My Dying Bride, the English doom metal band, have unveiled their new album A Mortal Binding through Nuclear Blast. In an interview with Bass Empire, bassist Lena Abé offers an in-depth look at the creative and recording process behind it.
Lena discusses the unique qualities of her instrument on this record, saying, “I use a Mayones Gothic BE Exotic for all recording and have done for years. It looks like a basic model but the sound you get from it is unreal. You can’t replicate it with pedals or selective EQs; it’s just built differently to the others somehow. It’s handcrafted, the factory setup was perfect for me, it’s relatively lightweight and comfortable to play. The quality of the build is something special. I don’t tour with it just in case something were to happen to it, as I have previously had a bass ‘go missing’ at an airport. I have the discontinued 2007 version and it’s unlikely I could ever replace it as they are quite rare now. I would assume that those who have one have no interest in letting them go!”
“‘A Mortal Binding’ is a dark, heavy album which demanded a crunchy, overdriven bass sound and the Skarbassone was the perfect foundation for that.”
On achieving the album’s sound, Lena states, “I recorded with Mark Mynet at Mynetaur Productions. He asked me if we could try a new pedal he had, a Trondheim SkarBassOne. We set it up and I couldn’t believe how powerful it sounded. ‘A Mortal Binding’ is a dark, heavy album which demanded a crunchy, overdriven bass sound and the SkarBassOne was the perfect foundation for that. It went through a Two Notes Torpedo IR Loader through a cab. It then went through an Ampeg Classic amp with a slightly driven sound. The Ampeg Classic doesn’t provide the very bottom lows of the bass sound; it’s the DI frequency that does that. Mark EQ’d the bass DI to a strong DI sound which made the Mayones sound so clean and powerful in the lows. The main mid-range grit of the sound is the SkarBassOne. And lastly, we used Neural DSP Parallax which introduces some higher frequency distortion. As with all things, get the basics right: a great bass, fresh strings, a good set up, and regular maintenance.”
“There are sometimes disagreements and frustrations throughout the whole process which can be draining. But we keep turning up.”
Discussing the challenges of composing the album, Lena reveals, “Nothing about writing an album is easy. We work regular jobs as well as writing, recording, rehearsing, and gigging, etc. A lot of commitment and personal sacrifices must be made to make all this happen. I worked all day, then went straight to our studio to stand around in a freezing cold room going through new material and trying to form a song out of separate riffs with the rest of the band until late into the night. Several times a week, for months, probably over a year. There are sometimes disagreements and frustrations throughout the whole process which can be draining. But we keep turning up. Much like everyone who reads your articles, I live and breathe music, it’s my passion. I was listening to the riffs our guitarist, Andrew Craighan, had sent, and with intent, I was thinking how can I make this the best work that we can do? I listened over and over and wrote the bass lines in my mind before I even picked my bass up. I’m very proud of this album; I truly believe that it’s our best work yet.”
During the recording of A Mortal Binding, Lena Abé faced the unique challenge of reviewing album mixes while on tour. She recounts, “We had some gigs around the time that we were finished recording so Mark was sending us the initial mixes of the songs whilst we were out of the country. We had a particularly memorable gig at Prophecy Fest in Germany which is held inside a cave. I was in our dressing room (a very dark corner inside the cave) listening to the mixes and making notes of my feedback. Not exactly ideal conditions but there wasn’t much choice as there are deadlines to meet.”
“I find our music cathartic. I like to drown in it and feel dragged under the water and come out of it feeling reset.”
With A Mortal Binding out now on Nuclear Blast, Lena hopes that listeners find their own connection with the music, noting, “I’m not a lyric person; lyrics will never move me as much as the music does. I think everyone takes something different away from our music because it’s multi-dimensional. There are moments of sadness, rage, hope, violence, beauty, and grief. People who like our music will get what they need from it in that moment; some moments will speak louder on some days than others. There’s one song in particular that I would nudge you towards, The Apocalyptist. It’s a journey that has all the emotions in it. The louder it’s played, the better it gets. I have no doubt that some people will just listen to us because they just like the riffs and they don’t need that emotional connection to it. Personally, I find our music cathartic. I like to drown in it and feel dragged under the water and come out of it feeling reset. So far, the feedback has been very good, and I’m excited for its release.”