Artist: Cradle of Filth
Label: Red Ink / Epic / Sony
Release Date: 3/25/03
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Title: Damnation and a Day Artist: Cradle of Filth Label: Red Ink / Epic / Sony Release Date: 3/25/03 |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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Abyss's Review:
While the 5 skulls I gave to Midian seems, in retrospect, a little too generous, I can't help but engage in anything but unrestrained praise for Cradle of Filth's latest accomplishment. I still like Midian, however I think it's more aptly a 3 or 4 skull record. Many might forsake this, their new record, due to its release on a major label and the band's upcoming stint of Ozzfest, but to refrain from giving this record the attention it deserves would be a travesty.
"This might very well be this band's best album." This might very well be this band's best album. Only time will tell. As of right now, however, this album has me more than a little floored. What strikes, and excites, me most about it is that, while it remains in every way a Cradle of Filth record, it has fixed the one gripe I've had with their body of work. They've brought more emphasis to the guitars, both in the mix as well as in the songwriting. While the album still has what we'd expect, namely female vocals, layered keyboards, and more goth than you can shake a mascara brush at, the band has infused aggressive riffs that are almost thrashy in their hook. The guitars whipsaw and break down, forcing your horns in the air, and greasing the hinge in your neck. Hell, they've even incorporated squealing artificial harmonics like many a death metal act. If you don't believe me, don't worry, because you don't have to listen for long. The first two tracks after the intro, "The Promise of Fear" and "Hurt and Virtue" set the pace for the record.
The record is just as ambitious as any Filth project. Clocking in at over seventy minutes long and utilizing an orchestra, CoF have brought their artistic vision to a pinnacle. The album is nearly perfect in all its ugly aggression and gothic beauty. Dani still doesn't really shut up for more than a few seconds at a time, but it is slightly less overt and annoying than it has been in the past. He also plays around with his vocal style a bit more, spending a good deal of time exploring the lower range growls and screams along with his well known screeches.
"The album is nearly perfect in all its ugly aggression and gothic beauty." If there is one criticism of the album it is that it starts a bit better than it finishes, but with its epic playing time and having only a week with it, I still haven't been able to explore it to its fullest. While there are many who will hate this band no matter what they do, I think Cradle has well deserved all the attention they've received so far, and the fact that they've crossed over to a major label and maintained all of their integrity makes their detractors seem more and more foolish. One word review: Brilliant
Death's Review:
Cradle of Filth have come a long way, clawing their way up from the underground to deliver their new album, Damnation and a Day on Epic/Red Ink, part of the Sony family of labels, the breeding ground for past metal classics from bands like Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest. But those classics are from many moons ago. Will Cradle of Filth take advantage of its call up to the big leagues and step up to the major label plate, showing everyone once and for all that an endless fountain of extreme metal artistry has for decades been ever-flowing, bubbling in its molten lava beneath the surface of mainstream corporate hell for only the true metal elite to enjoy? Would this highest of profiles (big budget music video, Ozzfest second stage headlining status) finally be enough to break Cradle of Filth through, to say, the level of a Marilyn Manson at his peak level status or currently, Eminem?
"Cradle of Filth have delivered another Cradle of Filth record, and for this they to be both commended and admonished." Probably not. While Damnation and a Day has some fairly riffy/thrashy elements that extend a touch beyond the norm for Cradle of Filth and venture ever-so-slightly into the realm of further, general metalhead (as opposed to the gothic, symphonic and black subgenre communities) acceptance ("An Enemy Led the Tempest" is my favorite example - there are serious guitars here!), it is not a radical departure from the ground the band has covered before. There is no major label sellout here. Cradle of Filth have delivered another Cradle of Filth record, and for this they to be both commended and admonished. On the one hand, the impulse to "cheese out" may have been present, and one could envision an awkward attempt to embrace the mainstream unfolding to utterly disastrous results.
On the other hand, by not taking the bait at all, Cradle of Filth perhaps have missed a bit of an opportunity to truly blow this sound, this sub-genre and this scene wide open. Sure, the investment is there (Damnation and a Day clocks in at an impressive 77-minutes, and features a 40-piece orchestra and a 32-piece choir), however, the songwriting is still not "catchy" enough to get the band the massive attention it probably deserves. Will this sell well enough to justify a major corporation's investment in extreme metal? Who cares, right? Well, when metal gets a "shot" like this, it would be nice if it could "deliver" commercially from time-to-time so that we can follow it up with a couple more. A little major label attention goes a long way in the underground scene, keeping bands alive for years after the spotlight fades. That said, there's something important and all too often overlooked to be said for a metal band staying true--that's what metal is really all about, right? "Following our instincts not a trend, go against the grain until the end." I hope the irony of my choice of artist in illustrating my point with lyrics is not lost on you.
"They perhaps have missed a bit of an opportunity to truly blow this sound, this sub-genre and this scene wide open." For as much shit as Dani Filth & Co. take on the Internet and elsewhere for their sound and their success, the band seems to be supremely confident with its sound, its style, and its position vis-à-vis the mainstream music scene at large. The real trick will be to drop this product - a record that true fans of any recent Cradle of Filth material should love - and still break through to a larger audience. It will be fun to watch. In the meantime, we have a killer album to listen to, with all of the traditional elements of a Cradle record present (drama, melody, extremity, musicianship) and the aforementioned cool new riffs to bang our heads to that resonate with a certain rawness I think has been missing of late from the Cradle of Filth sound. Trust me, after a brief mood-setting opening intro, there are blast beats right out of the box. In the end, this is definitely a great record, with lots of cool guitar parts, although somehow I can't help but shake the feeling that it could have been something so much more. Not a "sellout" per se, but in an effort to adapt the sound to a larger budget and a larger expected audience, perhaps a little something extra added in to create something fresh and exciting and new, a striving to deliver the absolute and unequivocal album of the band's careers - something along those lines might have been nice. Don't get me wrong, this is a great metal record. In the end, I'm just being "critical." The opening riffs to "An Enemy Led the Tempest" rule!!
Hel's Review:
Well, here we are boys and girls. The day of reckoning is upon us, as the unthinkable has indeed happened. On Tuesday, the 25th of March, the largest of the major United States record labels will drop Cradle of Filth into every store across the nation that will stock it. Will the skies open up and deliver a deluge of locusts? For certainly this is a sign that the apocalypse is imminent, is it not?
"The music on this latest effort is not particularly dissimilar to what you have been standing by in the recent past." Undoubtedly, those fans that have not, up until this point, proclaimed Cradle of Filth a sell-out, are wondering if they should be warming up their denouncing voices and pointing fingers. I honestly don't see a need for that, as the music on this latest effort is not particularly dissimilar to what you have been standing by in the recent past. Those who have already proclaimed them as sell-outs will gleefully stand by their previous positions and claim they are vindicated, rampaging through the malls of North America, pointing to the filled bins in righteous indignation, ignoring the fact that for many people without decent record stores to shop in this is a boon which allows them to buy the record without long painful searching.
"Cradle of Filth has released yet another superb album. I cannot give it five skulls, however, because this formula is growing tired." But regardless of how you feel about their current label status, the truth is that Cradle of Filth has provided us with the next logical album in their progression. It is not toned down in any noticeable way, beyond the lack of a naked woman on the album cover, which will surely disappoint many long-time fans. The music itself is much like the last album, with rich orchestration utilized liberally throughout the album. The choir used on this album is undeniably talented as well, and the sheer number of voices (32, according to the press sheets) lends to the overall impact of these parts. The rest of the music adheres to the established Cradle of Filth formula, and the production is perfectly clear.
Cradle of Filth has released yet another superb album. I cannot give it five skulls, however, because, to me, this formula is growing tired. I've never been particularly gung-ho about black metal, and while they have dazzled me with their skillful songwriting and beautiful production in the past, I have reached the inevitable point of "been there, done that" and am simply not dazzled enough by this work to hand over the highest score within my reach. But, you should realize that is it on par with the level of recordings they have been providing, and consider that in your own personal final decision.
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