Be patient...
The Principle of Evil Made Flesh
Paul A. - Despondent Night Chords (guitar)
Paul R. - Satanic War Noise (guitar)
Benjamin - Gothic Vampiric Overtures (keyboards)
Robin - Nocturnal Pulse (bass)
Nicholas - Hammer of the Gods (drums)
Dani - Dark Immortal Screams (vocals)
1. Darkness Our Bride
2. The Principle of Evil Made Flesh
(guitar tab)
3. The Forest Whispers My Name
(guitar tab)
4. Iscariot
5. The Black Goddess Rises
(guitar tab)
6. One Final Graven Kiss
7. A Crescendo of Passion Bleeding
8. To Eve the Art of Witchcraft
(guitar tab)
9. Of Mist and Midnight Skies
10. In Secret Love We Drown
11. A Dream of Wolves in the Snow
(guitar tab)
12. Summer Dying Fast
(guitar tab)
This is a really good black metal album. Dani, the lead singer, has four or five different voices which are very diverse. The drums are really on top of things here. The songs are usually melodic and dark but they have a heavy intro on "The Forest Whispers My Name." They do solos, atmospheric stuff and evil riffs. I'm not down with the whole facepaint image thing but they're really into it. The "Nocturnal Pulse" bass/keyboard duet on the outro of "Summer Dying Fast" is really melodic and beautiful. This album has some really hot naked chicks on it. Speaking of chicks, the woman who sings on this album is great. She's got just the right balance of power and melody to sound perfect. The entire band is recorded at a low volume, so you'll want to turn the volume up. This is a good "starter" black metal album but a seasoned veteran of the black metal scene would also value it as well.
Production 9/10
Songwriting 10/10
Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein
Robin - Nocturnal Pulse (bass)
Stuart - Flesh Upon the Razor Wire (guitar)
Damien - Poenarian Fugue and Choir (keyboards)
Jared - Funereal Dirge (session guitar)
Dani - Sepulchral Voice (duh!)
Nicholas - Impaler Troop Movement (drums)
1. Ebony Dressed for Sunset
2. The Forest Whispers My Name
(guitar tab)
3. Queen of Winter, Throned
(guitar tab)
4. Nocturnal Supremacy
5. She Mourns a Lengthening Shadow
6. The Rape and Ruin (Hosannas in Extremis)
(guitar tab)
Cradle of Filth's original guitarists and keyboardist left the band. They picked up Stuart and Damien to replace them, and then hired a session guitarist (courtesy of December Moon). They also made a deal with the record label that if they produced this album they would be free of their three album deal. It was an out-of-court settlement thing.
"The Forest Whispers My Name" has been revamped. It's a lot faster and some of the vocal parts have been changed. "Queen of Winter, Throned" is a remake of "A Dream of Wolves in the Snow." It's a lot longer, more elaborate and eventually leaves the old version behind. In the middle of it, you can hear women moaning in ecstasy. All the songs with the exception of "She Mourns a Lengthening Shadow" and "Ebony Dressed for Sunset" have female vocals. "She Mourns a Lengthening Shadow" is a beautiful instrumental. "Ebony Dressed for Sunset" is an intro song. It gets you ready for the shock of "The Forest Whispers My Name."
Dani said that this album also gave them a chance to adjust to the new members. This album has atmosperic parts, screamed passionate vocals and fucking great drums! "The Rape and Ruin of Angels" starts of with a kick ass riff. It reminds me of Metallica's "Damage, Inc" intro. While Dani "sings" they great evil riffs. The song ends with the mournful cries of raped angels.
The production on this cd is unbelieveable! Everything is beyond crystal clear! This is probably the best black metal album ever in terms of recording quality.
This is their most intense and best sounding effort to date.
Production 10/10
Songwriting 11/10
Dusk And Her Embrace
Robin - Nocturnal Pulse (bass)
Nicholas - Hammer of the Gods (drums)
Dani - Desires Better Unsun (vocals)
Damien - Orchestal Manouveres in the Dark (keyboards)
Stuart - Requiems of War and Woe (guitars)
Gian - Ravening Black Massacre (guitars)
1. Humana Inspired to Nightmare
2. Heaven Torn Asunder
(guitar tab)
(bass tab)
3. Funeral in Carpathia
(guitar tab)
4. A Gothic Romance (Red Roses for the Devil's Whore)
5. Malice Through the Looking Glass
6. Dusk and Her Embrace
(guitar tab)
7. The Graveyard by Moonlight
8. Beauty Slept in Sodom
(guitar tab)
9. Haunted Shores
(guitar tab)
This album is a lot different than Vempire. Dani usually just shrieks or does his low, clean voice. The guitars are sort of sweet soudning. The drums (as always) are played incredibly well by Nicholas. This album features more harpsicord and other types of instruments instead of the "church choir" or that evil organ. Many of the songs start off slow and atmospheric but then in the middle the guitars do solos and fast riffs. At first, I didn't really regard this album as anything all that special, but the more I listened, the more layers, harmonies and textures I discovered, and the more I liked it!
Production 9/10
Songwriting 9/10
Live in Berlin: 6/11/96
Stuart - guitars
Dani - vocals
Robin - bass
Nicholas - drums
Damien - keyoards?
Gian - guitars
1. Of Mist and Midnight Skies
2. A Dream of Wolves in the Snow
3. Nocturnal Supremacy
4. Black Goddess Rises
5. The Graveyard by Moonlight fades into The Principle of Evil Made Flesh
6. The Forest Whispers My Name (slower version)
7. A Gothic Romance
8. To Eve the Art of Witchcraft
9. To Eve the Art of Witchcraft (part 2)
10. Dusk and Her Embrace
I don't think I've heard a recording this awful since "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables" by the Dead Kennedys! This album is total shit, well, recording wise anyway. When someone in the crowd whistles or cheers, they sound louder than the fucking band! This album pales in comparison to the other recordings they've made. You can tell this was recorded by some shithead in the crowd. The person recording this stops the tape near the end of "To Eve the Art of Witchcraft" but then turns the recording back on once he/she realizes that the song wasn't over! Some Cradle of Filth fan! Probably just went to the show to impress his/her friends.
As far as the band's perforomance goes they did a pretty good job. No female vocals were performed, unfortunately. Dani doesn't do his really low clean vocals as much as usual. You can hear the intensity but it gets muddied by the awful recording.
The morons at the record company didn't even get the tracklist straight! I had to write down each track's true name so I could do this review. Actually, the record company that released this is called "Lesbian Vampirism Records," instead of "Fierce/Mayhem" (their current label) or "Cacaphonous Records," (their old label). I would've killed to go to this show but I shouldn't have wasted my money on this crappy piece of shit. Take my word for it, your fifteen dollars can be much better spent.
Production 3/10
Songwriting N/A
Cruelty and the Beast
Robin - Nocturnal Pulse (bass)
Stuart - Infernal Overkill (guitar)
Nicholas - Zyklon Beats (drums)
Gian - Carnivorous Licks (guitars)
Dani - Oral Pleasures (vocals)
Lecter - Unbiblical Chords/Torture Chamber Music (keyboards)
1. Once Upon Atrocity
2. Thirteen Autumns and a Widow
(guitar tab)
3. Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids
(guitar tab)
4. Beneath the Holwing Stars
(guitar tab)
5. Venus in Fear
6. Desire in Violent Overture
7. The Twisted Nails of Faith
(guitar tab)
8. Bathory Aria:
Benighted Like Usher
A Murder of Ravens in Fugue
Eyes That Witnessed Madness
9. Portrait of the Dead Countess
10. Lustmord and Wargasm (The Lick of Canivorous Winds)
This album is great. The drums on this album are at times a bit thin, but this purposely done to add atmosphere to the music I think. The new keyboardist is really excellent. He does some really cool intros and very original keyboard lines throughout the album. I hope they keep him. The guitar sound is a lot stronger than on Dusk and Her Embrace. There's more heavy riffs and the tone is thicker. I really like it when all the instruments stop and Robin's "Nocturnal Pulse" just fucking goes off! I think Robin is the best "Nocturnal Pulse" in black metal because his bass lines are challenging, interesting, and very melodic.
As with all Cradle of Filth's studio work, this album is superb. It's amazing that they can put out three studio albums and each with it's own unique and grand characteristics and great songs. Add this album to that list.
Production 10/10
Songwriting 11/10
Bonus cd of Cruelty...
1. Lustmord and Wargasm (the Re-Licking of Cadaverous Wounds)
2. Black Metal
3. Hallowed be Thy Name
4. Sodomy and Lust
5. Twisting Further Nails (the Crucifixion Mix)
"Lustmord and Wargasm" is a remix. The middle of the song is much better than the older version. It features more melodic piano parts and a better drum line. The vocals got redone too, as Dani was not satisfied with the other mix. "Black Metal" is a Venom cover. It is o.k. I'm not a huge fan of Venom, but I think Dani's vocals could've sounded a lot better. "Hallowed by Thy Name" is an Iron Maiden cover and it's great!! Cradle of Filth pays homage to the heavy metal masters. It's a great fucking song. "Sodomy and Lust" is a Sodom cover. The best part of the song is the middle because it has some great riffs. For some reason, the vocals on this cd don't sound right. I think Dani has way too much mids or something. "Twisting Further Nails" is a very poor attempt to set Dani's vocals to techno music. Do yourself a favor and spare yourself the agony of listening to this once excellent song being mutilated, gutted and raped.
Production 9/10
Songwriting N/A
Click here to see the Official Cradle of Filth page.
Click here for the main page.