Bride – “Vipers and Shadows” – The Metal Resource

5 September, 2025 thrashboy 0 Comments 1 category

I was a might bit pessimistic about Bride’s future last time. I shoulda known this train ain’t stoppin’. Almost as to prove they will continue until the Second Coming, they double down on a double album, “Vipers and Shadows,” that showcases a staggering 20 new tracks from the veteran Christian rockers. It’s overwhelming!

The band that we know as Bride started back in the early 80s under the name Matrix (long before the movies). They were in the beginning and remain an integral part of the Christian metal and hard rock scene having experimented with many genres through the decades including nu metal and elements of rap before landing on a more traditional metal meets bluesy hard rock. My virtual run-ins are most often with lead vocalist Dale Thompson who lends his voice to many bands in the scene that struggled to meet the intensity of this treasure. It is satisfying to hear Dale’s voice where it is most natural: on a Bride album.

There are distinct “Vipers” and “Shadows” sides of the album. I can’t tell if there is a theme that connects them, but it does make it easier to traipse through the album going one set of songs at a time. The songs across both have bluesy heavy rock underpinnings that are characteristic of Bride with some neat ear candy episodes along the way, a ballad or two, and a whole bunch of attitude. That said, there are so many songs that they blend into each other leaving me humming my own tunes after a listening. The more adventurous songs add some much needed diversity and tend to draw me more than the usual fare.

I am thankful to hear Dale’s voice getting the proper support from Troy, Alexandre, and Nenel. He is so intense and shows no signs of stopping. His wheelhouse lands in that thrash meets rhythmic nu-metal style that does well for the mid-tempo and higher energy tracks, but gets a little rough around the edges on a ballad like “Black Kiss.” He is not a sweet crooner, but he does have that weathered rocker sound, somewhat like Dave Mustaine of Megadeth singing a ballad. At this point, Dale knows what he does, we know what it sounds like, and we have our opinions. I think for this record it works well, but I felt that his omnipresence dominated the album.

I really enjoyed the instrumental breaks and development sections in between Dale’s vocals. Nenel’s bass work is incredibly nimble and engaging. The crazy bass runs on “It’s A Living Hell” gives me a good reason to a revisit a song I normally wouldn’t. The band has a great handle on catchy grooves, driving rhythms, and even some odd time meters in “All of My Life” that provide great life to the songs. Solos and guitar licks were pretty good for the most part, but the lack of the meatier frequencies put the guitar on a lower stature than the vocals, staying in the subconscious rather than to the fore in Dale’s absence. That said, I always enjoyed the additional instruments that Troy added in to the songs such as violin as it provided depth.

Many of the songs have similarities that make them hard to differentiate. That isn’t to say there aren’t good cuts among them. My favorite songs are the higher energy tracks like “Vipers’” opener “Million Miles Away,” “No Better Time,” and “Name of The Game” where the instruments meet Dale’s hyperactivity. A majority of the songs live in a tepid mid-tempo realm that can be hit or miss, contingent on the energy of the riffing. Because of my proclivity for the novel, the bluegrass “Tried So Hard” was a welcome contrast and neat break, albeit towards the end of “Shadows.” “Tried On The Outside” is a charismatic odd track that uses what I think is a saxophone and different scales to create an unidentifiable ethnic sound that reminds me of the cantina band in Star Wars. I was not expecting that.

After all of the hype of a new Bride album and a double one at that, the result doesn’t quite match. There are definitely good tracks and good points on the album, but I think there was too much, cluttering from a clearer mission on an epic double album. Bride fans will be much more favorable, especially if they have enjoyed the last couple of albums from the band. They still remain a solid band and a reliable voice in the Christian metal and hard rock scene, but I think that going the extra step to edit down to their best songs, clearly showing why they are legends, would have yielded another solid album to their catalog.

Rating: 7.5/10

Written by Sean Bailey

Tracklist

“Vipers”

1 – Million Miles
2 – Anytime I Call On You
3 – Take It Out On Me
4 – Fall To Pieces
5 – Beginning of Sorry
6 – No Better Time
7 – Black Kiss
8 – Wrath
9 – It’s A Living Hell
10 – In One Life

“Shadows”

1 – Whatcha Doin Out There
2 – Higher
3 – Live and Love
4 – Deliver Us From Evil
5 – Can You Stoke The Fire
6 – Rescue Me
7 – Tried So Hard
8 – Name Of The Game
9 – Tried On The Outside
10 – All Of My Life

Bride is:

Dale Thompson – lead vocals
Troy Thompson – guitars, piano, violin, cello and mandolin
Nenel Lucena – bass
Alexandre Aposan – drums

Release Date: May 1, 2025

Record Label: Independent

Discography:

Show No Mercy (1986)
Live to Die (1988)
Silence Is Madness (1989)
Kinetic Faith (1991)
Snakes in the Playground (1992)
Scarecrow Messiah (1994)
Drop (1995)
The Jesus Experience (1997)
Oddities (1998)
Fist Full of Bees (2001)
This Is It (2003)
Skin for Skin (2006)
Tsar Bomba (2009)
Incorruptible (2013) [review]
Snake Eyes (2018) [review]
Here Is Your God (2020) [review]
Bluegrass Gospel (2021)
Christmas (2021) [review]
Are You Awake? (2023) [review]