Band:	Cradle Of Filth
Album:	Thornography
Style:	Extreme gothic metal, Symphonic metal
Release date:	October 16, 2006
Guest review by:	Goat-Christ

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