Chris DeLine

It’s been years since the truest of black metal fan had given up the belief that the far too polished sounds of Cradle of Filth belonged in their world. Despite the corpse paint*, long hair and punishing rhythms Cradle of Filth reside in a sort of metal grey area, far from the mainstream and ever further from black metal credibility. I often classify the band as similar to the likes of other popular acts such as Finland’s Children of Bodom and Norway’s Dimmu Borgir, and do so with no black metal connotation whatsoever. When was the last time any of those guys killed someone, I ask you that…hmmmm?

Anyways, I asked Black Metal Dialogues orchestrator, and otherwise all around kick ass guy, Dave Hill what he thought of a track from the band’s upcoming release, Thornography, and he pretty much thought it sucked. “This might go over big with Nickelback fans, but any true black metal fan wouldn’t even get their hair cut to this music. But of course a true black metal fan wouldn’t even be getting their hair cut in the first place.”

It’s probably not far from the truth, suggesting that Cradle of Filth are to black metal what Nickelback is to rock n’ roll, but in some ways the band is moving away from their former position within the metal community. In a recent interview with MTV.com** singer Dani Davey*** discussed the months leading up to the album’s release and the sessions’ final product, “It’s like Slayer meets Napalm Death in a vat of acid.” Now I’m not exactly sure that a Slayer/Napalm Death merger would be such a great idea in the first place, but especially so if it were in a vat of acid. Actually, I think that rather than an X-Treme display of grinding metal glory, all we would really hear is “Help get us out of this vat of acid. Why did we ever think this would be a good idea?!” But I digress.

I think it’s fairly safe to say that at this point in time the band is just another metal band. A good metal band, but just a metal band. Dave Hill has a few words for those who still think that the band represents itself as some sort of black metal icon, “They’re English, which okay generally speaking, but if you’re playing black metal this just doesn’t cut it.”****

If you’re looking for a little black in your metal, Cradle of Filth probably won’t satisfy the soul (or twisted lack thereof). But if you are looking for some seriously hard rocking, they’ll suffice. Oh, if you do in fact have a hankerin’ for some black metal, Hill suggests Mayhem, Emperor and Bathory…none of which are English.

[This post was first published by Culture Bully.]