Cradle of Filth
The Principle of Evil Made Flesh

THE REVIEW

“Darkness our Bride” [rating 8] manages to transport us in moments into the atmosphere that surrounds the aura of Cradle of Filth: after a keyboard introduction, a few words with occult meaning open the doors to the devastating title track [rating 9], rich in all the most significant elements of Cradle: a piercing screaming by Dani Davey (known as Dani Filth), numerous spoken parts by female voices, and the importance given to the rhythm section composed of bass and drums (midway through the track a very brief virtuoso moment by the bassist at the time).

The journey continues with one of the immortal songs of the "Cradle of Filth": “The Forest Whispers my Name” [rating 10]. Mysterious and ethereal the initial keyboard with bass echoing the main theme of the track, soon joined by two furious and gritty guitars: Dani screams, despairs in his vampire image in a song that highlights the essential presence of keyboards for this Symphonic Black Metal band. To catch a breath, “Iscariot” [rating 8] where again the keyboards take over for two minutes where one can hear a haunting organ accompanied by a heartbeat and a thunderstorm.
“The Black Goddess Rises” [rating 10] shows us the band's pagan vein [clearly fake, but nonetheless effective]: a long invocation to the Black Goddess, in the dreams and eyes of Dani and mates [“…You are in my Dreams… the Darkness in my eyes…”]. Numerous small guitar solos are present in the song, splendid. After a brief introduction rich in dissonances comes the devastation, dedicated to the aforementioned deity. The song is divided into "peaceful" moments recited by an erotic female voice accompanied by a piano and "phases" purely black metal.

After “One final Graven Kiss” [rating 7], a sweet and delicate lullaby, it moves to one of the most violent pieces in the band's history, “A Crescendo of Passion Bleeding” [rating 7], the song that excites me the least on the CD. The songs “To Eve the Art of Witchcraft” [rating 9] and “Of Mist and Midnight Skies” [rating 10] should, in my opinion, be listened to together, in their continuity, especially given the use in both of a fabulous organ: a touch of style in the second with Bach's toccata and fugue in D minor in a much more accelerated version. The latter features a very provocative text towards the Christian religion, almost satanic, likely narrating of a man determined to avenge the church for being the executioner of his beloved.
Pointless “In secret Love we Drown” [rating 5] piece in which the keyboard offers some natural sounds alongside an uninspired synth. Cinematic citation in “A dream of Wolves in the Snow” [rating 7] from the various "Dracula" [“Oh Listen to Them… the Children of The Night… What Sweet Music they Make…”] followed by the masterpiece “Summer Dying Fast” [rating 10] which summarizes many of the musical concepts of Cradle previously exposed (keyboards, drums, and bass galore, brief guitar virtuosity, and above all Dani's piercing scream). “Imperium Tenebrarum” [rating 6] is a "hidden" track in which extremist concepts are recited, a track useful only to slightly scare [without much success] the listener.

A CD to purchase, in short, whether you are Black Metal lovers or not, given the quantity of [excellent] material. Probably the most sincere and original of the band, an absolute masterpiece that founded a genre.