Is This How It Ends? AARON STAINTHORPE Unsure If He’s Still the Vocalist of MY DYING BRIDE

Summary

• Aaron Stainthorpe says he hasn’t left My Dying Bride, but the band is performing with another vocalist and not speaking to him.
• Legal uncertainty looms as Stainthorpe questions the band’s record deal status and his own involvement in future releases.
• Despite everything, he hopes for reconciliation, but admits he may need legal advice if things go further without him.

Aaron Stainthorpe isn’t entirely sure whether he’s still the lead singer of My Dying Bride. The British doom metal band recently returned to the stage with Mikko Kotamäki, from Swallow the Sun, handling vocals. That alone raised a few eyebrows.

The band had gone quiet after the release of A Mortal Binding in April 2024, with members citing internal conflicts as the main reason. Things have only gotten murkier since then.

In a recent interview on the Iblis Manifestations podcast (as reported by Blabbermouth), Stainthorpe shared his side of the situation. His update? Vague, at best.

“I haven’t heard from Andrew (Craighan, guitarist) in over a year,” he said. The two are the only original members left in the band. “We never had a manager. We just did our best to figure things out. We came close once, oddly enough with Ronnie James Dio’s ex-wife, but we thought we could handle things on our own. Then a huge argument happened… I don’t even remember when. Maybe a year or so ago.”

Stainthorpe hoped some time apart would cool things off. That didn’t happen. “I figured we’d reconnect, work out our issues, and restart things. Next thing I knew, they were playing shows without me. No one said a word. So what can I do?” he continued. “I’ll keep doing what I do until someone decides to talk. No one has. I’m not going to sit around moping. I’ve got a full schedule.”

He’s not even sure the band has a record deal at the moment. “Everything went sideways with Nuclear Blast,” Stainthorpe said. “I don’t know if they’re even functioning as a label anymore. The guy I used to talk to isn’t there. I don’t know if My Dying Bride even has a contract right now. And if we do, where does that leave me?”

To be clear, he insists he hasn’t left the band or been kicked out. “I’ve been in this band 35 years. I’m not walking away,” he said. “If they want to keep going without me, fine, good luck. But I’m not out.”

In the meantime, Stainthorpe is active with another group called High Parasite, but he’s aware this situation could head into legal territory. “You’d think that as a founding member who never left, I’d have some authority,” he said. “Apparently not. I might need legal advice if they release something using the name and I’m not on it. I didn’t want it to come to that, but it might have to. In the UK, we’ve got the musicians’ union. I know people in the business. I’d rather just rejoin the band, but maybe that’s not up to me anymore.”

Even so, he’s holding out hope.

“The reason I’m not screaming about this is because I don’t think it’s over,” he said. “If I thought it was done, I’d be devastated. But I’m staying optimistic. We’re not kids. We’re not in some petty gang. We should be able to work this out.”

He also dismissed the idea that this is some typical rock-band drama. “Usually, bands fall apart because of serious stuff, someone steals all the money, or there’s some scandal. We don’t have that. There’s no ‘you slept with my wife’ drama. Nothing like that. So I think we can fix this. We’ll see.”

Founded in 1990, My Dying Bride currently includes two original members: Stainthorpe and guitarist Andrew Craighan. The rest of the lineup features Neil Blanchett (guitar), Lena Abé (bass), Shaun MacGowan (keyboards and violin), and Dan Mullins (drums).

Albums like Turn Loose the Swans (1993), The Angel and the Dark River (1995), and Like Gods of the Sun (1996) remain key releases in the doom metal genre.

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