Ex-MY DYING BRIDE Frontman AARON STAINTHORPE Releases New HIGH PARASITE Single 'Drag Me Under'

HIGH PARASITE, the U.K. "death pop" outfit led by former MY DYING BRIDE frontman Aaron Stainthorpe, has released a new single, "Drag Me Under". Originally intended for HIGH PARASITE's debut album, "Forever We Burn", which came out in September 2024, the band decided to hold it back — until now.

HIGH PARASITE bassist/vocalist Danny "Tombs" Lambert explains: "We all loved this song when we recorded it for our first album, but it was a little different to the other tracks, with more of a RAMMSTEIN kind of vibe. So we decided to hold it back… until this moment. We've already started recording our second studio album. We're looking to the future, so now 'Drag Me Under' makes perfect sense, a glimpse into what's to come."

"Drag Me Under" arrives in tandem with HIGH PARASITE's first headline London outing, lined up for tonight at The Lexington. The current tour has already taken in multiple shows in Ireland, and will continue into the Netherlands and France.

"Forever We Burn" was produced by Gregor Mackintosh of PARADISE LOST. The LP — with Stainthorpe and Lambert at the helm — blended metal, gothic rock, and dark synth-pop into a powerful and emotionally raw sound.

HIGH PARASITE is:

Vocals - Aaron Stainthorpe
Bass - Tombs
Rhythm guitar - Sam Hill
Lead guitar - Jonny Hunter
Drums - Dan Brown

Last October, MY DYING BRIDE officially parted ways with Stainthorpe. The news came less than a year after MY DYING BRIDE recruited singer Mikko Kotamäki (SWALLOW THE SUN) to front the band for its live appearances in 2025.

MY DYING BRIDE's latest album, "A Mortal Binding", came out in April 2024 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Last year, Stainthorpe clarified to Iblis Manifestations that his involvement with HIGH PARASITE didn't create any issues with MY DYING BRIDE, despite fan speculation to the contrary. "Yeah, there was never gonna be a conflict," he explained. "MDB do about 15 gigs a year, and [there is] sometimes three or four years between albums. I could be in 10 bands and it wouldn't affect the scheduling of MY DYING BRIDE. I spoke to Tombs back in the day and I said, 'Here's some MY DYING BRIDE gigs. Make sure there's no HIGH PARASITE [gigs] clashing, any clashing of any gigs at all.' And he said, 'Absolutely fine. That will not happen.' And, well, it never even got that far, because we had a big bust-up before then, and the gigs got canceled anyway.

"You don't sacrifice the main band for your smaller band," Aaron continued. "That doesn't happen. Can you imagine Lars Ulrich saying to METALLICA, 'Do you know what, guys? Can we cancel those big gigs, 'cause me and my mates wanna mess around in this other band?' It doesn't work that way. It doesn't happen like that. And it would be ridiculous to even think that. 'Cause I know some people think, 'Oh, Aaron's concentrating more on HIGH PARASITE than MY DYING BRIDE. So he sacrificed MY DYING BRIDE for HIGH PARASITE.' You don't do things like that. It's utterly, utterly ridiculous. And why would I? MY DYING BRIDE has been an absolute delight for me for 30-odd years. I'm not gonna let that go. And I'm certainly not gonna let another, a smaller band batter it out the way. It doesn't work like that. Literally every musician I know is in more than one band. It's easy. Anyone can do it. It's not an issue."

Photo credit: Andy Ford