BRIDE: Here is Your God

…and here is your Bride
Perhaps the most intriguing – and for some fans also the most perplexing – quality Bride possesses is the ever-changing nature of their musical output. Every album over the past 34 years has its own distinctive and defining style and presentation. Add an ever-changing line-up of supporting musicians over those years, contributing further to the diversity of sounds, and you have a long and storied career of musical exploration. But at the core of Bride remains Dale and Troy Thompson. While you may or may not love them all (I’m counting 16 full albums, including this one), they are cemented and connected musically by Troy’s creative and groove-infected guitar tones and Dale’s clever and confrontational vocal outpourings.
However, despite the musical experimentation, which has, for the most part, been more successful and impactful than not, the message has remained clear – Jesus Christ is, always has been, and remains the hope for mankind. Yes, I know there is more to it than that, but for sake of brevity, long time fans know what I am saying.
It is not unreasonable to surmise that, at this point in their career, Bride defy comparison. Furthermore, there is probably little that I could convey to readers that would either convince someone to embrace this music or, on the other hand, reject the listen. As my title implies – “Here is Your Bride.” If you have loved most of their 34 years of hard rock and metal, there is nothing here that should be overlooked as this is essentially an amalgamation of everything that we’ve heard from them (old and new) up to this point.
I think it is simultaneously comical and refreshing that each Bride album has the “sounds-like” pre-release hype. It is comical because this hype, from my perspective, never reflects the actual music … and it is refreshing because credit Bride for still being able to garner the kind-of pre-release hype that is both controversial and intriguing – a quality usually reserved for younger bands at the peak of their career. So it’s cool that 34 years into their career, people still look forward to what kind of album musically they are going to deliver.
On the continuum of the Bride musical universe, Here is Your God would fairly occupy a space on the heavier end of the spectrum, but not necessarily the heaviest. Much of the music feels heavier than Snake Eyes because there is less of a hard rock groove to the riffs and more of a straight-on edginess.
Furthermore, the expansion of the use of double bass drum and multi-tom drum fills further pushes the music toward the metal side, especially when Dale has adopted the more abrasive and higher pitched vocal tendencies – prevalent on many of his more recent metal releases – on most of the songs here. While I don’t perceive this necessarily a negative, it does render the songs a bit more metallic when compared to the more recent release Snake Eyes. And there are some moments here, “Burning from Within,” with the long vocal narrative, that definitely take us back to those early years (think, “Heroes”).
Fortunately, as with most of the Bride releases, there is always a fair amount of diversity. So while the pace, vocal aggression and lyrical scope falls more on the old meets new metal vibe, the music remains distinctly Bride … and that means groove, rock and roll.
Aposan Alexandre’s drumming is noteworthy throughout but immediately evident on the opening track “Demon Speed.” He was tastefully reserved to support the music on Snake Eyes, but the flamboyance more appropriate to heavier music is on showcase here, especially some of these cool, old-school fills. And the rest of the band nails it as well. This track has it all, the grooves, the ripping vocals and plenty of aggression.
Love the guitars to “In My Own Time,” hearkening back to the melodic rock sounds of Kinetic Faith, but then the song shifts to a more somber and haunting tone toward the end which aptly reflects a sobering lament and cry for help.
“The Unhallowed” is one of the best songs on here. Metal meets groove rock. There is this driving rhythm and bass drum urgency in the verses, and then a crunchy groove in the choruses – the contrast brilliant. This song also plays well to Dale’s vocal strengths – that almost patented singing style in the verses contrasting with the higher, more urgent aggression in the chorus. Troy’s guitars really come to the forefront on this one in both the grooves/leads and the solo sections. Fans of Show No Mercy and Live to Die will find much to love in this heavy track.
On the other hand, while there is some excellent instrumental interplay going on during “In The End,” I find the high octave vocal in the chorus just a bit grating. The contrast continues with the up-tempo “Like I Never Was” where there is a juxtaposition of spoken and sung words over top of a fast drum rhythm. It’s a very cool song from a compositional standpoint, especially how the guitars are used more to accent the rhythm and the vocals carry all the melody.
For those fans more interested in the more melodic groove rock, “Shine On You” will not disappoint. This is a great song, both musically and lyrically, and the closest thing to a power ballad on the record.
“Shine On You” is followed be the equally engaging, funk-driven “I Promise” – Lucena’s bass line cutting through the mix in grand fashion. When you hear this song it just makes you smile. Some bands create music that is technically great but lacks passion. “I Promise” not only showcases the diversity of style this band is capable of executing, but it also lets you know they can lay it down with plenty of heart and soul.
“Hammer them nails!”
“What Will the End Be?” is a solid laid-back Bride groove rocker with great lyrics, great vocals. Dale uses his lower register voice on this one and sounds primo here. Where “Send Your Angels” is my probably my least favorite track on the album, largely because of the repetitive chorus, it is followed by one of the more metallic songs here, “Letter of Light.” This song is replete with great guitar work, solos and subtle, yet well-placed drum nuances.
Of course, the most “retro” vibe song on the album is going to be the epic closer, “Burning from Within.” The nearly 1 minute and 30 second haunting narrative defines the introduction and sets the tone for what is to follow. “Burning from within, you don’t have to die in your sins.” There is some heavy guitar riff and solo work by Troy with Dale’s exhortative vocal over the top of plenty of drum and bass guitar drive.
The album has been engineered, mixed and mastered by Nenel Lucena and once again released on Retroactive Records, which means you get the usual 12-page lush booklet and jewel case packaging with the CD. In addition, the CD comes with an informative and collectible trading card featuring either Troy or Dale, which is part of the new Retroactive and Girder Records sponsored “silver-foil” trading card series. [Note, there is also a similar “gold-foil” series, those included in certain of the Gold Disc Editions.]
Here is Your God is not as immediately appealing as some of the more melodic releases we’ve enjoyed from the brothers Thompson over the decades but give it a few spins and I trust you will find some of the gold hidden in these tracks. There truly is something here for everyone. All the Bride elements – the old and the new – have been blended nicely in a manner which is both familiar and fresh.
