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Early Cradle of Filth, similar artists?


Zarathustra

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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.

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Cradle of Filth tends to be a polarizing band, but they're mostly held in high regard here, especially for the albums you're mentioning. I like some of their stuff after From the Cradle to Enslave, but I don't think there's any arguing that their pinnacle is behind them.

As for your question, if you're looking for that kind of Gothic black/death metal from The Principle of Evil Made Flesh and Vempire, I would direct you to the debut album from Bal-Sagoth, the first couple of releases from Hecate Enthroned, and maybe the first couple of albums from Akercocke. I also remember hearing a band called Abyssos that combined the early Cradle of Filth sound with the 90's Swedish melodic black metal sound of Dissection, Mörk Gryning, Sacramentum, etc..., and it sounded pretty good from what I recall, but I haven't heard more than a couple of songs. For something along the lines of Dusk...and Her Embrace or Cruelty and the Beast, I would definitely direct you toward Moonspell's Wolfheart album. It isn't so much a sound-alike as it is a very original album that has a similar dark/gothic atmosphere and feeling. Dimmu Borgir might tickle your fancy with their Enthrone Darkness Triumphant and Spiritual Black Dimensions albums, as well as the early Old Man's Child albums, but they're not really as romantic sounding. There were several bands that aimed for that more romantic sound, like Ancient after their debut album and Siebenburgen, but most of them aren't very good.

Anyway, welcome. Hope that helps. Feel free to peruse the site, we have a lot of recommendations and discussions covering pretty much the entire metal canvas, so exploring should be informative if nothing else.

Sent from my HTCD160LVW using Tapatalk

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17 hours ago, Zarathustra said:

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.

Good call on all of this. I simply love 'Dusk and Her Embrace' (the 1996 version) and 'Cruelty and the Beast'. Absolutely all time favourites for me. BlutAusNerd has pretty much covered it as far as I'm aware too, although I would like to add: 

Tristania - 'Widow's Weeds'. Definitely more mid paced, but this album really shares some of the same vibe as early Cradle. Try the track 'Midwinter Tears'. Bit of a 'Principle' vibe without the aggression. 

Empyrium - 'Songs of Moors and Misty Fields'. This is a bit more folk orientated, but still has some great gothic darkness in, again, a mid-paced way. The track 'Blue Mists of Night' is a great example. 

The other things to recognise is that while all of these recommendations are in the ballpark, there can only ever be one classic era (1994-1998) Cradle of Filth. They were just stunning and really quite unique. One of the all-time great metal bands in my book. 

 

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On 2/21/2018 at 8:00 PM, BlutAusNerd said:

 I would direct you to the debut album from Bal-Sagoth, the first couple of releases from Hecate Enthroned, and maybe the first couple of albums from Akercocke.

all savage albums.the goat of mendes is one of my favorite black metal albums. such a great atmosphere on it and the vocals are some of the best death/black combination ive ever heard. extremely evil sounding.

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all savage albums.the goat of mendes is one of my favorite black metal albums. such a great atmosphere on it and the vocals are some of the best death/black combination ive ever heard. extremely evil sounding.
I prefer the more progressive Choronzon and Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone, but their first two albums are cool in a different way. Very sexual and erotic sounding Gothic/black/death metal. Great band.

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