A Line of Deathless Kings

In 2006, My Dying Bride celebrated their 16th anniversary. Not every album the British goth metal outfit recorded along the way was a five-star masterpiece, but even when they came out with an album that wasn't quite up to par, they would eventually bounce back with something impressive -- and A Line of Deathless Kings finds My Dying Bride very much on top of their game. This 2006 recording is state-of-the-art goth metal -- brooding, gloomy, sorrowful, pessimistic, and darkly poetic. Very few, if any, rays of sunlight find their way to tracks like "The Blood, the Wine, the Roses," "Deeper Down," "Thy Raven Wings," and "Love's Intolerable Pain"; the goth scene has a long history of focusing on darker emotions, and A Line of Deathless Kings lives up to that time-honored tradition. True to form, lead singer Aaron Stainthorpe conveys despair masterfully; he is the quintessential goth vocalist. It should be stressed that A Line of Deathless Kings, like other My Dying Bride releases, is aggressive without being ferocious. These Brits have always been highly melodic, making it easy for goth rock fans to get into their work even if they aren't necessarily big supporters of goth metal. And for that matter, the doom metal crowd should have no problem getting into this 60-minute CD; My Dying Bride, with their passion for slow, plodding, Black Sabbath-influenced riffs, have long had plenty of credibility among doom metal enthusiasts. This is a band that clearly sees the parallels between goth metal and doom metal, and both goth and doom enthusiasts will find a great deal to savor on A Line of Deathless Kings.