MY DYING BRIDE & AVA INFERI
LONDON ISLINGTON ACADEMY – 18/5/11
Albion lies in ruin and it has been drenched in misery now for two decades by My Dying Bride who are celebrating by spreading their misery serenades on a short tour of the UK. They have accrued a huge wealth of releases over their 20 years and are on the verge of bringing out a rather different package ‘Evinta’ showcasing compositions in a symphonic mould. Tonight there will be none of that but we are all wondering just what exactly they are going to surprise us with from their back catalogue.
Before the main event comes a fledgling act by comparison and one far removed from the downcast weather of Halifax. Ava Inferi are over from the sunnier climate of Portugal and come on stage to strident sounding strings and singer Carmen Susana Simões swinging a burning chalice, draped in muslin and looking like she was dressed for a funeral. The clucking bird like vocals of opening number ‘Onyx’ fills every corner of the venue and the operatic stance sounds glorious. The band is fleshed out since I last saw them with new bassist Joana Messias and guitarist Andre Sobral joining the ranks and allowing the band to breath with added maturity. Of course one very old hand is there on main guitar duty and veteran Rune Erikson really should need no introduction.
Lighting had the majority of the set cast in ice cold funereal blue hues which seemed to have the audience chilled out to sway along with the music. The sounds of waves added atmosphere leading into ‘A Dança Das Ondas’ from the excellent 2007 album ‘The Silhouette,’ the lighting changed to purple and the sinuous and enchanting song had us all in its grip. With the group hitting a jagged, tempestuous and passionate peak it was evident that they were the perfect support for the show and really got us in the mood. My only niggle was that they did not play the Wicker Man drenched ‘The Heathen Island’ but we did get a long set taking in ‘Blood Of Bacchus’ and new song ‘Majesty,’ so it is no real complaint. Hopefully they gained some more admirers tonight as Ava Inferi certainly deserve some wider recognition.
The instant the immaculately turned out My Dying Bride invade the stage we are thrust right back to 1992 for the classic ‘Sear Me.’ Well that got our attention and at first I did not know what to focus on. Hamish was on guitar to my right and Andrew to the left both strumming away. The contorted wreckage of his own flesh that is Aaron was putting himself into all sorts of contortions whilst his anguished vocals cried out. Lena Abe was to his side on bass and we could easily hear Dan Mullins keeping time at the back. At first I thought the violin was being sampled but saw it was being played by Shaun Macgowan who was flitting between that and keyboard. The anthemic bravado of ‘Bring Me Victory’ was epic and totally commanding, Hamish joined in on vocals here as we went from the olden days to the relatively new in the space of a song. The album of them all that had divided the masses was ‘34.788%... Complete’ and I was not really expecting anything from this however ‘The Whore, The Cook and The Mother’ sounded excellent and surely gave the detractors something to think about.
The audience were getting into the swing of things, MDB are never likely to get a huge pit going up but the songs were getting lots of applause. ‘Like Gods Of The Sun’ even got a bit of movement as it stormed in and had us bowing under its meaty weight. The ballad of the set perhaps, Catherine Blake has been a favourite for some time now live and had people singing along as the bodice ripping romance of the song slowed things into a passionate embrace. ‘Crown Of Sympathy’ we were told had not been played for ten years, chances are it won’t be played again in a hurry either. I was watching everything unfold from the balcony now and had a great view of it all as I head banged away pint in hand enjoying every second of the show. There were quite a few seconds too, Aaron at one point told us this was the longest set they had ever played, I lost track and to be honest it flew by but I think it was almost an hour and three quarters in length.
I have been blessed that every time I have seen the band lately they have played my favourite song and I was at last placated by the mournful cry leading into ‘She Is The Dark’ words fail me to sum up the emotions this one has flowing through it but it was the perfect point leading without pause to the encore. With ‘Your River,’ ‘My Body, A Funeral’ and the tumultuous ‘Dreadful Hours’ to cap it all off, anyone who left this show disappointed needed to seriously jump under the first train to pull into the station. Thankfully nobody did and My Dying Bride really triumphed with a feast of fantastic songs. Here’s to the next decade.
Pete Woods
AVA INFERI
AVA INFERI
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AVA INFERI
AVA INFERI
MY DYING BRIDE
MY DYING BRIDE
MY DYING BRIDE
MY DYING BRIDE
MY DYING BRIDE
MY DYING BRIDE
MY DYING BRIDE
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