Band:	Cradle Of Filth
Album:	Hammer Of The Witches
Style:	Extreme gothic metal, Symphonic metal
Release date:	July 10, 2015
A review by:	Windrider

01. Walpurgis Eve
02. Yours Immortally...
03. Enshrined In Crematoria
04. Deflowering The Maidenhead, Displeasuring The Goddess
05. Blackest Magick In Practice
06. The Monstrous Sabbat (Summoning The Coven)
07. Hammer Of The Witches
08. Right Wing Of The Garden Triptych
09. The Vampyre At My Side
10. Onward Christian Soldiers
11. Blooding The Hounds Of Hell
12. King Of The Woods [bonus]
13. Misericord [bonus]

It must be tough to be Dani Filth right now. The voice of your early career has left you and the one thing you can still properly sing is some gentle gothic metal as last seen on the Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder album. However, for this kind of music your chief songwriter has just left you. The departure of Paul Allender was both sad and promising. He is a great guitarist, yet most fans can agree that the band was in bloom at the times he wasn't around. That is why I personally had some hopes. But as it often turns out in the end, he should not have left.

Hammer Of The Witches is Cradle Of Filth's new opus and it was promised that this one would go back to the roots of the band. In a way, this is actually true, but that doesn't make the whole thing positive. The Godspeed and Darkly, Darkly albums marked a small comeback for the band with some gothic feeling, which actually made Dani's deep, dark voice fit perfectly again. The Manticore And Other Horrors hit in the same direction musically, yet with shorter songs and it was feared that they might fall back into that horrible Thornography style. Personally I also liked The Manticore; I thought that the band had now found some kind of master plan. But to unfold the plan, it is now clear that Paul Allender was a crucial factor when it comes to songwriting.

A return to the old days? Yes, but rather a wanna-be. The intention is good but the performance lacks its uniqueness from the early days and some originality. Let's go a bit in-depth and divide the album into two parts, e.g. splitting the album in the middle around the orchestral track "The Monstrous Sabbat (Summoning The Coven)." It is convenient to talk about the better and worse half of it here. And guess what (spoiler!) - the first one is better. Easily. Specifically "Yours Immortally?", "Deflowering The Maidenhead, Displeasuring The Goddess" and "Blackest Magick In Practice" are the songs that stand out on this album, being enjoyable, and some riffs are memorable, too. The worse half, however, is, as you might have guessed, not so good. I only remember some nice moments when listening to "Onward Christian Soldiers" while the rest was quite forgettable.

Concerning the performances of the other musicians it should be mentioned that Mr. Allender is also missing in the guitar works. And who else is still being missed badly, but Sarah Jezebel Deva with her strong voice? Lindsay Schoolcraft on female vocal duty might be a neat sight to look at, but musically there isn't much to praise. She is also a reason why "Right Wing Of The Garden Triptych" might actually be the worst song on Hammer Of The Witches. Okay, now I think I've said it all, and there is no need for a longer conclusion than this: some tracks are enjoyable but the whole piece is rather disappointing.