Cradle of Filth - The Manticore And Other Horrors (05/04/2013)
Twenty two years after forming English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth have released album number ten The Manticore and Other Horrors. Called a “quite dark and pretty hardcore album” by guitarist Paul Allender the album features all the things Cradle of Filth fans have come to love. Haunting lyrics, symphonic black metal and beautiful female vocals.
The lyrics of this album cover a vast number of monster and beast stories. From Illicitus and Pallid Reflection being about werewolves and vampires to title track Manticore being about a beautiful mythological creature. For Your Vulgar Detection and lead single Frost on Her Pillow are grim fairy tales. Dani Filth tells many a story on this record and does so brilliantly well.
The album kicks off with the instrumental The Unveiling of O which is a very haunting, symphonic start before The Abhorrent kicks in with a much more heavier metal sound and singer Dani Filth's very recognisable scream before he kicks the song off with “I sing desolation on the breath of centuries”.
For Your Vulgar Delectation starts off with a sound that could belong to almost any current rock or metal band before Dani kicks in with probably the heaviest vocals on the record and the band put their own unique black/extreme metal twist on it to great effect.
Frost on Her Pillow stands out as another great track on the album for it's brilliant guitar work and haunting vocals. On the other hand Succumb To This stands out for featuring the beautifully haunting vocals of Lucy Atkins. Her and Dani work brilliantly together to form probably the stand out track on the album.
One of the final tracks is Nightmares of and Ether Drinker which is a fast paced great track which is sure to go off at their live shows. The album comes to an end, like it begins, with a great symphonic instrumental track titled Sinfornia and thus brings to an end a very solid album from the masters of extreme metal.
Matt Barton
The lyrics of this album cover a vast number of monster and beast stories. From Illicitus and Pallid Reflection being about werewolves and vampires to title track Manticore being about a beautiful mythological creature. For Your Vulgar Detection and lead single Frost on Her Pillow are grim fairy tales. Dani Filth tells many a story on this record and does so brilliantly well.
The album kicks off with the instrumental The Unveiling of O which is a very haunting, symphonic start before The Abhorrent kicks in with a much more heavier metal sound and singer Dani Filth's very recognisable scream before he kicks the song off with “I sing desolation on the breath of centuries”.
For Your Vulgar Delectation starts off with a sound that could belong to almost any current rock or metal band before Dani kicks in with probably the heaviest vocals on the record and the band put their own unique black/extreme metal twist on it to great effect.
Frost on Her Pillow stands out as another great track on the album for it's brilliant guitar work and haunting vocals. On the other hand Succumb To This stands out for featuring the beautifully haunting vocals of Lucy Atkins. Her and Dani work brilliantly together to form probably the stand out track on the album.
One of the final tracks is Nightmares of and Ether Drinker which is a fast paced great track which is sure to go off at their live shows. The album comes to an end, like it begins, with a great symphonic instrumental track titled Sinfornia and thus brings to an end a very solid album from the masters of extreme metal.
Matt Barton