‘By writing songs involved in things that are so miserable, it allows us to cope with real life’ - My Dying Bride - Macabre Cabaret

After the quietest 5 years of the band’s 30-year history of melancholic gothic death doom metal, My Dying Bride are back with two new releases this year. The long and highly anticipated ‘The Ghost Of Orion’ was released on 6th March 2020 marking their 13th album, and their most recent EP titled ‘Macabre Cabaret’ released 20th November have brought fans some highly raw, emotional, macabre material. It marks their first release through Nuclear Blast after ending their 25 year-long pact with Peaceville in 2017.

Life is full of weird, wonderful, and often, scary phenomena. Events that can haunt the mind for a lifetime. Whether those are memories of the most enjoyable moments or the memories which leave a person clinging on to dear hope, traumatised and begging for it all to end, everyone will go through something that changes them as a person for better or worse. Speaking to Stereoboard, Andrew Craighan says, “By writing songs involved in things that are so miserable, it allows us to cope with real life.” Vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe, who has been in the band since the beginning, would know all about this ever daunting cycle.

The cruel and unfair experiences life has hauled his way during the last few years, which even temporarily led to him being a mere distant presence within the band, have changed his outlook on the world around him. Talking to Chrigel Glanzmann of Eluveitie, he explained: “For My Dying Bride fans, unfortunately, I’m not as miserable as I used to be because I’ve seen a very great positivity come out of a dark place. It has given me a more positive outlook in life. I would complain about the battery on my phone going, or the internet going down and I’d be swearing, screaming and shouting, complaining about stupid things. It’s all trivia, those things aren’t worth worrying about.”


As discussed with Revolver Magazine in a recent interview, Stainthorpe had to cope with the horrific news of his 5-year-old daughter being diagnosed with kidney cancer, bringing his entire world to a stand-still, receiving such a devastating message is enough to leave anybody’s life fractured. Fortunately, with the help of her heroic dad she was able to overcome the disease and now enjoys activities such as riding her bike and cooking a plethora of tasty meals with the metalhead doom vocalist, who claims he can make every dish ever while singing and dancing. He also mentions he wants to take part in ‘Brutally Delicious’, a cooking show which hosts some very well-known names in the metal industry. His daughter, now 8 years old, was even given the opportunity to be a guest singer on the EP, although it was mixed so finely that it may not be striking to the unexpecting.

The journey of Stainthorpe’s nightmarish experience definitely sparked great influence in some of his lyrics and stories in Macabre Cabaret, although those songs were written at the same time as those appearing on Ghost of Orion. The EP, which was mixed and mastered by Mark Mynett, is a poetic discussion about life and the tribulations it puts us through. My Dying Bride is pain expressed through the art of music.

Analysing the three individual songs on the EP, Stainthorpe had this to say: “‘A Purse of Gold and Stars’ is where we keep our hopes, desires and affection, perhaps in a dreamlike state, unattainable yet we still reach out for them. The trinkets and shiny baubles we call happiness and love are what we try so hard to keep close and protect. But it is never quite like that in real life and is often a struggle tainted with sadness but still, we hold the purse close and in tight cold hands.”

After the release of Macabre Cabaret, it is obvious that My Dying Bride are not going anywhere other than to even bigger success. Although after a rather messy line-up change, especially felt by guitarist Andrew Craighan, they are undoubtedly back with firm material but this time an easier listen compared to their previous work, which will surely seduce new fans from various other genres.

Opening track, Macabre Cabaret, showcases a heart-wrenching antique piano, blended with Lena Abé’s deep bass tones and a Gothically alluring theatrical music video, telling the story of great dread, whilst, A Secret Kiss’s mix of profound stories of death and the question of the meaning of life at the end of life, brought to existence by Stainthorpe’s mystical chanting tones, Macabre Cabaret captures a mix of deep, thought provoking and chilling melodies that will remain echoing eerily through your head for the foreseeable future. My Dying Bride has also released their own signature vegan lager, “Old Earth”, produced in Darkland Brewery, a small brewery based in Yorkshire.

The new EP Macabre Cabaret is available to ORDER HERE