Cradle of Filth Albums (9)
'Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder'
Release Date 10/28/2008
Tracks 13
Label Roadrunner
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
If ever there were a subject for England's Cradle of Filth to tackle, it's the life of notorious French mass murderer (and celebrated war hero companion of Joan of Arc) Gilles de Rais. If you haven't heard of him, don't be surprised. After he was hanged in 1440, his name was stricken from the official records of history by French authorities. His crimes? Too numerous too mention here, but the worst of them involved the murder and rape of hundreds of children. Late in his life, French national library boss, critic, and novelist Georges Bataille wrote a complete book on the trial of this figure. De Rais was Sadeian before the Marquis de Sade ever existed (indeed, he may have been an inspiration for some of the characters in The 120 Days of Sodom). This album is a lengthy examination of the mind and biography of de Rais -- nobleman, aristocrat, devout Christian, war hero, and societal icon by day, by night an insane Satan-worshipping gore hound and purveyor of slaughter and blood sacrifice. On the surface it seems that Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder might be an ideal topic for a death metal record by the outrageously theatrical Cradle of Filth, led by head growler and screecher Dani Filth. It begins well with the classical interlude "In Grandeur and Frankincense Devilment Stirs," with the spoken word poem of the character. On the next track, "Shat Out of Hell," the listener is engaged by the utterly frenetic power drumming and über fast death metal guitar and bass riffery behind the simultaneously Cookie Monster growled and shrieked vocals of Filth. This may the only track on the record that offers a rather negative view of his crimes, and is the most musically compelling thing here. Beginning with the very next cut, the nascent "The Death of Love," near prog rock conceptual theater takes precedence over rock & roll fury. Keyboards and choirs, Gothic-sounding themes, minor-key riffs, and thunderous drums give way to a heavily layered production style, although there are still moments of unholy metal charge and scree. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
'Eleven Burial Masses'
Release Date 5/15/2007
Tracks 24
Label Peaceville/Snapper
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What The Critics Say
Cradle of Filth is, without question, Britain's most popular, adventurous, funniest, and theatrical alternative metal band (they've actually smiled in photos in full corpse paint). They've been blogged about endlessly, and most recently about not being in the least bit a "black metal band" anymore but merely a good metal band -- they seldom wear corpse paint; they've been interviewed by MTV; have a MySpace page (not run by them); and lead singer Dani Filth sometimes goes by his real name Dani Davey now. Whatever. Cradle of Filth are not a good metal band; they are a great one. Over six previous full-lengths they've been able to make seamless the melding of gothic textures, symphonic music, drama and dynamics, bone-shattering death metal, high concept theater, great production, and humor. In short, they may be mainstream these days, but they can still shred the pants off just about any body musically. Thornography follows Nymphetamine on the Roadrunner label and is produced by Rob Cagganio. And the band is intact with guests like the inimitable Sarah Jezebel Deva of Angtoria. While it's true that the new title doesn't match the last one (it was so brilliant, how could it?), the music certainly does. A deep, creepy gothic intro titled "Under Pregnant Skies She Comes Alive Like Miss Leviathan" (written by Chris and Tommy Rehn of Angtoria) that would have improved upon the one in the original Hellraiser film, with big choirs, huge organs and strings, it's almost Wagnerian in scope and sets the tone for those bludgeoning twin guitars and blasted drum work on "Dirge Inferno" (which is anything but). Dani Filth is as entertaining as ever as s singer, sounding somewhere between Cookie Monster with a razor stuck in his throat and Chris D. of the L.A. horror-punk band of yesteryear the Flesh Eaters. But it wouldn't matter if Miss Piggy were fronting this unit, they are so utterly accomplished as a metal band musically. Check "Tonight in Flames" with its references to the great metallic bands of the past for evidence. But Dani serves another purpose because he's so utterly entertaining. "Libertina Grimm" weds Lovecraftian horror filtered through Vincent Price kitsch, wedded to Sade-ian pornography via blistering metal: "God was six days sober/On the night that she was born/To the glistening star of a bible class/An icon now in religious porn." Offended? What did you expect from a band called Cradle of Filth? "Sweet Child O' Mine"? This might be offensive if it could at all be taken seriously. Offense is the point, but so is the fun of classic horror. Better is "The Byronic Man," which follows. It's such an intensely high gothic concept, lamenting Lord Byron's fate and celebrating his many alleged crimes against culture, the church and the aristocracy: "As lonely as a poet on the walls of Jericho/Or the moon without the comfort of the stars/I am loathe to know it that a man without a soul/Is nothing but a spilt canopic jar/I proved it, improved it/Drove a sonnet right through it..." But none of this would matter if this band couldn't write songs, and be so utterly full of the dark side of Halloween and rock the joint to the cracked cement foundation. Who cares what the street thinks about them? Cradle of Filth have been trying to be the evil version of Queen for ten of their 15-year history. Whether its Edwardian decadence, classless humor, power metal in overdriven fury or over-the-top satire disguised as transgression; COF are so very consistent and sophisticated musically and sonically that they are virtually untouchable and in a class of their own -- which is where, make no mistake, they always wanted to be. Other standout tracks on this set include "Cemetery and Sundown," with its woven vocal choruses, deep rumbling bass riffs, and melody line like something off the Damned's Black Album. The unhinged "Foetus of a New Day Kicking" simply kicks ass in the way that Venom did on their debut album with riffs as sledgehammer-like as early Iron Maiden. But nothing quite prepares the listener, whether old loyal fan or newfangled bandwagon jumper, for the cover of Heaven 17's "Temptation" that closes the record and, in addition, is the album's first single and video. Who said Satanic heavy metal bands couldn't crack a joke? Whether this will be the last straw for the COF faithful and/or win them an entirely new legion of fans is anybody's guess, but let's just say by the sound of Thornography, COF are aiming at playing an arena near you sometime in the near future. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
When was the last time you saw anyone in corpse paint smile? It's further proof of their flair for showmanship that two of the "slick perverted wraiths" in Cradle of Filth's 2004 publicity shot are flashing the pearly whites. The longstanding English group was never devoted purely to the black metal aesthetic; Dani Filth and his minions flaunted decadence amid their gravestones, and supported the usual atonal growls with the melodic gallop of metal traditionalism. This approach has always assured the listener a little entertainment with his fear, and Nymphetamine (what a name!) is no different. The laughably overwrought novellas of Damnation and a Day are gone -- Cradle's focusing on songs, not suites. Does this have anything to do with the band's new home at Roadrunner? The label is very good at encouraging the music to say hard while working to make it marketable, too; witness its co-branded Headbanger's Ball compilations. Whatever the reasons, Nymphetamine is an extremely entertaining album. Filth's vocals shift between roof-of-mouth-tearing screams and primordial yowls; coupled with the oft-melodic guitar lines, Cradle can at times resemble any of the slogan T-shirted American post-hardcore units (Used, for example). Thank the dark lord then that they don't forget their place. We don't listen to these albums to empathize with Dani's pain; we listen because they sound like a play list on Pinhead's iPod. After a typically spooky intro -- picture black-robed choirs and gargoyles coming to life -- Cradle drops the hammer on "Gilded C***" (you figure it out), a muscular rocker with wind-whipping time shifts and lyrics you can actually understand ("My preference leans to killing you quickly/Scissored in the gizzard...."). Most of the album plays dueling power metal guitars masterfully off a slower or more gothic choruses. "Absinthe With Faust," for example, departs from its Metallica-type speed for a firelight reflecting in the catacombs interlude. Hello, my pretty. Other highlights include the rapid-fire "Medusa and Hemlock," a guest appearance from Leaves' Eyes chanteuse Liv Kristine Espenaes Krull, and "Filthy Little Secret," which is utterly cinematic in its orchestral, choral, and ultimately explosive scope. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
'Damnation and a Day'
Release Date 3/10/2003
Tracks 17
Label Sony/Epic
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
What if a black metal band with a penchant for performance art and symphony-sized stage shows got a major label to back up and fund its perverted vision of apocalypse? The result would be something like Damnation and a Day, a metal album that features a 40-piece orchestra and 32-piece choir, but is still definitely extreme-sounding and can in no way be viewed as a sellout. Cradle of Filth was called a sellout long before they hooked up with Sony. Hardcore black metalers thought their stage show was too cartoony and Alice Cooper-like. That's true in a way -- the band's delivery of dark music comes filtered through a show that's more Cirque du Soleil than satanic. If any black metal band was ever going to be in league with the Beelzebub-owned music industry, it was Cradle of Filth. So not surprisingly, for their major-label debut the filthy ones have come up with a sprawling, 77-minute-long record. It has some grand-sounding moments and is recorded cleanly, with the symphonic and operatic elements being perhaps its best. But it is endless, and only a true Filth fan could tell one song from another. The song titles include "A Bruise Upon the Silent Moon," "The Promise of Fever," and "The Mordant Liquor of Tears," and obviously they are trying for something truly portentous with Damnation and a Day -- but it's a mess. Perhaps someone more level-headed at the record label or a gifted producer could have turned this into a record with real songs. As it is, it's a taxing, less-than-monumental work that won't win them many new mainstream fans, if that's at all what they had in mind. ~ Adam Bregman, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
As satanic as anything need be, Cradle of Filth are a black metal ensemble from Suffolk, England, who've managed to keep it extreme, while being wildly popular internationally. They may be the most popular black metal band in the world because they've managed to break away from the genre's relatively small cult following and successfully infect all sorts of disaffected teenagers, especially in Europe. They never veer drastically from the usual black metal staples: movie monster-type vocals, lots of high-pitched screams, indecipherable lyrics, and relentless, punishing riffs. But Midian has its fair share of melody too. (Most of the finest metal does have some element of melody.) The album begins with a chorus of what sounds like some evil monks chanting and is at its very best when the ominous, classical-style keyboards kick in. ~ Adam Bregman, All Music Guide
'Cruelty and the Beast'
Release Date 4/27/1998
Tracks 10
Label Gestrichen
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Dusk and Her Embrace'
Release Date 11/18/1996
Tracks 9
Label Gestrichen
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Cradle of Filth may be one of the only recognizable underground metal acts to an average person. Although mom and dad might not know who they are, the band enjoyed a streak of notoriety through the late '90s into the turn of the century that would be hard for a music fan to miss. Their theatrical approach to the black metal genre was nothing new, but they turned it up a notch by cutting out much of the humor and bad special effects that groups like Mercyful Fate depended on and replaced them with a creepier, nastier stage show. But unlike so many of the bands in this genre, they had the music to back it up, and Dusk and Her Embrace may be their finest moment. What they did more than any other group is take the extreme playing style of the Norwegian black metal scene and apply a Sisters of Mercy style of melody to the singing. A hundred different metal bands tried to use goth flourishes in their music, but Cradle of Filth realized that you could make goth conform to heavy metal, not the other way around. This results in some creepy material; just listen to "Heaven Torn Asunder" or "Malice Through the Looking Glass" to hear some of the most important black metal ever made. What is even weirder is how catchy this music is. They really do a good job of incorporating memorable vocal lines and melodies into one of the least accessible genres of the 20th century. The keyboard intros and flourishes may be a little much for some listeners, but in the field of gothic European black metal, would you really expect anything less? With catchy songs, a brutal delivery, and a great gimmick, this is as good as underground metal gets. Along with Emperor, Faxed Head, and a few other pioneers, this band really helped the black metal genre to reappear after the death metal craze of the early '90s, but more than any other group, they also helped to put a twisted, ugly face on the genre for all to see. ~ Bradley Torreano, All Music Guide
'The Principle of Evil Made Flesh'
Release Date 1/1/1992
Tracks 13
Label Cacophonous
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Cradle of Filth is most notorious for bringing respectability to the Norwegian black metal template, the band threatening to actually make the genre enjoyable, thanks to acceptable production values and an admirable songwriting ethic mostly absent among the early reptilian belchings croaked forth from dank Norse basements -- and Cradle is British to boot. Utilizing flowery classical flourishes, tangible melodies, nimble death/thrash riffing, a coherent -- albeit crushing -- rhythmic battery, and the deranged, multifaceted caterwaul of vocalist Dani Davey, The Principle of Evil Made Flesh brought a musical sensibility to the black metal table that was absent in early genre releases by Emperor, Enslaved, and Mayhem. Boasting a blatant goth influence -- i.e., lengthy keyboard intros, intermittent operatic female vocals, and Davey's black 'n' blood take on romantic poetry (in meter even!) -- and slightly tongue-in-cheek vampire and occult imagery, Cradle came across as a lean combination of key influences, including Venom, Iron Maiden, Bathory, Possessed, Celtic Frost, and Slayer, all spot-welded to the miscreant clatterings of Norway's finest. While "The Black Goddess Rises," "To Eve the Art of Witchcraft," and "The Forest Whispers My Name" are undeniably classic Cradle ragers, Principle, in retrospect, doesn't quite live up to the quality control exhibited on later records, the album leaving plenty of room for the group to grow into its studded S&M gear. Too often, Davey's vocals are reduced to generic death-puking or heavy-handed, Tom Warrior-style monotone narration, and the spiky guitar riffs of the title track and "A Crescendo of Passion Bleeding" are relatively primitive by CoF standards. Regardless, Principle made waves in the early black metal scene, putting Cradle of Filth on the tips of metalheads' tongues, whether in praise of the band's brazen attempts to break the black metal mold, or in derision for its "commercialization" of an underground phenomenon that was proud of its grimy heritage -- commercialization being a relative term within the genre's confines (the "sellouts" used professional studios, while the torch-bearers for "true black metal" apparently preferred to use the single-microphone-hung-from-the-garage-rafters recording method). A strong argument can be made that Norwegian acts, all viable artists in their own right, would have evolved into more coherent and inspired outfits regardless of Cradle's influence on the scene, but these zany Brits deserve credit for realizing how tight the genre's shackles could be, choosing to reach for more creatively satisfying vistas instead of clinging to the cave-dweller-banging-on-rocks method of black metal songwriting. ~ John Serba, All Music Guide
