The Barghest o' Whitby | ||||
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EP by | ||||
Released | 7 November 2011 | |||
Recorded | 2011 at Futureworks Studios, Manchester | |||
Genre | Doom metal, death-doom | |||
Length | 27:04 | |||
Label | Peaceville | |||
My Dying Bride chronology | ||||
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The Barghest o' Whitby is an EP by the doom metal band My Dying Bride, released on 7 November 2011. It consists of a single, 27-minute track. [1] [2]
An extended play record, often referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single, but is usually unqualified as an album or LP. Contemporary EPs generally contain a minimum of three tracks and maximum of six tracks, and are considered "less expensive and time-consuming" for an artist to produce than an album. An EP originally referred to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play (SP) and LP, but it is now applied to mid-length CDs and downloads as well.
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. Both the music and the lyrics intend to evoke a sense of despair, dread, and impending doom. The genre is strongly influenced by the early work of Black Sabbath, who formed a prototype for doom metal. During the first half of the 1980s, a number of bands from England, the United States and Sweden defined doom metal as a distinct genre.
My Dying Bride are an English doom metal band formed in Bradford in 1990. To date, My Dying Bride have released twelve full-length studio albums, three EPs, one demo, one box set, four compilation albums, one live album, and one live CD/DVD release.
Speaking to Lords of Metal, Aaron Stainthorpe said of the piece:
Aaron Stainthorpe is an English singer and songwriter. He is the vocalist for doom metal band My Dying Bride.
Well, I wrote it myself, based on rough stories that we have read about in the Yorkshire area. All old villages and towns in Europe have folklore tales of spirits and dark beings and fairies and things like that. And I had heard several different stories about large, black dogs, crawling the moors of Yorkshire... And I thought: "Well, we live in Yorkshire and we never really looked at our own heritage before in My Dying Bride lyrics. Let us look at this and see if we could invent our own story, our own Yorkshire folklore." And so I wrote a story called 'The Barghest O’Whitby' about a large black dog which, at first, it seems to crawl the moor land randomly killing people, but it does not. The lyrics tell a story of why this dog is doing what it is doing and its final victim is waiting up in the old sea town, the old fishing town of Whitby. That is where the final confrontation takes place and it is a story of revenge... [3]
Yorkshire, formally known as the County of York, is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Due to its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform. Throughout these changes, Yorkshire has continued to be recognised as a geographical territory and cultural region. The name is familiar and well understood across the United Kingdom and is in common use in the media and the military, and also features in the titles of current areas of civil administration such as North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and East Riding of Yorkshire.
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Cliff is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey, where Cædmon, the earliest recognised English poet, lived. The fishing port emerged during the Middle Ages, supporting important herring and whaling fleets, and was where Captain Cook learned seamanship. Tourism started in Whitby during the Georgian period and developed with the arrival of the railway in 1839. Its attraction as a tourist destination is enhanced by the proximity of the high ground of the North York Moors national park and the heritage coastline and by association with the horror novel Dracula. Jet and alum were mined locally, and Whitby Jet, which was mined by the Romans and Victorians, became fashionable during the 19th century.
According to Stainthorpe, the artwork pictures the band's guitarist's Hamish Glencross' dog which he "embellished... a little bit in Photoshop. It is all my kind of artwork, pushed together to give a visual interpretation of what you might see in the lyrics. It is quite nice, no high art, but it is just an interpretation of what you are going to get inside the music". [3]
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "The Barghest o' Whitby" | 27:04 |
Total length: | 27:04 |
Andrew Craighan is one of My Dying Bride's founding guitarists. Along with Aaron Stainthorpe, and now Calvin Robertshaw they are the only original members of the band still in the lineup. He played the guitar from 1989 to 1990 in the band Abiosis.
Hamish Glencross is a Scottish guitarist best known for his work with the English metal band My Dying Bride. He also co-founded the short-lived Blackdoom Records with the band's other guitarist, Andrew Craighan, which released The Prophecy's debut album Ashes.
Shaun 'Winter' Taylor- Steels is a British heavy metal drummer and bassist. Shaun is of Scottish and Norwegian descent on his mother's side of the family.
In Northern English folklore, the Barghest or Barguest is a mythical monstrous black dog with large teeth and claws, though in other cases the name can refer to a ghost or household elf, especially in Northumberland and Durham, such as the Cauld Lad of Hylton.
Songs of Darkness, Words of Light is the eighth album from 2004 by the British doom metal band My Dying Bride. This album marks the debut of keyboardist Sarah Stanton. Initial copies of the album came in a hard clamshell case and featured a double sided poster and a fridge magnet as extras. This tradition was continued for the next album, A Line of Deathless Kings.
The Dreadful Hours is the seventh album by My Dying Bride released on 13 November 2001. It contains a remake of "The Return of the Beautiful" from the band's debut album, As the Flower Withers. Singer Aaron Stainthorpe has often cited that either this or Like Gods of the Sun is his favourite MDB album. The Dreadful Hours comes housed in a digipak with a full colour booklet.
The Light at the End of the World is the sixth album by My Dying Bride, released in 1999. After the more experimental 34.788%...Complete, this album marks a return to the more traditional My Dying Bride doom sound and style of lyrics. It was also the first My Dying Bride release since 1994's The Sexuality of Bereavement to feature growling vocals, although Aaron Stainthorpe has noticeably changed his style and broadened his range. All guitar parts on the album were recorded by Andrew Craighan, following the earlier departure of Calvin Robertshaw. Following Robertshaw's departure, only Craighan and Stainthorpe remained as founding members of the band. Hamish Glencross was soon after recruited as permanent guitarist. The keyboard parts were played by Jonny Maudling of Bal-Sagoth. It is also the first MDB album to feature the drumming of Shaun Steels, who would remain with the band until 2006.
Meisterwerk 2 is a compilation album by My Dying Bride, which features both album tracks and rare recordings. Its companion piece - Meisterwerk 1 - was released the previous year. It is the third of five My Dying Bride compilation albums, following 1995's "Trinity" and "Meisterwerk 1", preceding "Anti-Diluvian Chronicles" in 2005 and "Meisterwerk 3" in 2016.
The Voice of the Wretched is a live album by doom metal band My Dying Bride, recorded in Tilburg, the Netherlands on the 4 March 2001. Original pressings of the album had tracks 2 and 4 listed in the wrong order, and "Turn Loose The Swans" was spelled "TRUN Loose The Swans".
Meisterwerk 1 is a compilation album by My Dying Bride, which features both album tracks and rare recordings. Its companion piece - Meisterwerk 2 - was released the following year. It is the second of four My Dying Bride compilation albums, following 1995's Trinity and followed by Meisterwerk 2 later the same year and "Anti-Diluvian Chronicles" in 2005.
Anti-Diluvian Chronicles is a compilation album by My Dying Bride, which features both album tracks and new remixes. It is the fourth and most recent of four My Dying Bride compilation albums, following 1995's Trinity and 2000's Meisterwerk 1 and Meisterwerk 2.
A Line of Deathless Kings is the ninth studio album by My Dying Bride. It was released on 9 October 2006.
Deeper Down is a three-track EP, released by British doom metal band My Dying Bride on 18 September 2006.
For Lies I Sire is the tenth studio album by British doom metal pioneers My Dying Bride, released on 23 March 2009 via Peaceville Records and 21 April 2009 in the United States. It is the first album without keyboardist Sarah Stanton since she joined My Dying Bride in 2004 for their Songs of Darkness, Words of Light album. Musically, it is their first album since 1996's Like Gods of the Sun to feature a violin, performed by new band member Katie Stone. The album was recorded during September 2008 in Manchester's Futureworks Studio.
The British legend of the ghostly black dog has appeared many times in popular culture.
Bring Me Victory is an EP by the doom metal band My Dying Bride. "Bring Me Victory" is a song from My Dying Bride's previous album, For Lies I Sire; a video was made for the song and released on this EP. "Scarborough Fair", an English traditional song, has two additional verses incorporated into it written by Aaron Stainthorpe. "Failure" is a cover of a song written by Swans. The original version had long been a highly respected song among the members of the band. "Vast Choirs" is a live version of a song originally released on My Dying Bride's first album, As The Flower Withers, and since included on several compilation releases.
Shaun MacGowan is a UK-born violinist, keyboardist and guitarist, best known as the keyboardist and violinist of British doom metal band My Dying Bride. He replaced Katie Stone in 2009, and joined the band to tour the album For Lies I Sire. His first studio appearance with the group came on the 2009 EP Bring Me Victory, on which he played on two new tracks.
A Map of All Our Failures is the 11th studio album by English doom metal band My Dying Bride, released on 15 October 2012 via Peaceville Records. Limited editions of the album included a bonus track and a DVD featuring a 70-minute documentary, An Evening With the Bride. The album cover artwork was by Rhett Podersoo.
The Manuscript is a My Dying Bride EP released on 13 May 2013 on CD and vinyl. It contains four tracks, three of which were recorded at the same time as the band's previous album, A Map of All Our Failures.
Feel the Misery is the 12th studio album by British doom metal band My Dying Bride. It was released on 18 September 2015 on Peaceville Records.