Cradle Of Filth : V Empire (Or Dark Faerytales In Phallustein)
Chances are two years ago I would have been much more impressed with this release than I am now. Maybe it's due to my severe distaste with CoF's latest, Cruelty and the Beast, or maybe the fact that the band focuses so much on image. Who knows. Regardless, here on Vempire, CoF does little to really change my overall opinion of the band. It is a solid, symphonic speed-blast metal album with of course a nod of the head to the black metal scene. As standard with CoF, you get an maelstrom of varied vocals from Dani's really annoying screech to his low spoken "dramatic" bits as well as that chick who goes "oooh" a lot in the background. If you haven't heard the music, suffice it to say it is based quite a bit on the atmospheric keyboard effects and speedy guitar lines wrapped around one of the better drummers in the business, Nicholas Barker. Unfortunately the end result is an album that makes me yawn extensively and usually I lose interest halfway through. Perhaps the nature of the songs being somewhat formulatic: "Here we play fast, here we play slow, here Dani screeches, here Dani goes low, here keyboards go". Every song comes across having a somewhat jigsawed feel. In comparison to their countrymen Bal-Sagoth (who are but one of the few bands excelling in British Black Metal), the music lacks a lot of inspiration beside the shock value of having naked women claw at each other on the cover. Whereas Bal-Sagoth's music inspires one to conquer thy neighbors, CoF inspires one to search through the CD collection to find something else to play.
Review by John Chedsey |
