''Turn Loose the Swans'' is the second album by the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
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 ...
, released in 1993.
It marked a radical departure from the band's first full-length, ''
As the Flower Withers
''As the Flower Withers'' is the debut studio album by Yorkshire-based doom metal band My Dying Bride. The artwork was designed by Dave McKean. This is the only full-length My Dying Bride album on which lead vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe utilizes ...
''.
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 ...
's violin playing had become fully integrated into the band's sound, whilst vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe mixed
death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...
growls and grunts with the spoken word and an often plaintive singing voice. The first ("Sear Me MCMXCIII") and final ("Black God") tracks dispensed with guitars, bass and drums altogether, while the album was also far slower and longer than its predecessor. For these reasons, ''Turn Loose the Swans'' is often considered to be important in the development of the
death-doom
Death-doom is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double kick drumming of death metal. The genre emerged in the late-1980s and gained ...
sound
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 ...
helped pioneer and also foreshadows the
gothic metal
Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy met ...
elements that would dominate their subsequent albums.
Though far from straightforward,
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 ...
's lyrics were much less complex than those employed on ''
As the Flower Withers
''As the Flower Withers'' is the debut studio album by Yorkshire-based doom metal band My Dying Bride. The artwork was designed by Dave McKean. This is the only full-length My Dying Bride album on which lead vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe utilizes ...
''. He explicitly addressed themes such as anti-Christianity and lovelorn longing. "Black God" took its lyrics from the last eight lines of a poem called "Ah! The Shepherd's Mournful Fate" by the 18th-century
Scottish poet
William Hamilton.
The artwork for the release was designed and created by Aaron Stainthorpe and Andrew Craighan.
Song information
* "Sear Me MCMXCIII" was the second in a trilogy of songs to bear the title, preceded by the doom-metal orientated
"Sear Me" in 1992 and followed by
"Sear Me III" in 1999, which is similar in style to the original, being a full band composition. The version on this album however, features only the vocals of
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 ...
and the keyboards and violin of
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 ...
. It also features different lyrics to the other two versions.
* A video was made for "The Songless Bird" which features slow motion footage of the band running through wilderness, at this stage becoming something of a tradition. The video can be found on "
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 ...
".
* A remix of "The Crown Of Sympathy" was featured on the band's third single, "
I Am the Bloody Earth
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 ...
". This version of the song featured more echoing effects, a shorter outro and a heavy emphasis on
Rick Miah
Rick may refer to:
People
*Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name
*Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality
*Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...
's drum sound.
* The 2003 reissue of the album featured as bonus tracks; "Le Cerf Malade", an instrumental from "
The Thrash Of Naked Limbs
''The Thrash of Naked Limbs'' is the second EP by death/doom metal band My Dying Bride. This EP was also released as a vinyl record. By this time, the band was a 6-piece, having added session violinist and keyboardist Martin Powell as an off ...
", "Transcending (Into The Exquisite)", a remix of songs from this album taken from the later EP "
I Am the Bloody Earth
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 ...
", and a live performance of "Your Shameful Heaven" from the bonus CD of "
The Angel and the Dark River
''The Angel and the Dark River'' is the third album by the British 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 Live CD was rec ...
".
* Live versions of songs from this album can be found on "
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 ...
" (all songs except "Black God") and "
The Voice of the Wretched" (Turn Loose The Swans, The Snow In My Hand and Your River).
Reception
''Professional reviews'':
*
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
(#681, 05/05/94) - "''Turn Loose the Swans'' is ''Bram Stoker's Dracula'' for the ears – diving into melodrama with grace and making that aspect of life seem the only part worth living. My Dying Bride take a sickly view of traditional orchestration, coupling it with Aaron's wounded-and-pissed animal groans and growls. Poison line each precious flower petal, as if the band were Laura Ashley's evil twin. Disconsolate guitars and funereal passion – in short, music all too susceptible to adjectives but compelling nonetheless."
In October 2011 it was awarded a gold certification from the
Independent Music Companies Association
The Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA), originally the Independent Music Publishers and Labels Association, is a non-profit trade association established in 2000 to help European independent record labels represent their agenda a ...
which indicated sales of at least 75,000 copies throughout Europe.
Track listing
*All Songs Written & Arranged By My Dying Bride (VILE Music Publishing)
Bonus tracks on the 2003 reissue
# "Le Cerf Malade" – 6:31
# "Transcending (Into the Exquisite)" – 8:39
# "Your Shameful Heaven (live)" – 5:56
Personnel
*
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 ...
- vocals
*
Andrew Craighan
Andrew Craighan (born 18 July 1970) is one of 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 com ...
- 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
*
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 ...
- violin, keyboard
*
Rick Miah
Rick may refer to:
People
*Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name
*Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality
*Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...
- drums
Additional personnel
*Zena: Female Vocals on "Black God"
Production
*Produced By My Dying Bride & Robert Magoolagan
*Recorded & Engineered By Robert Magoolagan
*Mastered By Noel Summerville
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turn Loose The Swans
1993 albums
My Dying Bride albums