Evinta MMXX

For a band who has released a total of ten full-length albums in 20 years, gothic doom metal act My Dying Bride has gotten maximum mileage out of its catalog. From this deck of studio recordings, MDB has culled four previous compilations, a live DVD, and a box set. Evinta is a fifth compilation, albeit one of a wholly different sort. It features eight completely reworked songs from the band's shelf, and one new one ("You Are Not the One Who Loves Me") stretched over two discs. It cannot be overstated that this material has been reworked to the point of being all but unrecognizable: there is no metal at all here. These songs are all "classical" in nature, thanks to the arranging and playing of Johnny Maudling (of Bal Sagoth fame), a small group of classical musicians, and the addition of the operatic vocals of French soprano Lucie Roche to frontman Andrew Stainthorpe's. (The rest of the band seems not to even appear.) Evinta is an over-the-top indulgence; it's self-conscious excess personified. The more gothic and operatic moments of Dead Can Dance and Current 93 (since Stainthorpe speaks as much as he sings here) are called to mind often. There is also a deluxe edition, bound in a digipack with a 20-page booklet containing liner notes, lyrics, and photographs, and even a triple-disc, deluxe limited edition with more material from the sessions and a 64-page color booklet. ~ Thom Jurek