CRADLE OF FILTH – Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder

Most of the die-hard Black Metal fans have erased the name Cradle Of Filth from their band list. This happened after the band’s success that brought them in front of the title ‘mainstream’ that is not befitting of the general Black Metal philosophy.

Starting with Midian and moving to Thornography, Cradle Of Filth took a turn in their sound introducing an almost Gothic perspective deepening the gap between their followers and their foes. So, after almost two years the British band returns with Godspeed Οn Τhe Devil’s Thunder that is rumored to mark the start of their Black Metal traditions.

After a couple of CD spins it becomes clear that Cradle Of Filth stopped moving towards the Gothic scene and kind of returned to more Black Metal oriented songs. This means that the album finally brings the blast beats back and the drum breaks while Dani keeps a safe distance from the clean vocals – found in Thornography– and uses the trademark distortion.

The album is a concept one and talks about the whereabouts of Gilles de Rais who fought side by side with Joan of Arc but made his strong reputation through his “career” as a serial killer. The concept structure means a lot of interludes and intros that in some degree tire the listener who is forced to push the ‘skip’ button trying to maintain the momentum from the songs.

Overall, the album is heavier than the previous and stands somewhere between Midian and Nymphetamine. There are fast songs like “Shat Out Of Hell” or “Tragic Kingdom” that prove the band’s intention to dig out some of their past without reaching that deep as the excellent Cruelty And The Beast era.

The intention to sell the idea that Cradle Of Filth have returned to their roots will not bring the old fans back since songs like “The Death Of Love” or “Ten Leagues Beneath Contempt” still breathe the mainstream atmosphere with catchy twin guitar melodies and less Black Metal oriented vocals. In fact this “return” will polarize even more of the conflicting sides; the band’s polemicists will definitely accuse Cradle Of Filth of a fake return with profit and publicity as the only goal.

Leaving aside this never-ending conflict the objective reviewer will say that the album can stand up to the band’s (latest) standards with very good songs like “The 13^th Caesar” the already hit “Honey And Sulphur,” the fast tracks “Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder” and “Sweetest Maleficia” that are found among the album’s highlights. The guitars stay in the path that the British band has carved sometime during the Midian release; double Maiden-esque harmonies, often catchy melodies perfectly combined to the shredding riffs that still holds some strings attached to their Black Metal past.

The Achilles heel of this album is that there are no stand out tracks that will remain as classic Cradle Of Filth songs. This is partly due to the concept character of the album but it surely reveals some composing weakness in the Filth camp that seems to reshuffle the already played cards just to stay in-game. Maybe it would be wise for the band to take a break to reorganize and why not redefine the music character.