Adrian Jackson

My Dying Bride are an English doom metal band formed in Bradford.

Since their inception in 1990, they have released 13 studio albums, three EPs, one demo, one box set, four compilation albums, one live album, and one live CD/DVD release.

Along with Anathema and Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride were a forerunner of the death doom metal and gothic metal genres during the early 1990s.

These bands comprise "The Peaceville Three" as all were signed to Peaceville Records at the time.

My Dying Bride formed in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, in June 1990, after guitarist Andrew Craighan and drummer Rick Miah co-formed the band after they had split from Abiosis, joining vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe and guitarist Calvin Robertshaw while ending Abiosis.

After six months of rehearsing, the band recorded and released their demo, Towards the Sinister, which was produced by Tim Walker of Voltage Records.

Its title was taken from a line in the song "Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium".

The band then released their first single, "God Is Alone", on a small French label called Listenable.

After the single had sold out almost immediately, they were picked up by Peaceville Records, and they could release their first EP, Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium, which also featured their latest recruit, bassist Adrian Jackson.

The EP was soon followed by their first album, As the Flower Withers.

As the Flower Withers was followed by a large tour in the UK and the mainland Europe, and in 1992 they recorded their next EP, The Thrash of Naked Limbs.

Another tour was planned, but cancelled when their current drummer had a bad fall while shooting the accompanying video.

In 1993, Martin Powell joined as My Dying Bride's keyboardist and violinist, and they started the recording of their second studio album, Turn Loose the Swans.

With the joining of Martin Powell, the usage of violin increased even more since their As the Flower Withers album.

The album was released that year followed by a tour and another EP, I Am the Bloody Earth.

1995 saw the release of My Dying Bride's next album, The Angel and the Dark River.

The album was followed with a successful tour with some of their first festival gigs, and soon after the fans saw the release of their first compilation album, Trinity, a collection of songs from their first three EPs.

In the end of 1995, My Dying Bride traveled on a three-month tour with Iron Maiden.

Like Gods of the Sun continued in the direction of The Angel and the Dark River, in that it did not contain any growling vocals by Aaron Stainthorpe.

This was the fourth album of My Dying Bride, featuring songs like "A Kiss to Remember", "For You" and "For My Fallen Angel".

"For My Fallen Angel" is strictly an orchestral composition with sections of violin and synth.

It is also the last MDB album to feature a violin, until For Lies I Sire.

The somewhat experimental 34.788%...Complete was next, followed by The Light at the End of the World.

My Dying Bride entered a hiatus after this, releasing two retrospective albums Meisterwerk 1 and Meisterwerk 2.

The Meisterwerk albums are compilations that contain previously released and rare material from My Dying Bride.

At the end of the hiatus, Calvin Robertshaw left the band to become their tour manager and was replaced by Hamish Glencross.

Originally released in 2001, The Dreadful Hours featured new material with the seventh release.

The album was again engineered by Mags and co-produced by guitarist Andrew Craighan.

Between 2003 and 2004, the band's label, Peaceville, re-released their entire back-catalogue in digipak format, with bonus tracks consisting of demos, remixes, and live performances added to each release (except "The Light at the End of the World").

2004's follow-up was Songs of Darkness Words of Light.

The band's next release came in May 2005, when they released the fancifully titled Anti-Diluvian Chronicles, a fully-fledged best of box set featuring three discs and thirty tracks.

The band spent the winter of 2005/2006 writing material for new studio album A Line of Deathless Kings.

The album was released on 9 October 2006.

It was preceded by the EP Deeper Down on 18 September.

Shortly before the release of A Line of Deathless Kings, Shaun Taylor-Steels announced his permanent departure from the band due to persistent problems with his ankle.

In early 2007, Jackson announced his departure and session-drummer John Bennett from The Prophecy could no longer stay, citing a lack of time due to work commitments.

Replacements were found in Lena Abé on bass and Dan Mullins on drums.

In November 2008, My Dying Bride began work on their tenth studio album, entitled For Lies I Sire, which was released on 23 March 2009.

Due to Sarah Stanton's pregnancy, she had been replaced on keyboards by Katie Stone, she performed violin on For Lies I Sire.

Soon after the album's release, she was replaced by Shaun MacGowan.