Zarathustra

Hello from the deserts of Arizona, USA! Im new here, obviously, and in fact Im pretty new to the ENTIRE genre of metal. I know some Metallica, Maiden, but that doesn't count for much as those bands float on the surface of this genre. I randomly started listening to Cradle of Filth and started on the first album, "Principle of Evil..." I must tell you, CoF is really breaking me out of my shell and Im enjoying the music a lot. I have gone through and listened to each track up to Midian, and I have noticed the quality drops off pretty sharply once I got to "From the cradle to enslave" EP. From scouring the internet & various forums, I see that CoF is pretty strongly hated amongst some of the metal community, and I can understand why wholeheartedly. The music is very generic and overall invokes no emotions in me whatsoever. There are a few good moments here and there on a few of the newer albums, but nothing like the first four albums. Im looking for bands that have that same style... but what style would that be? Specifically, "Cruelty & the Beast" has some absolutely incredible lyrics and instrumentation. The latter half of "The Twisted nails of fate" is fucking so good. I just cant say enough positive things about it. "Cruelty brought thee orchids" from 3:45-4:35 is a pretty good example of the sound I really enjoy. Its the castlevania feel. Its the melodic/symphonic/vampiric/romantic style that I like. The thrashier sections dont really do much for me. But the parts I have mentioned are PURE GOLD! If you guys need some more examples of the sound Im describing just let me know. (I'd rather not go through each album track for track, as Im sure you are all quite familiar) Being a noobie to metal, Im sure I will get some flame for this post, but the first 4 albums to CoF are fucking gold & if anyone can steer me in the direction of similar sounds, please do. Much obliged and Im hoping for some great new music.