My Dying Bride // A Map Of All Our Failures

As one of the seminal doom bands in the 1990s My Dying Bride continue to be one of the biggest names in their genre. Unfortunately the genre is stagnating somewhat. There has been little progress within the scene for the last twenty years and true to form MDB are still plodding along, doing what they do best. Their newest album, 'A Map Of All Our Failures', is typical of the Yorkshire group's material - solemn, epic and heavily layered - a perfect example of what 'doom metal' should be. The problem is the band release material almost every year and show little sign of deviating from their already tried and tested formula.  The tracks are produced perfectly, each tome of a song filling the airwaves with despair and gloom. The dual guitar melodies work alongside harsher, metal riffs to create soundscapes of epic proportions but there is nothing for the avid listener to experience that they haven't many times before. As the group's guitarist aptly says, this new album is 'a controlled demolition of all your hopes'...that something new and refreshing might emerge.