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Cradle of Filth


Requiem

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12 hours ago, Benjaminc81 said:

I´ll give the regular edition of "Cruelty and the Beast" another spin soon just so i can compare it to the new remastered version. Maybe i´ve been too critical of the production, but like i said it´s been quite a while since i actually listened to the original releases.

Well, maybe, but I doubt it.

I'm not talking about sound, I'm talking about feeling and connection. You won't find anything great in the original that you haven't already found. In fact, if anything, the original will sound even worse to you now, I imagine. 

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On 11/24/2019 at 4:33 PM, Grievous said:

Wow...I haven't listen to or thought about Cradle of Filth in YEARS...but in saying that I did listen to Midian & Nymphetamine a lot back in the day. Those albums did feature some really catchy & memorable tunes. How are sounding these days?

Refer to my analysis on the first page.

They’re amazing these days. 

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18 hours ago, Grievous said:

Will do Dr. Req...

Really? More amazing than Midian?

Ooh that’s a tough call. Depends on my mood. 

Check out ‘Cryptoriana’, the latest album. Those guitar players!! This album and ‘Hammer of the Witches’ was the band’s big return to quality with two new guitarists/songwriters. The few albums before these two are fairly forgettable. 

Check Dr Req’s rankings on page one. 

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38 minutes ago, Requiem said:

Check out ‘Cryptoriana’, the latest album. Those guitar players!! This album and ‘Hammer of the Witches’ was the band’s big return to quality with two new guitarists/songwriters.

Oh...I see. An injection of "fresh creative blood" has given the Filth a new lease on life.

Interesting...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally bought 'Eleven Burial Masses', the Peaceville re-release of 'Live Bait for the Dead' from their 2001 Nottingham Rock City show. 

Great live album. 75 minutes of classic era Cradle with a crystal production, guitars up front, Dani sounding great, faultless song choice. 

Great line-up too (it's the 'Midian' line-up): Dani, Allender, Gian Pyres, Robin Graves, Martin Powell, Erlandsson. 

The booklet contains a cool essay from journalist Dom Lawson, and a few small and admittedly unexciting live photos. 

Get around it if you want the songs with a slightly wild abandon in the live setting. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 11/18/2019 at 10:49 PM, Requiem said:

I've been giving this a good listen, and yes, it's hard to argue with the idea that it's done the album a good deed in cleaning up the sound and making it more accessible to the masses. 

HOWEVER. 

Some of the high definition sounds that are now coming through, including guitars, vocals (both male and female)  and sound effects, ruin a lot of the haunting atmosphere of the original version. 

The album is about a 16th century Countess, and the original production is pretty damn clear, let's be honest, but also has those touches of mirk that add to the shadowy nature of the theme. There's a sense of unease and disquiet. There's a sense of the other. 

Now, it's like watching a movie on one of those fancy high-def pixel screens. You can see everything really clearly, but the movie ain't any better, and if anything it's kind of distracting to a long-time listener like me. 

You can have your new, fancy sounding, 'Cruelty and the Beast'. Sure the drums sound phatter and the girl sounds clearer. You can hear everything. Hope you enjoy it as you sit there on your headphones listening through your phone. 

But I don't want phat and clear. I want haunting. I want shadows. I want the undefinable quality that can only be achieved once in the studio. I want the original.  @Vampyrique

Hail the original 'Cruelty and the Beast'. 

It isn't bad but I prefer the original. Dani's enunciation is the biggest surprise to me. That, and me hearing some sounds that I barely knew were there. The guitars and drums sound fine but at the cost of atmosphere. The keyboards take a backseat and Sarah's parts lose all hypnotic charm.

No, the Countess wouldn't be pleased with this. This blood bath was best kept virginal. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I had no idea they are doing some good stuff again! The last album i bought was Midian, and listened to it extensively. I was bit sad what he did with Devilment, i like some of the music though. As far as i know he sort of overtook that band under his thumb. He heard the band, enjoyed it.. pushed himself to be their singer.. then took over the whole thing.. not cool. That said, in the end of the day.. the only thing that really matters to me is if i like the music or not. I can´t remember, or imagine ever boycotting a band because i don´t like a person or their actions. Time to go check out Cryptoriana while i have a moment for myself now. :) 

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9 hours ago, ChainsawAkimbo said:

I had no idea they are doing some good stuff again! The last album i bought was Midian, and listened to it extensively. I was bit sad what he did with Devilment, i like some of the music though. As far as i know he sort of overtook that band under his thumb. He heard the band, enjoyed it.. pushed himself to be their singer.. then took over the whole thing.. not cool. That said, in the end of the day.. the only thing that really matters to me is if i like the music or not. I can´t remember, or imagine ever boycotting a band because i don´t like a person or their actions. Time to go check out Cryptoriana while i have a moment for myself now. :) 

I never heard any Devilment demos from before Dani was involved, but I own both full lengths and really like them, especially the latest (and I guess last now that they’ve imploded) ‘Mephisto Waltzes’. 

But yeah, ‘Hammer of the Witches’ and ‘Cryptoriana’ are definitely worth checking out. 

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15 hours ago, Requiem said:

I never heard any Devilment demos from before Dani was involved, but I own both full lengths and really like them, especially the latest (and I guess last now that they’ve imploded) ‘Mephisto Waltzes’. 

But yeah, ‘Hammer of the Witches’ and ‘Cryptoriana’ are definitely worth checking out. 

Yeah quite enjoying them. Quite happy that this forum has given me the spark to check out plenty new albums i've never heard before. Should have done it ages ago.

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  • 3 months later...
3 hours ago, noblastbeats said:

Why do Cradle Of Filth attract so much dislike? Its almost like they're the Nickelback of metal. I personally like some of their stuff and dislike some of their stuff but generally they seem OK. 

I merged this with our existing Cradle Of Filth thread. I think any band that gets to their level of popularity and commercial success is going to attract some hate, and they make themselves more of a target for it with their image and Dani's persona. But it seems like that's been dying down for a while; if anything, I've seen more people praising them lately. Their first few albums are gems.

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Why COF are hated: When the band first came out, they were marketed as black metal. I don't know if the members of the band said they were BM, or if it was just marketing. So basically, BM was starting to get big in the 90's with bands like Mayhem, Immortal, Darkthrone, etc., and suddenly every 6th grader is wearing a COF shirt and saying they love BM, without even knowing what real BM is. As I said, I don't know if the band is responsible for this or not, but they caught a hell of a lot of resentment for it.

 

As for the music, I liked the debut, the Dark Fairytales E.P., and Dusk. I felt Cruelty was a step down in quality, with the songs more simplistic and same sounding. I found these traits magnified on Midian, and stopped listening. Is there any album I should check out that sounds more like the earlier material?

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12 hours ago, Parker said:

Why COF are hated: When the band first came out, they were marketed as black metal. I don't know if the members of the band said they were BM, or if it was just marketing. So basically, BM was starting to get big in the 90's with bands like Mayhem, Immortal, Darkthrone, etc., and suddenly every 6th grader is wearing a COF shirt and saying they love BM, without even knowing what real BM is. As I said, I don't know if the band is responsible for this or not, but they caught a hell of a lot of resentment for it.

 

As for the music, I liked the debut, the Dark Fairytales E.P., and Dusk. I felt Cruelty was a step down in quality, with the songs more simplistic and same sounding. I found these traits magnified on Midian, and stopped listening. Is there any album I should check out that sounds more like the earlier material?

Well thats the thing you see. I'm always so put off by the general dislike of them that I've only listened to a few of their more famous songs.  I'll check out the albums you listed, thanks :)

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1 hour ago, noblastbeats said:

Well thats the thing you see. I'm always so put off by the general dislike of them that I've only listened to a few of their more famous songs.  I'll check out the albums you listed, thanks :)

I've provided an objective ranking of their studio albums in the very first post of this thread. Check it out. 

I've nailed it. 

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