2015 might as well be 1995 within the doom scene, as Paradise Lost has released The Plague Within, its best record since Draconian Times, and My Dying Bride has returned to classic, Like Gods Of The Sun-esque moments with its latest album, Feel The Misery. Though My Dying Bride never strayed into other genres like Paradise Lost did (too much disaffection we’ll add, and none of it the doom metal kind), Feel The Misery does mark a re-visitation to My Dying Bride’s early era, even if the group has stayed impressively doom consistent throughout its career. One wonders if the return of original guitar player Calvin Robertshaw is part of the reason My Dying Bride has produced such old-school results.

Feel The Misery is My Dying Bride's twelfth (!) album and it's a desolate and melancholy soundtrack to grey days, as we have come to expect of this English band. Oddly, the immediate element one notices is the production: whereas latter-day albums For Lies I Sire and The Map Of All Our Failures have been the benefactor of granular guitar tones leaning towards the death metal element of My Dying Bride’s identity, Feel The Misery is instead reminiscent of Katatonia’s 1993 debut Dance Of December Souls, as Feel The Misery surrounds its songs in the textures and finishings of the early-‘90s, which only increases its connection to Like Gods Of The Sun.

My Dying Bride’s catalogue is filled with exceptionally bleak moments, and Feel The Misery is, unsurprisingly, no different. “I Almost Loved You” might be one of the most despondent tracks the band has constructed, while the satanic whispers in “To Shiver In Empty Halls” are very chilling. Elsewhere, ominous bells toll with menacing senses of finality, and choirs, at key moments, provide dramatic gothic flair, resulting in a record that is the encapsulation of autumn’s greyest rain.

This is not for the weak.