British Doom Metal: The Greatest Albums

2. My Dying Bride – Turn Loose The Swans (1993)

Source // www.metal-archives.com

Melodramatic, mournful and morosely morbid, Turn Loose The Swans is a genre-defining  masterpiece from a band who have defiantly followed their singular vision since day one.

Bravely, or foolishly depending on your viewpoint, My Dying Bride incorporated the sparse use of violin and piano, often as a substitute for Doom Metals pre-conditional crushing riffs, to create an atmosphere that draws  in like dusk’; smothering and sinister and utterly enchanting.

Aaron Stainthorpe’s multifaceted vocals, a carousel of ever alternating Death Metal growls, spoken word eulogies and disconsolate singing, added a further dimension to My Dying Bride’s unique sound and the bands dabbling with almost ambient silence contradicted by pitiless industrialised Death/Doom amounts to an experience virtually unparalleled in Doom Metal history.

It’s nigh on perfect, nothing more needs to be said.