The attention to detail that Peaceville invest in their bands, past and present, has been noted in these pages before. It all boils down to respect – respect for oneself as a label and respect for the artists upon your roster and Peaceville has both in equal measure. As a result, the reissue series that has seen vinyl editions of some of metal’s most classic albums (Paradise lost, Anathema, Autopsy, Pentagram and Opeth have all featured) has been justly lauded as a respectful, timely reminder of these classics and the vinyl format suits these masterpieces well and offers a chance for fans who missed out the first time to get their hands on beautifully presented versions of well-loved albums.
This time round it’s the turn of My Dying Bride’s seminal classic, ‘turn loose the swans’, issued here on double 180gm vinyl in a beautiful gatefold jacket complete with artwork unseen since the original vinyl release. The vinyl is appropriately burgundy coloured and the opportunity to revisit this master class of doom should be irresistible to anyone with a working turntable. Throw in liner notes courtesy of Andrew Craighan as well and you have a done deal – this is the definitive version of a doom legend.
The album itself arguably needs no review as fans of the band already know what to expect, but such is the pleasure with which I greeted the arrival of this slab of vinyl in my home that it seems fitting to write a few words nonetheless. ‘Turn loose the swans’ is no easy album to love. The tracks are uniformly lengthy (two tracks to each side of the vinyl except for side C which contains only the lengthy, haunting ‘the crown of sympathy’), slow and bleak yet this vinyl edition presents them in a warmer light than I remember from the CD edition – perhaps the analogue format just suits the music better, but it’s fair to say that ‘turn loose…’ has never sounded better than it does here. The opening track ‘sear me MCMXCIII’ is the perfect introduction into this remorselessly miserable world. While Andrew in the notes admits that the label would have preferred another track, the choice is ideal as it inducts the unwary relatively gently into the dark, Shakespearean world that MDB inhabit. With hindsight, it’s easy to see where MDB were headed, but at the time, it must be remembered, this album followed three EPs of bleak, vicious material (found on ‘Trinity’) and the debut record (‘as the flower withers’) all of which utilised death metal vocals, and the heavy use of clean vocals here must have come as something of a shock to the MDB fans buying the record at the time. As it transpired the shift in vocal delivery was a masterstroke that has stood the test of time, but at that time it was a move only just shy of heresy. ‘Your river’, however hinted at the bands roots with a riff heavy blast of pure doom metal that was as thick as molasses in winter and twice as heavy, while the vocals took on a menacing growl that at least reminded fans of from whence the band had come.
After such a flawless opening, ‘the songless bird’ (which opens side B) starts in an odd fashion with the ramped up synths recalling a sci-fi movie soundtrack before guitars crash in which are straight out of a Swans record in terms of heavy, repetitive abrasiveness. A stunningly brutal track, the pounding double bass drums seem at odds with the earlier sombre tone, but it is exactly this sort of dynamic shift that saw the band ebb from their deathly slowness to a cavalry charge all within one song that makes MDB so special and the mastering job on the vinyl is such that every instrument comes through in perfect clarity. Next up, ‘the snow in my hand’ is a slow, churning maelstrom of snatched violin, deathly vocals and brutal drumming all set within an icy atmosphere of cold and decay.
With side C taken over entirely by ‘the crown of sympathy’, it is here that we find the bleak, epic heart of the album. The lyrics are filled with the symbolism of lost innocence and pain while musically the band stretched themselves, much as they have continued to do over the years since this record was released, and it is in this moment that ugliness and beauty truly collide as MDB wring every last drop of emotional content from out of their decaying riffs. In this track, more than anywhere else, MDB truly conjured up the air of decay that surrounded Miss Havisham in Dickens’ masterpiece ‘Great Expectations’, with singer Aaron standing aloof in a room untouched by light or love since the great moment of betrayal by a long-lost lover. It is a wonderful track and arguably MDB have never sounded better than in this moment of scarlet-draped gothic grandeur, although their output has been of such a consistently high standard that it’s hard to state that categorically.
The final side closes things out in no less grand a style. The title track groans under its own weight, with the guitars and violin beautifully intertwining, while the vocals sound as if they’ve been piped in direct from hell while the bass soaked intro to the thoughtful ‘Black God’ gives way to one of the most beautiful tracks MDB have ever recorded with piano, violin and female vocals all adding to the sombre atmosphere.
Overall this is a timely and wonderful re-issue of a classic album. Peaceville have once again carefully adjudged the audience and their tastes and provided a collector’s item of real quality. Limited to only 2000 units, this is something you should probably hurry toward (Paradise lost’s ‘Draconian times’ sold out distressingly quickly) – it is time to once again embrace the darkness.
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