I don't deem this Cradle Of Filth's worst album, actually at points it's quite luminous and shining in metal glory, but 1 thing they could've omitted from this hour and 15 minute+ output could be the lead guitars. At some points these guitars were quite melodic and evanescent, though never boring. Tempos here varied and for the most part they were quite mild. This album is in no way really heavy and very dark. Dani Filth was not at his highest shrieking point, I actually think he's pretty mild in his screaming. Most of it isn't stale, yet it was not overtly pounding. COF toned down a bit on this one. They I think were going for melodic vibes and not darkness.

What's different about this album not described yet would be it's probably most mellow COF release in existence. Yes, they were on Roadrunner here, which doesn't to me make a difference when it comes to songwriting. This was highly experimental and effective. I think that they probably made use totally of guest vocalists enough, with a female voice expounding Lovecraftian lyrics. There are very many changes here and overall this was a combination of great musicianship and songwriting. It's enjoyable from the opening song 'Nemesis' till the end fade out to eternity. I grew to like this one, didn't think much of it as many people didn't hold value of this release.

I think that their music is the strong point, not the intensity, even though at times they do show some brutality. Sounds like they're in D tuning, the guitars that is, maybe even a little bit lower. In any event, you'll hear bar chord mania along with some tremolo picking riffs, but almost no blast beating whatsoever. This one is ambient, though the production quality was a little flat. That's why I took off from some of the overall effectiveness of the album. But yeah, it's one to get to grow on you, don't expect anything overly brutal or explosive. Dani's vocals are moderate as mentioned, he's really toned down on here. Whispers, semi-shrieks, a little deep and that's the gist of it.

This release is really long, but it has a lot of variety. Yes, there are synthesizers as pretty much all Cradle Of Filth albums have, but at least on this one they don't drown out the music. There's a massive lineup here plus like I said guest vocalists and orchestra. Just for short periods though, most of the album features Dani plus the guitars that can be quite melodic in whole, captivating, yet pretty simplistic. They stuck to the basics and as a friend pointed out, became very creative. I don't think this as "garbage" or a total wasted album, I think that it just takes some listens to before your make that final overall judgment of the release. It's definitely worth ordering!

Rating: 7½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Death8699
09/04/2014 19:41