ALBUM REVIEW: Cradle of Filth bring glorious gothic terror to bear on Cryptoriana

IF 'Hammer of Witches' proved that Cradle of Filth had regained their edgy artistic mojo then new release 'Cryptorian' shifts them up to another level entirely.

This is the marriage of previous musical excesses and a true sense of gothic terror - not in the mainstream sense of 'goths' but reaching into the dark labyrinthine murk of Victorian streets, where danger and sensuality stand side-by-side.

'Cryptoriana' is a tapestry of lust and evil delivered with all that you would expect from Dani and co.

Apart from the short, sharp shock of opener 'Exquisite Torments Await' (and they do) each of the other tracks are allowed the time to breathe musically and in their narrative.

As with almost all Cradle of Filth albums the narrative is a crucial component. Indeed, the sub-title of 'Cryptoriana' is 'The Seductiveness of Decay' a stunning track that cements the narrative of a Victorian England where the supernatural sat aside the industrial murk and poverty; where the rich indulged a quest of what lay beyond while maintaining a very British reserve to hide their sinfulness.

“The album, both lyrically and artistically, is infused with Victorian gothic horror and thus the title is a reflection of that, Cryptoriana implies the Victorians’ infatuation with the supernatural, the grave and the fervently ghoulish." - Dani Filth

The tapestry woven is such that to capture the sense (and sensibility) of the tales requires a musical landscape as intense and evocative as the lyrics. And it is lush with moods and suggestive passages.

Shaw and Ashok almost war each other in trade-offs and solos that are mainly delivered with speed and intensity, but are also tempered with shifts of pace and tempo. With Škaroupka and Firth tied together with a rhythmic umbilical chord that sense of doom infused throughout sits as a warning to lesser mortals.

However, it is the enchantress Lyndsay Schoolcraft that adds the flourishes that set the tone so well - her keyboard work sets scenes, add unexpected elements, and as always delivers vocally. Perhaps this is one of her finer demonstrations of her pipes recorded to date.

“The general vibe in the band is exceedingly positive as we gear up for the album’s release. We have an amazing album and video under our collective belts, a new manager who has religiously prepared an upcoming world tour for everyone to look forward to and the band are still white hot and collectively firing on all cylinders, much like a ballistic missile fired upon Horsell Common, in the last years of the 19th century when human affairs were being watched from the timeless worlds of space!” - Dani Flilth

To be clear, all eight tracks deserve repeated listens to fully enjoy the rich rewards and tones within. However, the concluding track 'Death and the Maiden' is one of the finest, textured tracks Cradle of Filth have released. If not for it all other tracks on Cryptorania would have vied for that title.

Sure, for many Dani and his crew have been the butt of ill-informed jibes with the many line-up changes, but on Hammer of the Witches they proved themselves to be a band that has evolved without losing sight of their core principles. Cryptorania takes them to the next level - we can't wait to see them in Belfast's Limelight on 30th October. Get listening to this album and get prepared!

Review by Jonathan Traynor

Cryptorania is released on Nuclear Blast on 22nd September 

NEWS: Cradle of Filth to release first single off new album on July 11th

COME the 11th July in Northern Ireland we burn shit, piss off each other and maybe get ready for some recreational rioting...Situation normal, all fucked up.

But for those of us who couldn't care less about the tribal blaming as it all being 'them uns' fault we have another reason to celebrate the 11th...and no need for bonfires and flags!

Cradle of Filth have changed the release date of the first single off their eagerly awaited 12th album, ‘Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness Of Decay’.

Debut single 'Heartbreak And Seance' will now be released on July 11th, and the pre-orders for the album will go live on the same day.

The band recently shot a music video for 'Heartbreak And Séance’, which will also be released on July 11th. Find some photos from the shoot below.

"Working with such an artistic director as Artūrs Bērziņš was indeed an honour, as the video shoot was very extensively planned, involving a myriad of extras and crew, make-up girls and set builders, a crow, some well-behaved snakes and a considerable amount of snow, candles, water, trees, naked bodies, lamentable mourners, as well as all being submerged in suitably gothic landscapes and vistas", said Dani Filth.

"And the fact that we travelled to Riga in Latvia to film it was also very unique and interesting. The video itself is fantastic, drawing from the darkly erotic imagery of the album artwork and bringing it to richly technicoloured classical life. We had such a blast shooting it, as the accompanying photos attest to..."

‘Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness Of Decay’ will be released on September 22nd via Nuclear Blast. Find the stunning cover artwork by Artūrs Bērziņš below. Bērziņš is the mastermind behind the new record’s artwork, photography and videography – best known for his defiant neo-symbolism raster graphics and oil paintings; postmodern interpretations of classic myths. He has been proclaimed as a “sacred monster of Latvian postmodernism."

Oh, and don't forget that Cradle of Filth play Belfast on 30th October...we'll see ya there!

NEWS: Cradle of Filth to open Cryptoriana tour in Belfast

OUR favourite dark creatures Cradle of Filth are set to open up its Cryptoriana tour in Belfast on 30th October.

The tour is named after the band's upcoming 12th full-length album.

‘Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness Of Decay’ will be released on September 22nd via Nuclear Blast.

You can view the stunning cover artwork by Artūrs Bērziņš below.

Bērziņš is the mastermind behind the new record’s artwork, photography and videography – best known for his defiant neo-symbolism raster graphics and oil paintings; postmodern interpretations of classic myths. He has been proclaimed as a “sacred monster of Latvian postmodernism”.

Dani Filth said: "The album is deeply infused with Victorian gothic horror and thus the title is a reflection of that. 'Cryptoriana' implies the Victorian's infatuation with the supernatural, the grave and the ghoulish.

"And the subtitle 'The Seductiveness Of Decay' further cements this attraction to death and the glittering lengthy process of self-annihilation."

The first single off ‘Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness Of Decay’ will be released on July 5th, the same day that the album pre-order will become available.

Tickets, priced £12.50, will be available from Monday - all the usual outlets.

As Mr Loveday said when announcing this: "Ave Satanas".

NEWS: Devilment prep for second album release and release trailer video

WITCH County nefarious frights Devilment– led by vehement frontman Dani Filth, will release their forthcoming masterpiece ‘Devilment II: The Mephisto Waltzes’ on November 18th via Nuclear Blast Entertainment.

Today, the band have released the second alternative track by track trailer in which they respond to questions based on the final five tracks from the forthcoming album. Watch it below.

Dani’s crew have meticulously pieced together a second blood-spattered batch of deranged anthems that brings vastly more colour, intensity and lyrical versatility to this band’s spectral palate.

The second Devilment record makes no splintered bones about its nefarious intent, offering a bewildering torrent of disparate and demented ideas and delivering them with refined, ultra-gothic panache and several jolting doses of Dani’s trademark verbal subterfuge.

Assisted by long-time collaborators Lauren Francis (keys and vocals), Colin Parks (guitar), Nick Johnson (bass) and new drummer Matt Alston, Dani has arrived at the telling moment where DEVILMENT become a genuine force to be reckoned with.

DEVILMENT recently announced an extensive UK tour which will commence this December and have no NI dates scheduled...

DEVILMENT are:
Dani Filth - Vocals
Colin Parks - Lead Guitar
Nick Johnson - Bass
Matt Alston - Drums
Lauren Francis - Keyboards & Vocals

The tracklisting is as follows:
Limited Edition CD
1. JudasStein
2. Hitchcock Blonde
3. Under The Thunder
4. Full Dark, No Stars
5. Shine On Sophie Moone
6. Life Is What You Keep From The Reaper
7. Dea Della Morte
8. Entangled In Our Pride
9. Hell At My Back
Bonus tracks:
10.The Seductive Poison
11. Father Dali
Limited Edition Double Gatefold Vinyl
Side A
1. JudasStein
2. Hitchcock Blonde
3. Under The Thunder
Side B
1. Full Dark, No Stars
2. Shine On Sophie Moone
3. Life Is What You Keep From The Reaper
Side C
1. Dea Della Morte
2. Entangled In Our Pride
3. Hell At My Back
Side D (bonus tracks)
1. The Seductive Poison
2. Father Dali

NEWS: Devilment prep for second album release in November

Witch County nefarious frights Devilment – led by vehement frontman Dani Filth, are incredibly pleased to announce their forthcoming masterpiece ‘Devilment II: The Mephisto Waltzes’.
The record, which is the follow up to 2014’s debut ‘The Great And Secret Show’, will be released by Nuclear Blast Entertainment on 18th November 2016.

Dani had this to say on the subject of the new record:
“Everybody in DEVILMENT is very excited about the prospect of releasing our latest album, ‘II – The Mephisto Waltzes’, which we have worked extremely hard on. The album is definitely a step-up from our debut, featuring a more mature, dissonant presence coupled with a darker edge, yet at the same time utilising our better musical assets to deliver a unique metal hybrid. I don't even know what to classify it!”

Dani’s crew have meticulously pieced together a second blood-spattered batch of deranged anthems that brings vastly more colour, intensity and lyrical versatility to this band’s spectral palate. The second Devilment record makes no splintered bones about its nefarious intent, offering a bewildering torrent of disparate and demented ideas and delivering them with refined, ultra-gothic panache and several jolting doses of Dani’s trademark verbal subterfuge. Assisted by long-time collaborators Lauren Francis (keys and vocals), Colin Parks (guitar), Nick Johnson (bass) and new drummer Matt Alston, Dani has arrived at the telling moment where Devilment become a genuine force to be reckoned with.

Regarding the album’s artwork, Dani revealed:
“Winner of many international awards, the artist for the new Devilment album is Elena Vizerskayaaka a.k.a.Kassandra, whose photography and photo-manipulation perfectly complements the mysterious and magickal world of Devilment. Elena's work is sometimes compared to Dali and Magritte due to the complexity of artistic figures and the perceptible amount of layers, something to be felt and not necessarily understood, exotic dreams filled with reflections and allusion. I have been a fan of Elena's work for a long while now and had originally wanted to utilise it for the Cradle Of Filth album, 'The Manticore And Other Horrors' as far back as 2011, which only fell through when band politics intervened and an in-house label artist was used instead.”

“In conjunction with Elena, the booklet was compiled and further augmented with illustration by Dan Goldsworthy, who has also undertaken album artwork for the likes of Accept, Hell, Xentrix, Gloryhammer and Sylosis, amongst others. His contribution to the album has provided it with a minimalist dark uniformity, punctuated by slick and classily macabre imagery, the perfect balance to Elena's gorgeously vibrant photography.”

The album was produced, recorded, mixed and mastered at Grindstone Studios by close friend and long term collaborator Scott Atkins (Cradle Of Filth, Behemoth, Sylosis, Savage Messiah...), between March and July of this year.

Dani said: “Scott has worked very closely with the band to share our vision and we are very proud of the finished result, especially the megalithic production values and the hammered-home emphasis on song writing.”

Formed in 2011 in the mystical county of Suffolk, England, Devilment burst into the vexed consciousness of the heavy metal hive mind with their debut demo ‘Grotescapology’ in 2012. Led by the unmistakably grim vocal gymnastics of Cradle Of Filth frontman Dani Filth, the band swiftly grabbed the attention of legendary music biz mover and shaker Monte Conner and were duly snapped up by his Nuclear Blast Entertainment imprint. In October 2014, these Albion-dwelling infidels unveiled their debut album, ‘The Great And Secret Show’: a whirlwind of pitch-black thrash metal riffing, multifarious gothic embellishments and a mean, mischievous streak a mile wide, it provided a telling and irresistible introduction to Devilment’s uniquely perverse, surreal and vicious musical world, wherein werewolves, voodoo temptresses and mutant fungal strains ran riot. Immediately embraced by the malevolent faithful, it was a sturdy and convincing statement of intent that paved the way for the sustained dissemination of its creators’ wildly imaginative and unsettling vision.

Devilment are:
Dani Filth - Vocals
Colin Parks - Lead Guitar
Nick Johnson - Bass
Matt Alston - Drums
Lauren Francis - Keyboards & Vocals

ALBUM REVIEW: Crade of Filth bring fresh metal blows on Hammer of The Witches

CRADLE of Filth -  remember them? Scary band back in the day? Something of a joke at times? More line-up changes than Deep Purple? No longer 'black' enough for some? Well some of that may be half-true but believe us they are back with a bang, and the doubters will flee or convert.

While recent albums have been good, they haven't been great. But 'Hammer of The Witches' is a storm of pure Filth.

Something you get the feeling Mr Filth himself knows...

“I think this album will definitely surprise a lot of people,” Dani said. “It’s really very intense. There’s always that argument, ‘CRADLE haven’t been black metal since the Dusk days!’ and all that utter crap. These are just tags that people impose on you, rather than the other way round. We’ve always been a heavy metal band that’s been excited, involved with and espoused the occult and the dark side.

Chock full of mature interpretations of the CoF sound, new guitar duo Richard Shaw and Ashok have brought new life to the band's sound. The tracks 'Deflowering the Maidenhead, Displeasuring the Goddess' and 'Blackest Magick in Practice' showcase some of the best riffing and soloing heard for some time out of Cradle of Filth...and will demonstrate to many acts how it should be done.

Daniel Firth's  bass is locked tight and solid to Martin Skaroupka's explosive drums adding to the soundscape of what has fearsome tracks by the bucketload. The keyboard work and vocals from Lindsay Schoolcraft bring the added dimension to the sound that makes up the backdrop for what is one of Dani Filth's best performance for some time since 'Cruelty & The Beast'.

Perhaps it was the subject matter that brought the best out of the singer's performance. 'Hammer of The Witches' harkens back to the vicious witch hunts in 16th and 17th Century Europe, only this time the covens have the upper hand, something explained in the sonically thrilling title track.

 

“This is perfect subject matter for us,” said Dani. “That dreadful book, the ‘Malleus Maleficarum’… it’s about the torture and persecution of witches and how to legally punish them.

 

 

That was the church's militant hammer against the witches.

 

"Our interpretation is a hammer for the witches, so the album title is about payback for decades of torment. The album is lavishly and beautifully illustrated by Latvian artist, Artūrs Berzinsh, and it’s probably the best artwork undertaken for COF and that’s saying something.

 

"I worked really closely to alleviate him of some really beautiful but horrifying images, done in a neo-classical, pre-Renaissance style, but with the subject matter set and what’s actually emerged from Artūrs.. well, it’s all a bit rum! So the artwork encompasses the whole record and lacquers that crepuscular theme, that medieval vibe.”

Somehow you know Dani has more than a mischievous twinkle in his eye when he was dictating that quotation to the record label...

But the blurb and the hype that resonates around any Cradle of Filth release is more than justified. There are elements to this release that just explode. On 'Right Wing of The Garden Triptych' a brief 70's synth sound gives way to gentle piano and Lindsay's intro lines before it soars - weaving from full on speed to mid-paced roller-coaster, keys and guitars offering aural attacks in equal measure with Dani sounding pained and angry in equal measure to Linday's spoken counterpoints before the whole thing pauses for breath for a brief second before exploding again.

Almost every track on display here deserves the same analysis in each review, but best to let the listener undertake that for themselves. It will be an exercise in pure metal pleasure; an exercise that allows each person to wallow in the delightful excess.

In the quotation at the top Dani talked about being a metal band that was "...excited, involved with and espoused the occult and the dark side". What is evident on 'Hammer of The Witches' is a band that has brought excitement back to Cradle of Filth and produces a release that is Cradle of Filth back to its nastiest best. And that is really fun place to be!

Review by Jonny