Cradle of Filth have spent 30-odd years winding up everyone from Papal authorities to trve cvltists who, suffering from a sense of humour bypass, frequently fail to see that the band have basically spent their entire career writing great heavy metal albums dressed up in extreme metal clothing. Along the way, they’ve dropped a number of genuine classics, torn up live stages around the world, and cheerfully ignored the swirling controversies they’ve left in their wake.
At this stage in the game – some fourteen albums in – you either get it or you don’t, and it seems hardly likely that Cradle of Filth care either way. Having long established their sound, more recent efforts have tended to focus on refinement rather than reinvention, and that’s just fine, with the quality rarely dropping from album to album. Despite this, the band periodically drop an album that rises above the others, with The Screaming Of The Valkyries being a case in point. The band’s first album in four years, and the follow up to the brilliant Existence Is Futile, it’s a concise 9-track blast that finds Cradle on ferociously fine form throughout.
Emerging out of a suitably Jerry Goldsmith-esque intro, To Live Deliciously immediately sets a high bar for the record. With razor sharp production, it recalls the excitement of hearing Midian for the first time – producer Scott Atkins imbuing the band with a clarity that perfectly combines their extreme metal inclinations with their classic rock sensibilities. The band themselves, bolstered by the arrival of Donny Burbage (guitars) and Zoe Marie Federoff (keyboards, vocals), sound like they’re having a blast in the studio, navigating the twists and turns of the arrangement with demonic glee. Next up, Demagoguery delights in a baroque introduction, before evolving into a mid-tempo monster that weaves its way toward a surprisingly addictive chorus. The band’s ambitions leap a notch higher with The Trinity Of Shadows, which shamelessly pillages from Priest and Maiden, wrapping these well-worn influences in Celtic Frost armour and a touch of Hammer Horror theatricality, to deliver a gloriously over-the-top earworm that will stay with you for days.
The band head into rather more gothic territory with Non Omnis Moriar, which provides the first real showcase for Zoe as a vocalist. She slips into her new role as if she’s always been there, her vocal providing an effective melodic counterweight to Dani’s scarified rasp. A slower, more cinematic piece, it recalls the epic feel the band embraced on Nymphetamine’s title track, with the harmonised leads and sense of drama combining for an atmospheric track that provides a moment’s respite from the sturm und drang found elsewhere. It’s followed by the frantic White Hellebore, which once again provides Zoe with a substantial role, as the guitars slash and burn around her. Then there’s the epic You Are My Nautilus, which could happily sit among the myriad gems on Cruelty and the Beast, with Dani delivering a particularly fevered performance as the band once more navigate a labyrinthine arrangement, culminating in a stunning duel of the fates between guitarists Ashok and Donny.
Keeping the pace brisk, Malignent Perfection largely strips the verse of guitars, fusing Daniel Firth’s throbbing bass and Marthus’ crisp drums into a suitably dynamic backdrop for Dani’s whispered vocals. It leads, of course, to a monstrous chorus, complete with blistering riffs and swathes of orchestral colour, and it proves all the more effective for allowing a little light and shade to enter the melee. With the album racing past, Ex Sanguine Draculae kicks off as a full-tilt rocker, before the band execute a dramatic left turn, deploying a crunchy mid-tempo riff that’ll rock your evil socks off. It leaves the melodic monster, When Misery Was A Stranger, to bring things to an immensely satisfactory close, the choral elements piling up as the band unleash one last salacious gothic fantasy for our delectation.
Ever divisive, Cradle of Filth remain wonderfully committed to their gloriously theatrical brand of heavy metal. Extreme yet accessible, brilliantly produced, and with the new line up gelling exceptionally well, The Screaming Of The Valkyries is one of the more potent offerings in the band’s storied canon. While unlikely to convince the cynical, for those that recognise just how damned entertaining Cradle of Filth can be, this is an excellent effort. 8.5/10
