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Cradle Of Filth - Thornography review



Reviewer:
4.8

583 users:
6.55
Band: Cradle Of Filth
Album: Thornography
Release date: October 2006


Disc I
01. Under Pregnant Skies She Comes Alive Like Miss Leviathan
02. Dirge Inferno
03. Tonight In Flames
04. Libertina Grimm
05. The Byronic Man [feat. Ville Valo]
06. I Am The Thorn
07. Cemetery And Sundown
08. Lovesick For Mina
09. The Foetus Of A New Day Kicking
10. Rise Of The Pentagram
11. Under Huntress Moon
12. Temptation [Feat. Dirty Harry] [Heaven 17 cover]
13. Halloween 2 [Misfits cover] [Japanese bonus]

Disc II [Special Edition]
01. Murder In The Thirst
02. The Snake-Eyed And The Venomous
03. Halloween 3 : Season Of The Bitch [Halloween 2 Remix version]
04. Courting Baphomet
05. Stay [Shakespears Sister cover]
06. Devil To The Metal

What ever possessed Cradle Of Filth to record an album like "Thornography" is beyond me and probably beyond many of their fans as well. Don't get me wrong, I adore earlier works such as "The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh", "Dusk... And Her Embrace", "Cruelty And The Beast" and even "Midian", but their newer releases have never been much to my liking save for a few tracks from "Nymphetamine". Here we have an album that is lacking anything remotely similar to the band known as Cradle Of Filth. I know some will argue and claim that they are "always evolving" or "changing their style" and yes, for some bands this is a good thing... but when it comes to the filthy sextet from England, sometimes stripping down your sound is the last thing you want to do.

Instead of the melodic cacophony of sound and symphony that is usually present, the keyboards are taking a backseat to the guitars this time around. By the time you get about halfway, the album has already become monotonous and boring. Dani Filth's voice sounds like it's starting to go and he's not helping himself any by trying to sing on some of the songs. Yes, that's right. Dani Filth SINGING. Well, more like trying to sing. The song "Temptation" (probably the most commercial-oriented piece of garbage to ever appear on ANY release) features these "clean" vocals; only they're not clean; he sounds like a raven squawking in the beginning and around the interlude he just sounds down right feminine. I was wondering if it was a female singing these parts but no. Lo and behold it is, in fact, Mr. Filth trying to make up for the fact his high pitched shriek isn't what it used to be. Same goes for the the catchier track "The Foetus Of A New Day Kicking", a track I may have enjoyed more if it wasn't for Dani's awful vocal delivery during the chorus. The new drummer is truly a piece of work because unlike Nick Barker or Adrian Erlandson he really offers nothing to this band. His drumming seems uninspired and doesn't help develop their sound. The new keyboardist might as well have stayed home while this album was being recorded because the presence of her contribution is almost non-existent. She has her moments on "Lovesick For Mina" and "Tonight In Flames" and I must admit she is a good performer and writer but that doesn't change the fact she's almost inaudible everywhere else. As always, you can't hear the bass. Even when you can the production has left it with no low end.

There were three or four songs that were OK but they were towards the end of the album which meant it took me awhile to get through the filler at the beginning to find them. "Cemetary And Sundown" was a decent piece of material and was a little more like the Cradle Of Filth I love aside from the very basic and lackluster drumming (and a noticeable void where the keyboards should be). "The Byronic Man" with lyrics like "Grow colder / My shoulder / Like a boulder / Beside her" is definitely not the poetic and unorthodox prose most fans are used to. This song also features Ville Valo from the band HIM doing guest vocals which seems rather strange to me.

Overall this album was well produced but not even the production can make up for the fact that 3/4 of the release sounds like b-sides that should have stayed in the trash. Considering Dani had stated both "Nymphetamine" and "Thornography" were going to be Black Metal releases makes me skeptical of their next album, but I doubt they will ever release another "Cruelty And The Beast".

Highlights: Cemetary And Sundown, The Foetus Of A New Day Kicking, Lovesick For Mina, Tonight In Flames


Rating breakdown
Performance: 7
Songwriting: 4
Originality: 2
Production: 8

Written by Goat-Christ | 10.07.2007




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

Comments: 27   Visited by: 267 users
10.07.2007 - 15:11
Rating: 8
Katatronik
Angel of Lust
Too low rating IMO, though it's the worst CoF album for me... Originality 2 isn't true, I think it's just to have a total rating under the 6.0...
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"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear,
and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."
Howard Phillips Lovecraft
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16.08.2007 - 14:19
Desertman
Account deleted
really too low rating!
personaly my rate for this album is not under 8 out of 10!
in this album u really hear a (music)! and u hardly get this in black metal lately!

just as good as satyricon last album!
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23.11.2007 - 21:01
LifeExit
Account deleted
.. I love the album, and I really don't get why people are so negative about it. I love every single track of the album, and Nymphetamine too ..
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23.11.2007 - 22:46
VPeter

Written by Guest on 16.08.2007 at 14:19


just as good as satyricon last album!

I hope that was a joke
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24.11.2007 - 20:31
Desertman
Account deleted
Written by VPeter on 23.11.2007 at 22:46

Written by Guest on 16.08.2007 at 14:19


just as good as satyricon last album!

I hope that was a joke



i hope one day you will have a brain
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25.11.2007 - 03:08
VPeter

Written by Guest on 24.11.2007 at 20:31

Written by VPeter on 23.11.2007 at 22:46

Written by Guest on 16.08.2007 at 14:19


just as good as satyricon last album!

I hope that was a joke



i hope one day you will have a brain

I already have mine friend and please before you start to acuse me for a tr00 necro frostbitten eltist, I liked all Satyricon's previous albums
including the much hated Volcano. I have to say Now, Diabolical has a good production and the songs are catchy, unfortunally all the songs are the same and gets boring really fast, I don't mind that they were softer on this album but they should have put more depth and variety to it.
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20.12.2007 - 21:54
Rating: 8
Darkmember

its a different style but it still RULEZZZ!!!!:banger2:
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The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.
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20.12.2007 - 22:03
Rating: 8
Sepulchre
Lord Hypnos
Written by Darkmember on 20.12.2007 at 21:54

its a different style but it still RULEZZZ!!!!:banger2:


I agree
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26.04.2008 - 15:41
Stuart
MiseryKing
one small point, Adrian DID record the drumming for this album. He left almost immediately after the recording.
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12.06.2008 - 14:51
Rating: 1
Mull666

sigh* one of the most terrible and forgetable collection of crap that ive ever wasted my life listening to. I know people will get angry but these people dont realize what cradle of filth used to be and are probably 14 year old kids who like soil work. cheers from aus
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03.08.2008 - 04:33
Uirapuru
Liver Failure
again.. the same as Nymphetamine to me... nothing new. And still, the best tracks are the ones with most commercial appeal: Cemetary And Sundown, Lovesick For Mina and Tonight In Flames.
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member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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19.10.2008 - 03:33
HellHammer
Account deleted
I think this is a great album, ofcourse if compared to older stuff I can see why people might hate it. But CoF is not the same CoF like it was before...I like how the keyboards are more in the background and the more guitar driven sound.
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29.10.2008 - 01:00
Rating: 1
Arcesse Eum

Probably one of the worst albums i've ever heard in my life... pathetic that this trash is allowed out on the market.
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As above, so below.
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16.12.2008 - 15:11
Rating: 1
Slayer666

Written by Guest on 16.08.2007 at 14:19

really too low rating!
personaly my rate for this album is not under 8 out of 10!
in this album u really hear a (music)! and u hardly get this in black metal lately!

just as good as satyricon last album!

Duuuuude!CoF in NOT black metal.Besides,this is so soft and weak,it got me so frekin' pissed when I listened to it.CoF is my all-time favourite band,and all of their albums (even Nyphetamine) are really great,but this.....Utter disaster.Dani,I thought you didn't have it in you to make shit of this magnitude....
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20.04.2009 - 14:10
Rating: 10
terrorist

I understand why fans don't like this album.But to be honest,this album as an album itself is so powerfull!I am amazed with the music,it has lots of thrash influence and the riffs like Tonight In Flames blows my mind!!!I wolud give it 10 but of course i repeat for me this is excelent album but for the fans it is lower than their older stuff.
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Will the ones who live after our end
Worship the goddamn cross again?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnlG0h7YN_8&feature=related
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09.06.2009 - 01:44
His Eminence
Account deleted
I actually enjoy this album, despite what most people think about it. It's very different from their old albums and even Nymphetamine. It does get boring at parts, but when it does, I skip to a new song. :p
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25.09.2009 - 21:45
gocasaca

Written by terrorist on 20.04.2009 at 14:10

I understand why fans don't like this album.But to be honest,this album as an album itself is so powerfull!I am amazed with the music,it has lots of thrash influence and the riffs like Tonight In Flames blows my mind!!!I wolud give it 10 but of course i repeat for me this is excelent album but for the fans it is lower than their older stuff.

Wholly agree! I never liked CoF before ( hate it, to be honest ), but this one is good, especially Tonight in flames. Fuckin great song!
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18.10.2009 - 00:00
Rating: 9
Jan

I belong with the crowd who don't get why people dislike this album - I think it is absolutely great - a bunch of great songs on there. I would rate it in the 8.5-9 range.

Admittedly I have not heard much CoF - so have no idea just how different it is to their other releases. But frankly I don't care - a great album is a great album.
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27.11.2009 - 23:12
Rating: 8
AngelofDeth
Cyborg Raptor
I agree with Jan. i loved this album and thought it was a great follow up to nymphetamine.

Its heavy, melodic and epic.

The only song i dont like on it is temptation, but that is a cover so its not so disapointing and can be easily skipped over.

Definately one of my favorite CoF albums.
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pewpew.. gotcha
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27.11.2009 - 23:16
Rating: 8
AngelofDeth
Cyborg Raptor
Btw i hate bands like soilwork and CoF has been one of my favorite bands for around 6 years.
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pewpew.. gotcha
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28.11.2009 - 15:07
Lord_Regnier

Written by Guest on 16.08.2007 at 14:19

really too low rating!
personaly my rate for this album is not under 8 out of 10!
in this album u really hear a (music)! and u hardly get this in black metal lately!

just as good as satyricon last album!


No wonder you like this shit if you think recent Satyricon is good.
You're one of those who like that kind of pseudo-extreme garbage targeted at teenagers some people falsely label as Black Metal.
You're right when you put both albums on the same level: they both suck.

"You really hear music on this album and you hardly get this in BM". Thanks for proving my point.
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"Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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05.05.2010 - 23:51
Rating: 5
MétalNoir
Fils du Lys
Yeah this album fucking sucks, but at least Godspeed rocks... And it's actually Dirty Harry (a WOMAN) singing on Temptation.
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Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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05.05.2010 - 23:59
Rating: 5
MétalNoir
Fils du Lys
Written by Guest on 16.08.2007 at 14:19

really too low rating!
personaly my rate for this album is not under 8 out of 10!
in this album u really hear a (music)! and u hardly get this in black metal lately!

just as good as satyricon last album!

I really hope you've seen a psy since you wrote this absolute nonsense, dude... 8??? 8 means VERY GOOD ans this album can't even be called good. Black Metal??? That again? gnuh. Lately??? BM was never meant to be the most melodic genre. Diabolical is good??? Oh my. Anyway, this was 3 years ago, I hope you've changed your mind or at least got to know what black metal actually IS.
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Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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16.11.2010 - 07:23
Rating: 6
DreadfulYgg

When I first heard this album it sounded like a complete travesty to their core sound. I was actually fond of Nymphetamine and this is even a big change from that album. But I have to say that over time this one has actually aged kind of well. In fact I dare say it's not a bad album at all. It may be the weakest of their discography but it's still enjoyable to listen to. The songwriting is simplified, yes, but the riffs can be rather catchy and the melodies do stick, and that's important for shelf life. Dani's vocals are frailed in comparison to older times but somehow there's charm in them and it even suits the stylistic change the rest of the band is going for. The one downer I'd say is the lyrics which have lost the poetic potency they once did but no matter. The music and songs are still good I think and therefore it's worth hearing.
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16.11.2010 - 07:28
Rating: 6
DreadfulYgg

Written by Guest on 09.06.2009 at 01:44

I actually enjoy this album, despite what most people think about it. It's very different from their old albums and even Nymphetamine. It does get boring at parts, but when it does, I skip to a new song. :p


Agreed! It's strange too because when they returned to a more faster and more traditional COF sound on Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder, though it initially sounds good to the ears, the songs themselves don't tend to stick with you the more you listen to it and the songwriting also is weak for maybe half of that album. So when you compare that with this one, for me, it goes to show you that even when you add in speed and aggression it doesn't automatically make the music better for it. Granted, I still like the Godspeed album but it's surprisingly not much better than this album as a whole given what I just said about it.
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12.07.2011 - 22:33
Rating: 9
Nyxgrinder

This album rulzzzz the special edition rulzzzz even more.....some people just can´t understand the music sometimes......and why put out albums like cruelty and the beast all the time ? that is stupid....to put out stuff you have done before ? that will make it a self repeating shit (MEDIOCRITY)...the album comes out just the way those musicians were feeling it at that time, I have a neighbor that listen to guns n roses all day long and it seems like there´s no other band ( for him)
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29.12.2016 - 12:41
Rating: 7
ozzy87

Overally great review I couldnt agree more with and nice piece of writing btw

BUT you clearly overreacted with total rating which is combined out of 4 components, which is closer to 5.2

how did you even counted it for 4.8? where did you get it from?
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