Cradle Of Filth - The Manticore And Other Horrors review
| Band: | Cradle Of Filth |
| Album: | The Manticore And Other Horrors |
| Style: | Extreme gothic metal, Symphonic metal |
| Release date: | October 29, 2012 |
| A review by: | D.T. Metal |
01. The Unveiling Of O
02. The Abhorrent
03. For Your Vulgar Delectation
04. Illicitus
05. Manticore
06. Frost On Her Pillow
07. Huge Onyx Wings Behind Despair
08. Pallid Reflection
09. Siding With The Titans
10. Succumb To This
11. Nightmares Of An Ether Drinker [Deluxe edition bonus]
12. Death, The Great Adventure [Deluxe edition bonus]
13. Sinfonia
Two years have gone by, Halloween is approaching; which can only mean one thing: Cradle Of Filth is releasing a new album.
The Manticore And Other Horrors marks the tenth studio album of the symphonic black, gone extreme or extreme gothic metal ? gee, I am going to stop while I am ahead. I seriously can't keep up with all those different sub genres in today's music.
One thing is for sure though, their latest effort will either go down as the best thing they did since Dusk... And Her Embrace, or make them loose the fans they gained through their "the more theatrical - the better" phase.
I am leaning more toward the first scenario, since with The Manticore And Other Horrors, the band is finally bringing back the raw energy and guitar driven sound which put Cradle Of Filth on my radar.
But Cradle would not be Cradle if there wouldn't be the theatrical and symphonic elements in their music, though I am pleased to say that the amount of "added drama" was held to a minimum this time around.
Opening riff on "The Abhorrent" and I was like, alrighty then, sounds promising, and it only got better from there on out. Seriously, after listening to "For Your Vulgar Delectation" I honestly had to check my iTunes ? Destruction - "Invincible Force" anyone? Other than a couple of atmospheric interludes, the whole song reminded me more of a thrash tune, well sans the thrash breaks of course ... it's Cradle Of Filth after all.
I am not going to analyze each and every song, but let me tell you this much, the new piece is much more suited for headbanging than most of their prior stuff. Not that their last album Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa lacked in this department, it just was too unmemorable for my taste, with most of the songs just blending somewhat together.
On The Manticore And Other Horrors, the quality and abundance of awesome guitar riffs and solos, combined with the straight to the point, without any filler clicks drumming, and the subtle, yet very well placed, while keeping it minimal, arrangements of the keyboard and orchestral parts are making this my favorite Cradle album in a long, long time.
With his signature high-pitched screams, combined with the awesome guttural grunts, and accompanied by his mystic spoken words, Dani Filth dug deep into his vocal repertoire as well. And bringing back tons of female vocal passages was apparently not just an afterthought, but rather a well placed addition, and does make this entire album a joy to listen too.
Maybe Paul Allender hit his mid-life crisis while writing the album or he just realized that less could actually be more while arranging it. Regardless, I sure hope Cradle Of Filth continues on this path.
My favorite tracks are by far: "For Your Vulgar Delectation" and "Succumb To This" with "Frost On Her Pillow" as a close third.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 8 |
 | Written on 21.10.2012 by Former boss lady. Now just a professional concertgoer... dangerously armed with a camera! |
Comments
Comments: 25
Visited by: 505 users
| AngelofDeth Cyborg Raptor Posts: 1183  |
Quote: This statement is gold 
---- pewpew.. gotcha
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| Windrider Raureif Posts: 684  |
Written by AngelofDeth on 21.10.2012 at 20:43 Indeed hehe... I am a little suprised because I thought they know go back to the Thornography shit... I really enjoyed the last two albums but was anything but impressed by the songs I heard from this one yet. Maybe I should check it out though, I still have faith 
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| Jiri Posts: 710  |
How is originality a 7/10? I would rate it a 1/10. They have stopped being original since Dusk.  P.S. - I know you are entitled to your own opinion. I'm just curios
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| D.T. Metal Staff Posts: 4193  |
Written by Jiri on 22.10.2012 at 00:05 Originality in the grand scheme of Cradle things; if that makes more sense.
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| Jiri Posts: 710 |
Quote: Does make sense. A lot of sense 
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| MétalNoir Fils du Lys Posts: 847  |
I really don't like "Frost On Her Pillow" and "For Your Vulgar Delectation"... They both sound like recycled versions of older stuff with unappropriate symphonic elements and the later sounds like a Slayer cover. I hope the rest of the album is better...
---- Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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| Opethian Posts: 1757  |
From what ive heard off the new record nothing sounds promising. Is Dusk seriously the only memorable piece from COF? I dont think so 
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| Vermoorden Posts: 141  |
Of the three tracks released so far, the only one I am really liking is Manticore. Vulgar was decent and frost was fairly lame in my opinion. But hopefully they grow on me, as I remember disliking dusk and cruelty as well when I heard them for the first time, now they are my 2 fav cradle albums. Can't wait to get my hands on it though!
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| musicalkaratekid Posts: 1506 |
Written by Opethian on 22.10.2012 at 05:38 I would argue that Cruelty and Midian are also as memorable;) But yeah, the stuff from the new album sounds largely uninspired.
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| Cynic Metalhead Ambrish Saxena Posts: 7562  |
Written by Opethian on 22.10.2012 at 05:38 Cruelty In my opinion stands out their best. Dusk i would say was more of a horror metal than a complete black/gothic black metal stuff. But that's the truth that their earlier records is far better than what they fucking do now. As far as this record is concerned, I haven't listen to it. For me, 8 is a really good album.
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| TheMAGAmvm Soycrusher Posts: 1086  |
I gave a couple of listens to this album and I have to agree with the reviewer on this album. Pretty much CoF since Godspeed has been improving and digging deep into a style that suits them more than what they did with Thornography. It is a perfect balanced between their early symphonic black metal records and the new gothic metal outfit. TMAOH follows the same pattern the previous 2 albums did and it does not disappoint. Songs like For Your Vulgar Delectation and Manticore are some crazy songs while Frost On Her Pillow might require several more auditions before passing a mark, saying this because after 5-6 listens it started to become a pleasure for my ears. I do not regard CoF as a band that "did better in their early albums". Yes, the early albums are good, Cruelty is one of my favorites, but I also like Midian and Damnation and a Day. Nymphetamine had a couple of good songs too while Godspeed and DDVA are probably the best albums they released since they've changed their style. I cannot say that TMAOH is better, but it can surely give DDVA a run for its money.
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| Italics Posts: 294 |
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466  |
So basically this is a more beefed-up version of Nymphetamine? Huh... Not sure how I feel about that. Will check it out as soon as I can.
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| TheMAGAmvm Soycrusher Posts: 1086 |
Written by Italics on 22.10.2012 at 21:44 Calling them generic is a little bit harsh, since CoF pretty much evolved separately from the Norwegian Black Metal scene, it had a more distinct trait in their sound. Their early albums have their own charm, though I agree with you, they are not that great either. Unlike the symphonic black metal bands from Norway, they do not have an album that can be called a highlight, such as Emperor with their In The Nightside Eclipse or Dimmu Borgir with Enthroned Darkness Triumphant. It is hard naming a best album when it comes to CoF. They experimented so much, it is hard to settle down which was the best. I know which was the weakest, no doubt, Thornography, though for the best I would go either with Dusk... And her Embrace or with DDVA.
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| AngelofDeth Cyborg Raptor Posts: 1183 |
This album is extremely mediocre. I would rank Thornography over this album tbh, at least thornography was interesting. But since this album review turned into a forum topic on which CoF album is best Id have to say Dusk, Cruelty and Godspeed are my favorite.
---- pewpew.. gotcha
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| Malignar Posts: 285 |
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| HumanSpirit Posts: 55  |
I actually gave this one a good listen... Not bad at all. Still, I prefer BEFORE Damnation and The Day.... days lol. But yeah, quite a solid album.
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| Coconut Racecar Posts: 388  |
I've always been a little on the fence with Cradle Of Filth, not sure what does it but they don't ever hold my interest for long. This promise of female vocals has me interested though, I loooove female vocals in black metal and melodic. Usually gives it a nice chilly addition to the already cold atmosphere. I think I'll give this album a spin ( :
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| s_t_s Posts: 1208  |
Only been listening to a few tracks of this new album, but I really don't like the "new" heavy and punk style... I loved the gothic style, keyboards and so on and I really miss these elements here. Yet this is nice to see a band evolving instead of doing the same thing again and again but I think I won't follow this band anymore from now on 
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| AngelofDeth Cyborg Raptor Posts: 1183 |
Written by Coconut Racecar on 27.10.2012 at 03:50 Theyve done a female vocal performance on nearly every album and have back up female vocals on many songs, not just this album. Also they arent really black metal, just a slight hint of the genre can be heard in their sound. But if your still interested in the female vox thing I would recommend these songs by them http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49ZJqqrr6jk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM7xDalFz_E&feature=related
---- pewpew.. gotcha
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| Coconut Racecar Posts: 388 |
Written by AngelofDeth on 29.10.2012 at 06:31 "bringing back tons of female vocal passages " had me thinking that the female vocals might have declined in later releases. But yeah I'll check those out. It's always nice to give bands a second chance especially when you find them turning into a favorite and wondering why you didn't like them in the first place. Who knows, maybe I'll enjoy them this time around.
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| s_t_s Posts: 1208 |
I have now listened to the full album for a few times and while it does not sound bad at all, I still don't manage to get into it :/ Maybe because it's mixing too many styles and hence loses an own identity ? Well, nice if some people enjoy the album but really cannot get into that odd mixed up atmosphere
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| Dave FC Posts: 199  |
''One thing is for sure though, their latest effort will either go down as the best thing they did since Dusk... And Her Embrace...'' This must be a joke, imo. Anyway, this is better than Badly Badly Venus Aversa (awful), yes, but the songs are all the same. This new record is like an improved version of the previous album. It was ok, good with Godspeed, but now it's getting a little bit boring. And the drummer is awesome buuuuuut (again) I think that he is playing always the same thing. Boring too.
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| s_t_s Posts: 1208 |
Written by Dave FC on 07.11.2012 at 18:11 Guess that's really a matter of taste because I've just listened to Darkly Darkly Venus Aversa and I like it a lot more than Manticore ! But to me of course Godspeed is way better as it comes as one solid piece of music, a bit like Damnation and a Day.
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| javcl Posts: 2 |
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