Cradle of filth doesn’t need an introduction. Since they released ‘Principle of Evil Made Flesh’ back in 1994, they gained lots of popularity. First in the underground (black) metal scene with aforementioned album and the (superb) ‘Vempire’ EP. When ‘Dusk and her Embrace’ and ‘Cruelty and the beast’ came out, they won fans in lots of genres. You see shirts of them everywhere, and they built up a large fanbase, from black metal fans to nu metal kids. It resulted in a deal with Sony. Wich wasn’t succesfull, and they were considered sell outs. After they broke with Sony they signed with Roadrunner in 2003. They’re still there with their 2nd record on that label called ‘Thornography’.

This cd is different than their others. People who think Cradle return to their roots are mistaken. I had to hear Thornography about ten times to make a fair judgement. And after a few rotations I got addicted to this cd. Sometimes this cd is very different from their previous efforts. Of course, there the screams of dani, the iron maiden-esque riffs in ‘The Foetus of a New Day Rising’, Pinhead from Hellraiser has still a role (in Rise Of the pentagram he even reads a poet), and the combination of Death and Black metal riffs.

But, there are also a lot of styllistic changes. On Thornography, they use more catchy refrains. And when I say Catchy I mean CATCHY. Almost rock refrains in songs like ‘Tonight in Flames’, “The Byronic Man’ and ‘Cemetary and Sundown’.

A lot of vocals were used. Female vocals (high and low), clean male vocals (wonder if Dani does them), black metal screams, agressive (more metal) screams, some grunts, spoken words and so on. They definitely add to the diversity of this record. What’s also surprising is the cover of Heaven 17 ‘Temptation’. Weakest song of the record and in my opinion they didn’t need to put it on a full length, but rather on an ep (wich they did earlier).

But don’t be afraid, cradle of filth didn’t become a nu metal band or something, they still come with brutal riffs and hooks. Opener (did not count the intro) ‘Dirge Inferno’ has a nyhilistc feeling built on a brutal (death)riff. ‘Under Huntress Moon’ has one of the best riffs this year, and reminds me of old black metal riffs (and moonspells alma matter)

Maybe this record is a bridge between old and new work. Maybe this is just an experiment. However, they will lose some old fans for good, and they will definitely win some new fans in different genres. Die hard black metal fans maybe will not like this production (done byt Rob from Anthrax and mixed by andy sneap), but listening to this cd on your headphones will give you a great experience.

However, Cradle of Filth has released a perfect metal album wich will see my year end list. And I advice everyone who gives a damn about metal to give this cd a chance.