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Cradle Of Filth - Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder
| Allmusic |
| If ever there were a subject for England's Cradle of Filth to tackle, it's the life of notorious French mass murderer (and celebrated war hero companion of Joan of Arc) Gilles de Rais. If you haven't heard of him, don't be surprised. After he was hanged in 1440, his name was stricken from the official records of history by French authorities. His crimes? Too numerous too mention here, but the worst of them involved the murder and rape of hundreds of children. Late in his life, French national library boss, critic, and novelist Georges Bataille wrote a complete book on the trial of this figure. De Rais was Sadeian before the Marquis de Sade ever existed (indeed, he may have been an inspiration for some of the characters in The 120 Days of Sodom). This album is a lengthy examination of the mind and biography of de Rais -- nobleman, aristocrat, devout Christian, war hero, and societal icon by day, by night an insane Satan-worshipping gore hound and purveyor of slaughter and blood sacrifice. On the surface it seems that it might be an ideal topic for a death metal record by the outrageously theatrical Cradle of Filth, led by head growler and screecher Dani Filth. It even begins well with the classical interlude "In Grandeur and Frankincense Devilment Stirs," with the spoken word poem of the character. But this is quickly wiped away by "Shat Out of Hell," whereby the listener is engaged by the utterly frenetic power drumming and über fast death metal guitar and bass riffery behind the simultaneously Cookie Monster growled and shrieked vocals of Filth. This may the only track on the record that offers a rather negative view of his crimes, and is the most musically compelling thing here. Beginning with the very next cut, however, the nascent "The Death of Love," near prog rock conceptual theater takes precedence over rock & roll fury. There are moments of unholy metal charge and scree, but there are more with plodding keyboards, large choirs, rote metallic clichés, Gothic-sounding themes, minor-key riffs, and thunderous drums giving way to a heavily layered production style that removes any real fright from the proceedings. In the end, the entire set comes across as an exercise in caricature of this shadowy historical figure through pretentious operatic theater and a clumsy boring narrative. By rights, this should be anything but. The obsession Cradle of Filth have with post-production is the very thing that removes the power from this set and makes it more of a wry -- and unintentionally comedic -- piece and impossible to take seriously....full text |
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| Popmasters |
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After playing a pivotal role in popularizing extreme metal in the late-1990s by ingeniously co-opting the aesthetics of goth metal and Norwegian black metal and transforming it into something completely different and over the top, Cradle of Filth has struggled with inconsistency ever since their 1996 breakthrough Dusk…and Her Embrace. It’s not as if the English band has been resting on its laurels; anything but, in fact, as they’ve been churning out a heavily hyped new album every two years like clockwork, but for all the overblown arrangements and extravagant conceptual ideas by diminutive frontman/impresario/corpsepainted carnival barker Dani Filth, being prolific seems to have come at the expense of putting out a quality product. While Cradle of Filth continues to be as popular as ever, their studio output has been decidedly up and down, especially in recent years, 2003’s symphonic opus Damnation and a Day ambitious but horribly, horribly bloated, 2004’s Nymphetamine a welcome return to form, and 2006’s follow-up Thornography subsequently taking another step back. With Godspeed on the Devil’s Thunder, all the ingredients are there for a very good Cradle of Filth album. Always fascinated with the idea of the concept albums, having covered everything from Clive Barker, to John Milton, to Countess Bathory, Dani Filth takes on the story of notorious French serial killer Gilles de Rais on his band’s eighth record, and the tale fits this band like a bloody glove. You’ve got a French nobleman who fights alongside (and is presumably in love with) Joan of Arc, delves into sorcery after her execution, proceeds to sexually abuse and murder of dozens, perhaps hundreds of children, and is eventually arrested, tried, and hung. Filth, a master of macabre imagery and savage wit, is the perfect person to deliver an opera based on the exploits of one of the most infamous sadists in history, so you can’t blame fans for getting their hopes up....full text |
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| Sputnikmusic |
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Lately it seems like metal is finally growing up. Jeans and T-shirts are replacing spiked armbands and corpse paint, intelligently-crafted atmosphere is replacing cheesy symphonic elements, and slower, groove-oriented tempos are replacing mindless breakneck riffing. After years of being misunderstood and unfairly described as Satanic and evil, the genre is rapidly gaining the respect that it has always deserved. Bands like Isis, Between the Buried and Me, Burst, Opeth, Mastodon, and others like them are being covered by the mainstream media, all being recognized as metal bands for the thinking man. This recent positive exposure is well-earned and a long time in the making. But don't look now, because here's Cradle of Filth to fuck everything up. Bands like Cradle of Filth don't leave listeners much room for a middle ground. They are either loved or hated, in most cases vehemently. In terms of exposure, it's good for them because the greater the reactions that their music creates, the more people will talk about them, and in turn the more people will hear about them. It is, however, unfortunate for the rest of metal that Cradle of Filth is so prominent in the media, seeing as how they seem to exist for the sole purpose of perpetuating and fueling misconceptions. For example, here is what Dani Filth had to say about their latest album Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder:...full text |
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