Cradle Of Filth - Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder review
| Band: | Cradle Of Filth |
| Album: | Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder |
| Style: | Extreme gothic metal, Symphonic metal |
| Release date: | October 28, 2008 |
| A review by: | Baz Anderson |
Disc I
01. In Grandeur And Frankincense Devilment Stirs
02. Shat Out Of Hell
03. The Death Of Love
04. The 13th Caesar
05. Tiffauges
06. Tragic Kingdom
07. Sweetest Maleficia
08. Honey And Sulphur
09. Midnight Shadows Crawl To Darken Counsel With Life
10. Darkness Incarnate
11. Ten Leagues Beneath Contempt
12. Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder
13. Corpseflower
Disc II [Special Edition bonus]
01. Balsamic And Anathema
02. A Thousand Hands On The Maid Of Ruin
03. Into The Crypt Of Rays [Celtic Frost cover]
04. Devil To The Metal
05. Courting Baphomet
06. The Love Of Death [remix version]
07. The Death Of Love [demo]
08. The 13th Caesar [demo]
09. Dirge Inferno [live]
10. Dusk And Her Embrace [live]
Everyone has an opinion where Cradle Of Filth are concerned, but none can argue against what they have done for the British extreme metal scene over the years. If you have never liked Cradle Of Filth, the band's newest offering grandly titled "Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder" shall not change your opinion, but what this album is, is a glorious return to up-tempo, crushing tracks delivered with conviction. The band's last couple of albums were as commercial as a band like Cradle Of Filth can take things and because of this softening around the edges, they inevitably pushed some fans away.
Alas, "Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder" is the album we have been waiting for, and what an album it is. Dani and Paul have gone back to writing harsher riffs, faster and more epic opuses, and have done this all with the added risk of the album being a concept album, as the album is subtitled "The Life And Crimes Of Gilles De Rais", the French nobleman, serial killer, sexual deviant and Satanist. What this album is not, is a return to the sound of their pre-1998 albums, although "Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder" does have the most feel of "Cruelty And The Beast" in it than any other album since, with the wonderful symphonies of "Midian" and just a slight touch of the "Thornography" commercialism thrown in for good measure.
The album sees the entrance of new drummer Martin ?karoupka who does a marvellous job bringing Cradle Of Filth back to the world of blastbeats and fast double kick drumming. Martin may have indeed been the catalyst that gave Dani and Paul the kick up the back-side they needed to write this kind of aggressive music again, but Cradle Of Filth have not been on fire like this since 2003's magnificent "Damnation And A Day", and even then there has never been so many time changes and an album so complete with no bad songs. Dani's voice sounds the best it has in years, still distinctive as ever but this time with more variation going deeper from time to time, "Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder" oozes with inspiration and quality that the band has been lacking in recent years.
Gone are the dreary gothic numbers we have been cringing at the last few years, and it is a welcome hello to punchy slabs of extreme metal like the amusingly titled "Shat Out Of Hell", or the relentless onslaught of "Sweetest Maleficia" and "Honey And Sulphur", not forgetting the true highlight of the album, the title track and last song "Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder". "The Death Of Love" includes female vocals and is in the style you would expect to come from the last album, but is much more tasteful, and "The 13th Caesar" is one of the catchiest tunes from this long, over seventy-minute production. Dani Filth has always had a gifted way of words when it comes to lyrics, and this album is definitely no different there.
This album won't make someone who hated the band like them, but it will catch everyone's attention that has ever had an interest in the band and has perhaps been put off by the last couple of albums. Production is clear, and has everything at just the level it should be at to flaunt both melodic and extreme sides of the album. Perhaps if you struggle with long albums, you may have a tough time with "Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder", but on the whole, this is a triumphant return by the lords of the British extreme metal scene, and about time too.
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Comments: 59
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| Paradox0 Unasuming Madnes Posts: 592 |
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| Magatouve Account deleted |
Magatouve
Account deleted Written by Spyroid on 04.11.2008 at 09:01 As much as I like their first album cover (which I have on a T-shirt), I hate this one. It's so ugly & un-artistic
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18375  |
I agree... it's one of the ugliest shit I ever seen. And it's not even hard to think about a better idea as a cover art.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Spyroid Rosetta Stoned Posts: 1023  |
Written by [user id=291] on 23.11.2008 at 19:50 But atleast the music is good, which is what really counts. At least 50 % of my favourite albums have hilariously ugly cover arts.
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| Magatouve Account deleted |
Magatouve
Account deleted Written by Spyroid on 23.11.2008 at 23:00 Yeah... the music is the most important, but since I haven't had that album so far (just watched the video clip) am just comparing the covers! Anyway, am gonna c CoF live on Dec 1st here in London. So let's c what the album sounds like there. But again, whenever I look at the cover I feel so disgusted. It's not just ugly, it's ..... even worse
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| Paradox0 Unasuming Madnes Posts: 592 |
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| Magatouve Account deleted |
Magatouve
Account deleted Written by Paradox0 on 24.11.2008 at 02:49 OK I will take your word. I am a fan of CoF classic albums so I will get that one  Regarding their live concert, if I don't enjoy them I hope to enjoy Septic Flesh and Moonspell. They should be good 
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| Shadowcross The Summoner Posts: 481  |
This a great album... I don't know why I like it so much. Suprisingly very good! However if someone has never respected or enjoyed any of Cradle's music this won't change any opinions. Don't know what you are talking about, they still sound pretty good live it seems to depend more on the balancing between the guitars and drum mics at different venues!
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| Shadowcross The Summoner Posts: 481 |
The cover art is pretty hideous though, i will agree with that!
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| Erthghod Account deleted |
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| =maD.Doc:. Melodeath Master Posts: 386  |
Writing this comment on the review only, not anything on based on other comments made. Just wanted to make that clear before I wrote the comment I must disagree with something you wrote in the begining of the review Baz. I think people that didn't liked Cradle before can grow to like them with this album. I never liked them earlier. I never hated them, nor loved them, but this album is a complete masterpiece. With the concept based on Gilles de Rais and the poetic lyrics describing all he did, it just takes off beyond my imagination. I reviewed this album myself for the site sound of metal, in that review I called this "THE album of the year" and "the best extreme metal album I've ever heard", and that's the truth, I love it so much I could never possibly imagine they will be able to do any better. Other than my disagreement on that point I really like your review, I hope one day be able to describe an album, or DVD, with a longer review. It's quite difficult, but for every review one grow better, learning from mistakes. The hardest part is rating an album. But I'm starting to get a hang of it.
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| MétalNoir Fils du Lys Posts: 847  |
Written by Princ_Of_Horror on 13.11.2008 at 09:26 Personnally, I'd say the Death of Love is the worst song on this album... It's a remake of Nymphetamine, really. It's not bad, but it'S still the only song on the albu I almost always skip (can't wait for the 13th Caesar ^^) And WTF with the cover art, anyway? I don't think it looks so bad, really... There are a lot of symbols on it and it reminds me a lot of Midian's cover. Isn't a band called Cradle of Filth supposed to have ugly covers, anyway?
---- Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466  |
Aaaaaalright!!!Dani's BACK!!!Good-old REAL CoF.Okay,still not as good as "The Principale of Evil Made Flesh",but better than anything else (yes,even "Dusk...").And that's a real compliment because "Damnation and a Day" was a masterpiece. Yeah,Death of Love is soft,but it's a good song for relaxation.And Cover Art is preety good,i don't know what you are complaining about.
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| Passenger Lost To Apathy Posts: 1464  |
Enough discussion. This is good. Very good  Well, seems like Dani just had to get Thronography out of his system for some reason. This is like Midian Pt. 2 but with more modern production. Some of the riffs in "Sweetest Maleficia" are probably among the vilest they've ever done. My favourite is also "The 13th Caesar".9/10
---- You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it ~ Mean Streets
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| CreeperDeath Posts: 32  |
A great masterpiece from Cradle of Filth, and I'm an "old-school cradle fan" with the Midian and Cruelty era. This album is just as good as the previous before Midian. The only thing I may complain is about the guitar works... First, they are in Mono channel... WHY !??!? and they seem to be only background guitars... Nothing special here.. Keyboards tough has really came back into the Filth's. But like I said, guitar could be so much better, even if there is no shred or even lead (I'm not a shred fan......). Imagine this kind of music but with Gian and Paul on guitar :O sooo awesome ! Also, the other songs on the other CD are very good. Even if one of them as no voice. Well, I would give 8,5 / 10 for this album, cuz even if it's not the best yet, they still are in the right way to make another Midian (lets hope.. PLEASE!) with their new sound
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466 |
Written by Passenger on 31.12.2008 at 13:31 I agree with you,except one thing.This is stronger,more brutal than Midian,maybe not too much,but enough to make a difference. My conclusion : 2/5Cruelty and The Beast + 3/5Midian=Godspeed on The Devil's Thunder.
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| Warman Erotic Stains Posts: 7695  |
Their best since the magnificent "Damnation and a Day"! A CoF nerd like me can't stop listening to it. And this is how a special edition should look like!
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| Xeros612 Posts: 30  |
Surprisingly good album, especially considering recently previoius albums like Thornography and Nyphentamine. My only complaint about the music is how terrible the synth sounds. What happened to the orchestra used in Cruelty and the Beast and Damnation and a Day? I've heard very low budget early 90s underground black metal bands with more realistic sounding synth orchestras. Other than that, the guitars and drums are back to sounding good, and Dani sounds great on vocals this time, doing less high screeches and more lower growls.
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| Abattoir Staff Posts: 3699  |
Very good album indeed. I wasn't realy expecting this after a couple of avarage releases...but it seems they haven't lost the sense for originality in their music. There is quite lots of fast, agressive songs, nice riffs and amazing drums (btw the sound of drums on this album are probably the best out of all their releases). Well, for me this release is quite a suprise from dani and company, so I suppose I can expect something more positive from this band in the future.
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| SatyriconChick Posts: 248  |
Not that I didn't like Thornography *ducks* but this album is SO much better! I was pleased when I first heard it, because they're definitely back to their roots!  Yeah, the cover is horrible, but the music is top-notch! Favorite songs are "Shat Out of Hell" and "Corpseflower." 
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| iMorphball Posts: 289  |
Actually, I hated Cradle before this album. This is a genius piece of work.
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| CyberSymphony Ollie Posts: 673  |
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| Vonpire Posts: 471  |
Oh yeah!! Cradle return to top form. Unbeliavablke amazing album, that grows on you each time you listen to it. 
---- Beware the Shadows of Dusk
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| vezzy Stallmanite Posts: 3493  |
I love this album, although I haven't played it in a while.
---- Licensed under the GPLv3. Relinquish proprietary software for a greater GNU/America.
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| Dargor Posts: 168  |
I have never hated Cradle of Filth but never liked them that much either. I always was very selective with them, picking something like 2 songs that I liked per album MAX. But I gave this album a chance today and must admit that I can't let go of it. It's the first time I really enjoy a whole album from them, I like all the songs equally. I can't listen to only 1 song, I have to listen to the whole album without interruption. The atmosphere, the lyrics, the melodies, extreme parts and Dani's voice are all carefully balanced and it's probably what makes this album so good, for me at least. This release did changed my mind too. It's a great album and I hope to say the same about future release.
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| Windrider Raureif Posts: 684  |
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| Opethian Posts: 1758  |
Killer review and i agree with you 120% all the way! I cant wait to hear what they deliver this 2012. Cradle of Filth introduced me to the world of 'Extreme Metal' and i will always support them for all the good times listening to their albums 
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| Ziom Posts: 640 |
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