''As the Flower Withers'' is the debut studio album by

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

-based

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band

My Dying Bride My Dying Bride are an English doom metal band formed in Bradford. Since their inception in 1990, they have released 13 studio albums, three EPs, one demo, one box set, four compilation albums, one live album, and one live CD/DVD release. Alon ...

. The artwork was designed by

Dave McKean David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpt ...

. This is the only full-length My Dying Bride album on which lead vocalist

Aaron Stainthorpe Aaron Stainthorpe (born 12 November 1968) is an English singer who is the lead vocalist for doom metal band My Dying Bride. In December 2005, it was announced that Stainthorpe would lend his voice and some lyrics to a song with Sarah Jezebel D ...

utilizes his

death growl A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...

as the sole vocal style.

Song information

Many of the tracks on this album have appeared in a different form on other My Dying Bride releases. "Sear Me" was the first in a trilogy of songs to bear the title, followed by the keyboard- and violin-only "Sear Me MCMXCIII" in 1993 and "Sear Me III" in 1999, which is more similar in style to the original, being a full band composition. "The Bitterness and the Bereavement" evolved from an earlier demo, which was released independently as " Unreleased Bitterness" in 1993. This version of the song also appears on the

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

re-release of ''As the Flower Withers'', and on the rarities/best-of compilation ''

Meisterwerk 1 ''Meisterwerk 1'' is a compilation album by My Dying Bride, which features both album tracks and rare recordings. Its companion piece - '' Meisterwerk 2'' - was released the following year. It is the second of four My Dying Bride compilation albu ...

''. "Vast Choirs" is a reworked version of the version that appears on the band's first recording, '' Towards the Sinister''. This version is widely available on both ''

Meisterwerk 2 ''Meisterwerk 2'' is a compilation album by My Dying Bride, which features both album tracks and rare recordings. Its companion piece - ''Meisterwerk 1'' - was released the previous year. It is the third of five My Dying Bride compilation albums, ...

'' and the 2004 reissue of ''

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

''. "The Return of the Beautiful" was re-recorded for 2001's ''

The Dreadful Hours ''The Dreadful Hours'' is the seventh album by My Dying Bride, released on 13 November 2001. It contains a remake of "The Return of the Beautiful" (renamed "The Return to the Beautiful") from the band's debut album, ''As the Flower Withers''. ''T ...

'', with its title being slightly changed to "The Return to the Beautiful". Live versions of "The Forever People" can be found on the limited edition versions of ''

The Angel and the Dark River ''The Angel and the Dark River'' is the third album by the British doom metal, doom/death metal band My Dying Bride. The 1996 re-release contains one bonus track "The Sexuality of Bereavement" and a bonus CD titled ''Live at the Dynamo''. The Liv ...

'' and ''

For Darkest Eyes For Darkest Eyes is the first video release by death/doom metal band My Dying Bride. Created first as a VHS in 1997, then later being reproduced as a DVD in 2002. Live footage from Willem II, The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William ...

''. This song is often played as the last song of the set in many of the band's live shows.

Track listing

Personnel

- vocals *

Andrew Craighan Andrew Craighan (born 18 July 1970) is one of My Dying Bride's founding guitarists. Along with Aaron Stainthorpe Aaron Stainthorpe (born 12 November 1968) is an English singer who is the lead vocalist for doom metal band My Dying Bride. ...

- guitar *

Calvin Robertshaw My Dying Bride are an English doom metal band formed in Bradford. Since their inception in 1990, they have released 13 studio albums, three EPs, one demo, one box set, four compilation albums, one live album, and one live CD/DVD release. Alon ...

- guitar * Adrian Jackson - bass * Rick Miah - drums Additional personnel *

Martin Powell Martin Powell is an English musician. In 1991, Powell auditioned for the position of bass player in the band My Dying Bride, but was turned down as the band had just filled the position. Upon informing the band he was also a violin and keyboard ...

- session violin * Wolfgang Bremmer - session horn *

- cover photography, illustration and design * Noel Summerville - mastering (at Transfermation, London)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:As The Flower Withers 1992 debut albums My Dying Bride albums Albums with cover art by Dave McKean