LIVE REVIEW: Cradle of Filth curdle the light in dark tales of death

CRADLE of Filth are riding high on the strength of 'Hammer of the Witches' and their current release 'Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness of Decay' - and there is no weakening in live performances as demonstrated in a stunning darkly delightful show in Belfast on the night before Halloween.

Indeed, it was a show of grit and showmanship, slick but not too overly polished that it lacked soul.

Equally tour support act, Savage Messiah, produced an eye-opening set of thrash that was tight and with enough metal groove to avoid a stilted set - with their iconic 'Hellblazer' the stand-out.

Founder, Dave Silver, delivers a confident vocal and lead performance. Tightly linked with the playing of six-string accomplice, Sam S Junior, this was a tour de force outing, only marred by not enough people making the effort to see this band, currently celebrating their tenth anniversary.

But the neighbouring bar emptied quickly before Cradle of Filth, the crowd almost rabid in expectation.

To hear an audience yelling along to 'Gilded Cunt' is an aural treat that was but an appetiser for what was at times a jaw-dropping set.

What is most striking about the set is how well the material from the last two releases sits so well with the older material. 'Heartbreak and Seance' and 'Achingly Beautiful' demonstrate that this is a band re-vitalised in 2017, and seemingly determined to drive ever forward.

Dani Filth as always is the twisted ringmaster at this black circus. Energetic, with charisma oozing like murk from his pores.

The gothic metal schtick may be over-emphasised at times as a descriptive term but tonight in the Limelight the theme of gothic darkness was equally matched by the metal weight.

Lindsay Schoolcraft's searing, beautiful vocals are the foil for Dani's guttural lows and high-pitched shrieks. However, the twin attack of Richard and Marek provide a soundscape that allows each song the breath it deserves, while Martin (drums) and Daniel (bass) are the beating, diseased heart of the set.

Cradle of Filth have an established fan base, but on what was on display in Belfast there is no complacency, no diminishing of effort.

What light there was on the eve of Halloween was curdled, crushed into a nightmare that nevertheless left those in attendances grinning. For the casual revellers outside it may have seemed a death mask on the faces of those emerging, but it was only a deathly delight for the fans of Filth.

Review by Jonathan Traynor
Pictures by Darren McVeigh

NEWS: Cradle of Filth down to writing next album

CRADLE Of Filth the UK’s most visionary and hellish outfit are currently writing new material. Satan is said to be hopping around hell in delight…

The band have been locked away for the past week in a studio in Brno, Czech Republic, working on the follow up to their 2015 opus ‘Hammer Of The Witches’.

The evening before embarking on their creative quest, rather vocal front man Dani Filth said the following:

"As a band we are very much looking forward to our writing session in Brno. It's going to be very inspirational to just bury ourselves away in a rehearsal room in the Czech Republic and knead our ammunition of razor sharp flesh-ripping sonic torments into sinister form.
“Hopefully when we emerge from our musical chrysalis one week later, something beautiful will be born. The new Cradle Of Filth album will be mostly written. Then will come the long Autumnal evenings bringing the monster further to life by dressing it in lyricism. I can hardly wait!"

“As a band, Cradle Of Filth have already written about fifty percent of the material towards the new album, which now requires collating and readdressing. We started writing shortly after returning from our highly successful tour of the U.S. and Canada back in March.
“We were adrenalised by the whole reaction we received out there, having not been back to that part of the world for a fair few years. The camaraderie of playing to that many people across seven weeks really inspired us to start writing material again so soon after the release of our previous endeavour, 'Hammer Of The Witches'.”

“There are certainly a few songs completed already, though these will undoubtedly be scrutinised thoroughly when we hit the rehearsal studio. It'll just be awesome to play through it all creatively in the rehearsal room.” 

“We can reveal that there is one song carried over from the previous album, a veritable lament entitled 'Achingly Beautiful'. We've worked some more on it, fleshing it out considerably.

“It is very old school Cradle Of Filth, featuring a haunting middle section full of soaring female vocals and choir very akin to 'A Gothic Romance' from the album 'Dusk... and Her Embrace'. It may not even make this album's grade in the end, as we're being extremely thorough with quality control, but it's definitely something that is being delivered to the proverbial butcher's block from the off.”

Cradle Of Filth chose Brno as a location for several reasons aside from the draw of its elegance and rich architecture; drummer Marthus and second guitarist Ashok live there, plus Brno is also home to Europe's second largest Ossuary, which is essentially a medieval charnel house filled with fifty thousand skeletons, second only in size to the catacombs in Paris.

Cradle Of Filth have cast a commanding and macabre shadow across the metal scene for nearly a quarter of a century. Armed with their trademark, cross-pollinated assault, that taps into myriad strands of sonic extremity and morbid opulence, they have steadily conquered the entire world, unleashing a malevolent slew of classic albums along the way. From the raw and rambunctious savagery of their 1994 debut ‘The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh‘ to the wickedly monstrous, technicolour bombast of 2012's ‘The Manticore & Other Horrors‘, the Cradle ethos and aesthetic has had a huge impact on the evolution of metal, the band's insatiable appetite for performing live and frontman Dani Filth's unerring charisma and sense of occasion ensuring that they have established a powerful and enduring connection with Hell-bound acolytes everywhere.

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