| The Ghost of Orion | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 6 March 2020 | |||
| Recorded | 2018–2019 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 56:06 | |||
| Label | Nuclear Blast | |||
| Producer | Mark Mynett | |||
| My Dying Bride chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Ghost of Orion is the thirteenth [a] studio album by English doom metal band My Dying Bride. It was released on 6 March 2020 through Nuclear Blast. [3]
The album is the band's first with new member Jeff Singer, replacing Shaun Taylor-Steels who departed due to "unresolvable drumming issues". [4] Aaron Stainthorpe's five-year-old daughter was diagnosed with cancer a couple years after the release of the band's previous album Feel the Misery , from which she was later declared in remission. [5]
Mark Mynett is the producer and studio engineer for the album and Jo Quail performs cello on some songs. [6]
The album's first single, "Your Broken Shore", was released on 20 January, [7] followed by a second single, "Tired of Tears", on 7 February. [8]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 81/100 [9] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [10] |
| Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles |   [2] |
| Kerrang! | [11] |
| Metal Storm | (6.0/10) [12] |
The Ghost of Orion received generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 81, based on four reviews. [9]
Thom Jurek of AllMusic wrote a positive review, remarking that "The Ghost of Orion was born in the aftermath of strife, strain, and fear; but these are balanced by gratitude, endurance, and even benevolence; the conflicting tensions exist with no attempt to alleviate them, and all of these qualities are among the many reasons My Dying Bride has, for more than three decades, reigned at the pinnacle of doom metal." [10]
New Noise Magazine, in an article detailing an interview with Stainthorpe, described him as having "one of his most impressive vocal performances to date". [13]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Your Broken Shore" | 7:40 |
| 2. | "To Outlive the Gods" | 7:55 |
| 3. | "Tired of Tears" | 8:35 |
| 4. | "The Solace" | 5:50 |
| 5. | "The Long Black Land" | 9:59 |
| 6. | "The Ghost of Orion" | 3:29 |
| 7. | "The Old Earth" | 10:30 |
| 8. | "Your Woven Shore" | 2:08 |
| Total length: | 56:06 [10] | |
| Chart (2020) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [14] | 22 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [15] | 107 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [16] | 160 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [17] | 34 |
| French Albums (SNEP) [18] | 172 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [19] | 12 |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) [20] | 27 |
| Polish Albums (ZPAV) [21] | 34 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [22] | 35 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [23] | 19 |
My Dying Bride are an English doom metal band formed in Bradford. Since their inception in 1990, they have released 15 studio albums, five EPs, one demo, one box set, four compilation albums, one live album, and one live CD/DVD release.
As the Flower Withers is the debut studio album by English doom metal band My Dying Bride. The artwork was designed by Dave McKean. This is the only full-length My Dying Bride album on which lead vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe utilizes his death growl as the sole vocal style.
Songs of Darkness, Words of Light is the eighth studio album by English 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 studio album by English doom metal band 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. The Dreadful Hours was issued in a digipak with a full colour booklet.
The Light at the End of the World is the sixth studio album by English doom metal band 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 My Dying Bride album to feature the drumming of Shaun Steels, who would remain with the band until 2006.
Turn Loose the Swans is the second studio album by English doom metal band My Dying Bride, released in 1993.
The Angel and the Dark River is the third studio album by English doom metal band My Dying Bride. The 1996 re-release contains one bonus track "The Sexuality of Bereavement" and a bonus CD titled Live at the Dynamo. The Live CD was recorded during their appearance at the Dynamo Festival in 1995.
34.788%...Complete is the fifth studio album by English doom metal band My Dying Bride, released on 6 October 1998. The track "Under Your Wings and into Your Arms" appears on both The Voice of the Wretched CD and the Sinamorata DVD, and the opening track, "The Whore, the Cook and the Mother" appeared on their latest live DVD, An Ode to Woe.
Meisterwerk 2 is the fourth compilation album by English doom metal band 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 the first live album by English 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".
Andrew Craighan is one of My Dying Bride's founding guitarists. Craighan is one of two original My Dying Bride members still in the lineup, alongside Aaron Stainthorpe. He played the guitar from 1989 to 1990 in the band Abiosis.
"Deeper Down" is a song by English doom metal band My Dying Bride, released on 18 September 2006. It is an edited version of the song which appears on the album A Line of Deathless Kings.
For Lies I Sire is the tenth studio album by English doom metal band 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.
Bring Me Victory is the fourth EP by English 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.
A Map of All Our Failures is the eleventh 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 the sixth EP by English doom metal band My Dying Bride, 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 twelfth studio album by English doom metal band My Dying Bride. It was released on 18 September 2015 on Peaceville Records.
Macabre Caberet is the seventh EP by English doom metal band My Dying Bride, released in CD and vinyl formats via Nuclear Blast on 20 November 2020.
Hushed and Grim is the eighth studio album by American heavy metal band Mastodon. It was released as a double album on October 29, 2021, through Reprise Records. The album is the band's longest to date, their first double album. Guest appearances include Soundgarden's Kim Thayil on "Had It All" and Troy Sanders' mother Jody Sanders on French horn. There is no guest vocal appearance by Scott Kelly from Neurosis for the first time since their 2002 debut Remission, due to Kelly's domestic abuse allegations, which the singer confirmed were true in a statement in August 2022, where he also stated his intention to withdraw from the public eye. The album also serves as a tribute to Mastodon's former manager Nick John, after his death from cancer in 2018.
A Mortal Binding is the fourteenth studio album by English doom metal band My Dying Bride. It was released on 19 April 2024 through Nuclear Blast.
