My Dying Bride are heading into a brand new chapter in 2025, one marked by each uncertainty and sudden renewal. In a current look on the Everblack podcast, guitarist Andrew Craighan confirmed that the band might be joined onstage subsequent yr by Mikko Kotamäki of Swallow the Solar, stepping in on vocals following an obvious dispute with longtime frontman Aaron Stainthorpe.
The selection, Craighan defined, was surprisingly simple. “Principally, it was pretty simple. All we did is ask — by way of Fb, of all issues,” he mentioned. “We simply advised him that we’d like a vocalist for these upcoming exhibits. We did not give him any ins and outs of what was going down. [We just asked], ‘Are you out there?’ And he simply mentioned, ‘Yeah, I am in. I will do it. No matter you need, I will do it.'”
Kotamäki‘s transition into the function proved seamless, in accordance with Craighan. After flying to England for rehearsals, the Finnish vocalist already knew the fabric, respiratory his personal character into the songs whereas sustaining their essence.
“He would not sing fairly like Aaron does or would, however what he is achieved is completed absolute honesty to the albums, however along with his nuances… not shedding something,” Craighan famous. For a band whose id has lengthy been entwined with Stainthorpe‘s mournful supply, Kotamäki‘s skill to honor the legacy whereas introducing his personal delicate textures may open an intriguing dimension for the upcoming dwell performances.
Trying past the lineup shift, Craighan additionally teased the way forward for My Dying Bride by way of new music. Their most up-to-date document, A Mortal Binding, arrived in April 2024 by way of Nuclear Blast, however the guitarist made clear that writing by no means stops.
“We had been in slightly mini studio just lately in Huddersfield… simply toying with concepts of the place we wanna go subsequent. I imply, it will nonetheless be us, in fact; we’re not gonna be breaking out into any unusual hip-hop or something like that.” That mentioned, the brand new materials might revisit the rawer, extra aggressive aspect of their early work, with Craighan hinting on the return of demise steel parts from their debut and even one other sprawling epic within the vein of “The Barghest O’ Whitby”.
“We’re considering of possibly even going again to… bringing again a few of the early demise steel stuff off the primary album. Possibly do one other ‘Barghest’ the place we intentionally write a tune so you’ll be able to’t have a B-side as a result of it is half-hour lengthy.”
Although nothing is completed, Craighan admitted he has “loads of concepts,” together with riffs that did not make the minimize for A Mortal Binding. For now, the seeds are simply being planted, however the willingness to experiment with longer varieties and harsher textures suggests a band not resting on its legacy.
Between the upcoming exhibits with Kotamäki and the primary sparks of a attainable follow-up, My Dying Bride look like transferring ahead with resilience, a mix of reverence for his or her previous and curiosity about the place doom steel can nonetheless take them.
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