At this point what do you even call Cradle of Filth? If you’re one of those black metal purists who will only listen to necro-fi recordings recorded in a forest with a tattered extension cord stealing electrical currents from the parents of one-man band bedrooms1 you probably shrugged the band off ages ago. Even fans of the band’s symphonic gothic black metal melange probably had a hard time somewhere around the time of their leap to Sony for Damnation and a Day and Roadrunner for Nymphetamine and its followups. Whatever your hangup, I’m here to tell you that for the last 10 years Dani Filth and Co. have been bringing the unrighteous metal might, and The Screaming of the Valkyries continues the trend of being distinctly CoF even as it consumes more thrash and melodic influences. Come live deliciously with me below the jump.
My own history with the band is complicated. When I first started dipping a toe into the corpse-painted waters of black metal Dusk…And Her Embrace was one of my first purchases. I still think “Heaven Torn Asunder” is a classic of the genre, and I went next to…Damnation and a Day. That was the new album out, and honestly it left a bland taste in my mouth. So like many after that I dabbled in whatever they were putting out but went on my way with other things. But something happened: in 2015 the band’s lineup changed (again) and with the entrance of Marek ‘Ashok’ Šmerda and Richard Shaw there was a heft and thrash weight to Hammer of the Witches that despite Dan’s review did in fact bring this old fan back. 2017’s Cryptoriana – The Seductiveness of Decay was even better, and I put 2021’s Existence Is Futile on my Honorable Mentions list.
And here we are with – yup – another lineup change, with Richard Shaw and keyboardist/vocalist Anabelle Iratni leaving and in their place Donny Burbage and Zoe Federoff, respectively. But if anything The Screaming of the Valkyries sounds even more assured than Existence is Futile. Opener “To Live Deliciously” has a terrific thrash riff that opens up to Dani Filth’s earworm chorus, all keyboard stabs and double kicks. The music owes more to thrash and death metal than black metal, but as a creative driving force for almost 35 years (jesus) Filth makes sure it always sounds like Cradle of Filth.
“Demagoguery” has a classic CoF opening, orchestral swells and harpsichord playing background to Filth’s narration before launching into a punishing chugging attack. Tremolo picking grabs the melody but this is a swirling, epic metal track beholden to no single genre. Heart on sleeve heavy metal is interspersed throughout, as on the opening to “The Trinity of Shadows” and “You Are My Nautilus” which also introduces a small hint of doom to the sound.
If you’re looking for more straight up black metal, “White Hellebore” has you covered with a more traditional guitar attack and d-beat rhythm…at least until it goes full gallop and brings Federoff’s power metal by way of Nightwish vocals in with the keyboards. Zoe Federoff is a great addition to the band, and her voice has a little more weight and grit than previous co-vocalists. It brings a different dynamic to Cradle’s sound, and over the course of listening to The Screaming of the Valkyries the past few weeks I’ve really come to see this as a definitive lineup for the band.
Any complaints are small – if I had to point to any weakness it might be “Malignant Perfection” as the first single. It actually works really well in the sequence of the album, but isn’t really indicative of the ferocity and attack The Screaming of the Valkyries brings forth. The album closes on two terrific tracks: “Ex Sanguine Draculae” and the absolute ripper “When Misery Was A Stranger,” showing Filth and crew are still running on all cylinders. Call them whatever genre you want; Cradle of Filth are and have always been their own genre, and The Screaming of the Valkyries shows zero capitulation to what anyone else expects of them.
—Chris
The Screaming of the Valkyries will be available March 21 from Napalm Records. For more information on Cradle of Filth, check out their website and social media pages.
1 To be clear, I’m a huge fan of this sound myself. I’m just not a fan of purist gatekeepers who ridicule and deny the more performative nature of the genre and continue to insist on putting a “v” where a “u” should be. But that’s just me – do as thou wilt so long as you live deliciously, I guess…