage to their early discography: they are always expected to return to the style of "Turn Loose The Swans” and "The Angel and the Dark River". Of course, this is impossible, but "A Mortal Binding" is the closest to these albums that the British can offer today. The old-fashioned violin and wind instruments, keyboards and lead guitar are immediately recognizable on some subconscious level (perhaps, new guitarist has something to do with that). Short Death Metal sections are so square-formed that they refer all the way to ”As the Flowers Withers".
At the same time, the general style of performance reminds the fertile period of 1996-2009. The songs are no longer so epic, but very dynamic. Aaron sings and speaks in different ways, as he did before. Even the sound turned out to be very decent, especially against the background of that ballless "production“ that we were forced to listen to on ”The Ghost of Orion". The studio is the same, the sound engineer is the same, but the difference can be heard immediately. Each song has its own strengths and outstanding (as well as familiar) moments. Some, like "Unthroned Creed,“ seem to come from record sessions to ”The Dreadful Hours".
"A Mortal Binding" leaves only positive impressions. This is a really powerful album, which has no weaknesses, no filler tracks, no exhaustion - in short, none of the things that spoiled MDB releases, starting around “A Line Of Deathless Kings". If the worst happens and this album becomes the last in the band's discography, no one will be ashamed of such a tremendous finale.
The physical version of the album on CD has a rather stylish gothic / funerary booklet with all the lyrics made in the same style (I admit I did not understand the general concept, but it is there for certain). It looks good, the only complaint is the horribly pixelated image of the cross under the disk. Details on a video.
English (UK) 
Крыўская