My Dying Bride - For Darkest Eyes (DVD)

[dill_the_devil]

My Dying Bride - For Darkest Eyes (DVD)
2002 - Peaceville Records
By Philip Whitehouse.

An enhanced for DVD version of the longform VHS of the same name, For Darkest Eyes is the perfect multi-media documentation of Britain's most critically-acclaimed and long-lasting doom metal bands, My Dying Bride.

Comprising of a professionally-shot live concert shot in Krakow, Poland, some amateur recordings of earlier shows and all of the band's promotional videos (plus a gallery of album artwork), For Darkest Eyes includes everything that a dedicated follower of the band's fortunes could ever really want.

The live show itself is well directed and shot - slow fades and elegant camera sweeps complementing the dramatic ebb and flow of the music, close ups of vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe capturing his on-stage contortations of abject misery effectively and with crystal clarity, and frantic audience reaction shots punctuating those moments when MDB pull out the stops and blast for all they're worth (as in set-closing show-stopper, The Forever People).

The sound quality of the show too is crystal clear, meaning none of the mournful quality of the music is lost - and since this show was filmed in 1996, Martin Powell is still thankfully present and correct, his violin and keyboard parts adding that extra layer of emotional colouring to the bleakness of MDB's sound.

As for the promo videos - well, the first two (Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium and The Thrash Of Naked Limbs) are, generally speaking, as rough around the edges and inelegant as MDB's music was at that period. Grainily shot, but demonstrating through the symbolism in the imagery some of the ambition and thematic ambiguity that began to typify itself as the band's trademark. It's only when we get to 'For You', the most recent video on offer, that we see MDB's imagination in the visual medium match that found in the song it promotes.

The only gripes one could have with this DVD are that its age makes the set-list of the Poland concert seem fairly incomplete - newer material past 'The Angel And The Dark River' makes no appearance. Also, some backstage footage or a documentary feature would have been interesting to see. On the other hand, perhaps a band as ethereal and fascinating as My Dying Bride would prove a disappointment when revealed outside of the bleak environment they create for themselves, so this could be a deliberate omission.

Whatever the reason, this is still a worthy testament to the creativity and longevity of this immensely talented band. Just don't expect to hear anything from 'The Darkest Hours'.

7.5/10

[TheUnnamable]

I watched "For Darkest Eyes" on video a few years ago. It doesn't do the band justice, to be honest. I don't think I'd be inclined to buy it on DVD, even though I'm a die-hard fan.

I canit wait until the new album is out in February. Should be good.

[Mikesom]

Compared to the Anathema live dvd the sound quality is excellent (which i think is taken from the same gig?). Shame theres no documentary/interview footage which would have made it more complete.

[DeathChaos]

My friend brought the dvd over before. There was this one live video (Forgot what song or date it was) Anyways it was a intro to the show, and his voice cracked when he said my dying bride. Heh poor guy, you can tell he had a "man...." type of look to his face. Just the thought that it was recorded and is going to be in your videos is like nnooo! lol

[Dolly]

well.tnx for the information for new album, I just hope they won't ruinmy memory of old ones. I unfortunatly have no dvd, I couldn't get it here in my country...

[waterytimes]

You can read the materials we wrote about them at:http://www.waterytimes.com/metal.html.
On the same page there are materials in English about Marduk-Wormwood and Satanochio, and should you access our archive (arhiva)you'll also find some materials about Lake of Tears.

My name is Ormeny Francisc-Norbert and I am the chief-editor of a Romanian on-line cultural magazine dealing mostly with applied philosophy and applied literature. The name of the magazine is Europe's Times and Unknown Waters and you can access it by following the link: http://www.waterytimes.com/
First I have to point it out clearly that this is not a metal-magazine; it deals with literature and philosophy (and other "side-branches" such as sociology,media etc ) and it approaches various domains of the contemporary culture using as tools these 2 instruments (philosophy and literature). We have a special metal section where we make such applications and, with each and every number we invite a couple of musicians in order to write about their work and interview them. However, what I want you to notice is that the interviews as well as the materials follow a little bit of an "unconventional" pattern, their aim being to reveal not just the habitual amount of information about a band (such as is the case with the usual metal fanzines or magazines) but also to make the artists depict some sociological aspects of their environment and, most importantly their personal life-philosophy and their personal criticism of the present realities and processes of reconfiguration of the ongoing-culture. We are also very interested in what the bands read and what do they think about what they read - or, in other words, what is the background behind their music.

[CharltonChars]

British black metal band My Dying Bride are innovators of the usually straightforward genre.