CRADLE OF FILTH

A British black metal outfit, Cradle Of Filth has built up quite a fan following over the years, combining hard, fast beats and guitars, screeched vocals, and moody, gothic keyboards. The group basically consists of lead singer Dani Filth, along with whoever else is around at the time. Though considered sellouts by hardcore black metal fans, I don't really hear it; maybe I would if I was really into the scene, but I'm not, so I can't say. All I can say is that they've made some good music as well as some boring music. A lot of their stuff tends to sound the same, which can kill you if you aren't in the mood. Still, there's some goodies to be found in their catalogue.

--Philip Maddox

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CRADLE OF FILTH IS THE BEST BAND THAT HAS EVER WALKED THE EARTH THEY ARE BLACK METAL!!!!!!!!!!!\

FUCK EVERY OTHER BAND WHO SAYS THEY ARENT

CRUELTY AND THE BEAST (1998)

(reviewed by Philip Maddox)

I borrowed Cradle's 2000 release, Midian, from a friend of mine, and found that I liked it quite a bit. I had also heard the awesome track "Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids" from this album on the Beauty In Darkness Vol. 3 compilation, and loved it. So, when I got some cash for Christmas, I saw this sitting on a store shelf and plunked down my gift certificate on it. And how was it? Well... it was ok. The problem here is a total and complete lack of variety. Every song (except for the three short, gothic keyboard instrumentals) sounds almost exactly like the one that came before it, which is annoying when you realize that, aside from those instrumentals, there are 7 songs on this record and it lasts for about an hour.

The songs are all epics with multiple parts, but the parts all blur together, as the group isn't exactly brimming with musical ideas. As such, nothing here sounds bad - the songs are fast, gloomy headbanging fun. The groups gimmick - their insane vocalist, wierd keyboards, and gory lyrics (this being a concept album about Countess Bathory, who bathed in the blood of virgins to maintain eternal youth) wears thin after an hour of listening. It's a shame, since "Thirteen Autumns And A Widow", "Beneath The Howling Stars", "The Twisted Naiuls Of Faith", or basically anything else here would sound good were it not surrounded by identical material. As it is, though, the end result is that the album is hard to listen to all the way through, and I almost always turn it off in the middle.

One tune here does stand out, though, and that's the song around which the title of this album is based - the thrilling "Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids". On this tune, everything works. Dani's vocals match the style of the multiple parts, all of which sound good, different, and flow perfectly. All of the riffs in that song rule, and there's no shortage of them. Still, one fantastic song doesn't make up for the rest of the album being so monotone, so I'd have a hard time really recommending it, even though it isn't really a bad release. Midian showcases the band much better.

Oh, and if you go out to buy this, you might get a bonus disc with 5 extra tracks on it. I did. It isn't very interesting - some ok covers, some alternate takes, and some awful screeching that doesn't fit some of the music at all. If you see the cds side by side and must buy it, get the bonus disc version, because you might like something on it. If you don't see it, though, I wouldn't mourn its loss. I've listened to it exactly once, and probably won't listen to it again for a while. It's free, though, so I didn't complain.

OVERALL RATING: 4

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