The Murder of My Sweet – Bye Bye Lullaby CD review

Branded as Cinematic Rock, The Murder of My Sweet is a female fronted four piece from Stockholm, Sweden who has just released their second album entitled, Bye Bye Lullaby via AFM records. Jammed to the brim full of alternative, melancholic, verging on gothic metal anthems, Bye Bye Lullaby is an album that combines dark, atmospheric keyboard parts, punchy, down tuned guitar riffs and melodic vocal lines to form a monster of a female fronted rock album that could be seen as the finest female fronted metal album of the year thus far. Sharp hooky riffs, with piercing melody lines is the best way to describe The Murder of My Sweet’s signature sound, and by god does it sound multi dimensional when played out loud.

There are so many talented female singers in metal nowadays, but lead vocalist Angelica Rylin has a certain spark about her the moment she starts singing. She may have one of the most beautiful and astounding voices you have ever hear, but it’s the fact she can communicate and put across so much emotion and raw passion into what she is singing that makes tracks such as ‘Unbreakable’, ‘I Dare You’ and ‘Meant to Last Forever’ all the more memorable. Her voice is perfect to go with these very dark, very twisted songs, and if The Murder of My Sweet did not have her, they would not be as good as they are today.

Bye Bye Lullaby is a very keyboard driven album and it’s the atmospheric synth sounds that gives The Murder of My Sweet another musical dimension. They are not your run of the mill rock band, and it’s the heavily influential keyboard lines that set them apart from other female fronted bands playing the same type of music. Tracks such as ‘Fallen’, ‘Violently Peaceful’ and ‘Resurrection’ all open with impressive, grand keyboard parts that really set the mood, tone and nature of the song to come, holding the listener in suspense as the calm, floating melody of the intro mulls over their speakers.  

There is something very dark and sinister about Bye Bye Lullaby, giving it that Goth rock effect. Similar to bands such as Delain, Xandria and Sirenia; The Murder of My Sweet base their song around dark, interweaving melody lines which hook the listener the moment they kick in. It’s melodic but menacing, both calm and fierce, combing two polar opposites to form thirteen epic rock anthems.

Fans of extreme metal aren’t going to love The Murder of My Sweet, but for those who have a taste for all things power, symphonic and female fronted, Bye Bye Lullaby is a silver platter of musical excellence, that will have you singing along, banging your head and talking about it for years to come. [9/10]