Artist: MY DYING BRIDE
Album: TURN LOOSE THE SWANS REISSUE (CD)

Release date: 1993/ 2003
EAN/UPS: 0801056703927
Media type: CD

Turn Loose the Swans was the second album by the British doom metal band My Dying Bride.

It marked a radical departure from the band's first full length, As the Flower Withers. Martin Powell's violin playing had become fully integrated into the band's sound, whilst vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe mixed death metal growls and grunts with the spoken word and an often plaintive singing voice. The first ("Sear Me MCMXCIII") and final ("Black God") tracks dispensed with electric guitar altogether, while the album was also far slower and longer than its predecessor. For these reasons, "Turn Loose the Swans" is often considered to be important in the development of the doom metal/death metal hybrid pioneered by My Dying Bride and fellow Peaceville bands Anathema and Paradise Lost.

Though far from straightforward, Aaron Stainthorpe's lyrics were much less complex than those employed on As the Flower Withers. He abstained from the use of non-English phrases, and explicitly addressed themes such as Christianity and lovelorn longing. "Black God" took its lyrics from the last eight lines of a poem called "Ah! The Shepherd's Mournful Fate" by the 18th century Scottish poet William Hamilton.

The artwork for the release was designed and created by Aaron Stainthorpe.

TRACKLIST CD:

"Sear Me MCMXCIII" – 7:21
"Your River" – 9:24
"The Songless Bird" – 7:00
"The Snow in My Hand" – 7:08
"The Crown of Sympathy" – 12:15
"Turn Loose the Swans" – 10:08
"Black God" – 4:52

"Le Cerf Malade" – 6:31 *
"Transcending (Into the Exquisite)" – 8:39 *
"Your Shameful Heaven (live)" – 5:56 *

*Bonus track 

LINE-UP:

Aaron Stainthorpe - vocals
Andrew Craighan - guitar
Calvin Robertshaw - guitar
Adrian Jackson - bass
Martin Powell - violin, keyboard
Rick Miah - drums
Female vocals on "Black God" by Zena