Another one of those releases that initially went by rather unnoticed because I was underwhelmed by its predecessor was the new My Dying Bride album ‘The Ghost Of Orion’. To me, ‘Feel The Misery’ felt a little too My Dying Bride by the numbers and featured one of Aaron Stainthorpe’s weakest vocal performances to date. Fast forward five years to the release of ‘The Ghost Of Orion’, which sounds exactly the way I would like to hear My Dying Bride, with some of Stainthorpe’s strongest work to boot. Not the most uplifting stuff, as expected, but all the more powerful for it.

‘The Ghost Of Orion’ is pretty much 100 percent doom metal, with some avant-garde touches that remind me of ‘Into The Pandemonion’ and ‘Monotheist’ era Celtic Frost here and there. The album is dominated by slow, mournful riffs, frequently harmonized for additional dramatic effect. In addition, there are more vocal harmonies than ever. Interviews suggest this may be the influence of producer Mark Mynett, but the fact that Stainthorpe actually sings more than the dramatic speaking he is known for helps as well. The creative control guitarist Andrew Craighan had may have just contributed to such a cohesive, powerful result as well.

On the surface, ‘The Ghost Of Orion’ is not that different from My Dying Bride’s other more doom metal-oriented – and therefore less gothic – albums. There are plenty of riffs that consist of a few single notes that ring for a full measure or even longer, broken up by even more dirge-like cleaner guitar parts, while the atmosphere is grim and oppressive. But it’s exactly that atmosphere that makes ‘The Ghost Of Orion’ a far better than average My Dying Bride album. It’s not forced upon you by dominant keyboard or violin parts. If anything, Shaun MacGowan appears to be a texturing master.

Like many albums of its ilk, ‘The Ghost Of Orion’ is best experienced listening to it start to finish. Dynamically, it’s always difficult to build up such a slow album, but the band have managed to hold my attention for the full 56 minutes of its running time. The album starts with the faster, more accessible tracks, but that is all relative. None of the first three songs is easy to digest and they are all even short of midtempo. If you can make it through those, you are ready for the 10-minute ultra-doom tracks ‘The Long Black Land’ and ‘The Old Earth’. Even after all these years, it’s remarkable how much Craighan can wring out of what is essentially a limited amount of musical information.

Beside the five actual songs, there are three lengthy interludes, all of which are excellent. The most notable of these is ‘The Solace’, which is almost six minutes of Craighan playing his trademark riffs with Wardruna’s Lindy Fay Hella singing on top of it and no other accompaniment. The best example of the aforementioned Celtic Frost-ish avant-gardism. Add the sublime production – roomy and contemporary, but not too flat or hollow – to the mix and you’ve got yourself an excellent gothic doom metal album. Easily the best My Dying Bride album since ‘The Dreadful Hours’. Possibly even better.

Recommended tracks: ‘The Long Black Land’, ‘The Solace’, ‘To Outlive The Gods’