Cradle Of Filth
Thornography

THE REVIEW

The Easter holidays had really worn me out: no more bunnies, sugar eggs, no more chocolate eggs, no more candied dove cakes, and no more cheerful family lunches. I had a damn craving for something strong, something hard, exciting, but also decadent, something angry yet morbidly poetic—a desperate need for a Cradle Of Filth album—and picking randomly from my discography, I found "Thornography," the latest offspring of the Cradle Of Filth. Cradle Of Filth is the most successful English band since the days of Iron Maiden, and the undisputed leader, the mastermind of the band is the legendary Daniel Lloyd Davey, aka Dani Filth: vampire, cursed poet, and an authentic giant of contemporary music despite his modest stature, undoubtedly one of the best lyricists in the entire history of metal. Among his merits is the ability to always surround himself with great musicians (in the case of "Thornography," Paul Allender and Charles Hedger on guitars, Dave Pybus on bass, and Adrian Erlandsson on drums), creating a truly unique band capable of taking various subgenres of metal (from black to thrash, through gothic, progressive, and symphonic) and blending and adapting them to their unmistakable and inimitable style.

But let's return to "Thornography," a 2006 album presented with truly superb graphics, stunning artwork with gothic and decadent images, and portraits of the band members that seem to have stepped out of a painting by Fussli or Goya. The music is no less extraordinary, making this album an authentic forge of dazzling emotions where Dani & company unleash all their creativity. The usual track-by-track review wouldn't quite capture the essence of what this marvelous gothic sound cathedral is.

"Thornography" features a great variety of sounds: the frenzied and venomous thrash of "Dirge Inferno," enriched by a truly fabulous performance by the drummer and the icy riffs of Allender and Hedger, the emotional intensity of "Tonight In Flames," a song where Dani takes a clear stance against wars, especially in the chorus sung with a clean voice (unjustly criticized) where it feels like you're touching the blood-red sky. You enter the heart of the album with "Libertina Grimm" and "The Byronic Man," two intense gothic metal tracks endowed with captivating melodies that are impossible not to be enchanted by, thanks to Dani's charisma in leading us with his evocative voice into his personal world filled with vampiric suggestions, perversion, but also a lot of charm. The monstrous "I Am The Thorn" offers seven minutes of pure vitriol where Dani lashes out at the world and its hypocrisies, as only true artists can. For long-time COF fans, the macabre erotic-romantic delusions are not missing, such as "Lovesick For Mina," a clear homage to Bram Stoker's Dracula and especially the magnificent "Under Huntress Moon," elevated by the sinful and seductive voice of fallen angel Sara Jezebel Deva. The absolute gem is the instrumental "Rise Of The Pentagram," where, judging by the spellbinding allure of the melody, one might almost think that the rise of Satan will not bring death and destruction, but only a more captivating and perhaps even freer world. The brief and intense "The Foetus Of A New Day Kicking" surprises and moves us, where Dani once again demonstrates his great sensitivity to the current world situation, and even the gothic-trashy cover of Heaven 17’s "Temptation" and "Cemetery And Sundown," perhaps the less inspired on the album, contribute to creating that unique magic that only the Cradle Of Filth can create. I could write pages and pages on this masterpiece, but I can't; the forest is whispering my name, I must go, it's my destiny...

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