Cradle Of Filth - Hammer Of The Witches review
| 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.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 5 |
| Songwriting: | 6 |
| Originality: | 5 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written by Windrider | 26.06.2015
Rating:
9.0
9.0
|
Rating: 9.0 |
There are two ways that metal bands tend to choose to (not) stay relevant throughout their careers: The Opethian Way or the Amon Amarthian Way. The former consists of changing your musical direction aggressively, which is a lot riskier and can sometimes alienate a lot of old school fans (ex: Opeth or In Flames), but on the other hand it can provide a much-needed second wind (ex: Paradise Lost or Machine Head). The latter consists of staying true to your winning formula and changing nothing or very little from album to album, which may or may not keep your old school fans interested. For me, Amon Amarth are the band that best represents this formula, and I have lost interest in their most recent albums, as it's just more of the same. Read more ›› |
Comments
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Comments: 54
Visited by: 528 users
| AngelofDeth Cyborg Raptor Posts: 1183  |
Hmmm... Talked more about context of the album rather than content, so hard to really know what to expect from this. But maybe everything is said in the context for this album anyway: Dani's voice is gone, originality is gone and their main songwriter is gone, not a good combo...
---- pewpew.. gotcha
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| s_t_s Posts: 1208  |
To me it's a really rushed and biased review... When I started reading it and saw that Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder was so harsly described, while I love it so much... It was all said. Besides I see no common point between Godspeed and Darkly. The first is one huge piece of gothic and symphonic metal while the second is "only" a collection of goods tracks. As for Manticore, even tho I own it, that's surely the CoF album I less listen to :/ When I read your rating, I thought : shit, another failed attempt of CoF but as I read deeper into your review, my interest grew and now you really had me want to listen to the full album ! 
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| Windrider Raureif Posts: 684  |
Written by s_t_s on 26.06.2015 at 11:30 Biased: As I said I really had hopes for this album and they were honest, but I was disappointed. Rushed: I listened to the album for about two weeks before I wrote the review, can't say how many times exactly. Written by s_t_s on 26.06.2015 at 11:30 But that's a good thing then, isn't it? 
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| TheMAGAmvm Soycrusher Posts: 1086  |
Not really a convincing review... I think the way the author tries to describe his feelings about this album is a little bit forced... this is how I perceive it. I did not listen to it entirely so I uphold my conclusions, though I remember liking "Right Wing...". The new track was a bit forgetable. Schoolcraft might not be as versatile as Sarah, but she ain't bothersome either.
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62021  |
I did not know you like CoF and I like your writing style ... IMO indeed after 2 songs this goes back to old school
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| Warman Erotic Stains Posts: 7695  |
If most songs even remind me the slightest of their older works, I'll like this.
---- 
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| Dr. Strawberry Posts: 698  |
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| SoUnDs LiKe PoP Posts: 1060 |
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| Malignar Posts: 285 |
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| FYA Destroyer Posts: 827  |
Written by Dr. Strawberry on 26.06.2015 at 20:03 That's the reason? Only nice cover art?
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| Opethian Posts: 1757  |
I don't get it. 9/10 people commenting on here dislike the band. So IMO your comments are irrelevant. Why not leave the discussion open for the fans and people who enjoy COF? 
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| Karlabos Posts: 5736  |
^ Perhaps the people discussing and complaining ARE fans... Except of the older works?
---- "Aah! The cat turned into a cat!" - Reimu Hakurei
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| s_t_s Posts: 1208 |
Written by Karlabos on 28.06.2015 at 05:59 Well I guess I can consider myself a CoF fan, yet I love all of their albums from the oldest to the latest, except for Manticore. Unlike some people I understand and accept that they have gradually changed style. I listen to older albums and more recents for different reasons and depending on what I want to listen to. I don't listen to people who will call CoF sellouts unless they produce as many albums If you follow a band and they change style, well just don't listen to them anymore just like I did with Siren Charms of In Flames.At least, as the author of the review stated, this may me want to listen to the full album while I wasn't expecting anything at all. If you want to fight... Do it ! I have other things to do with my life
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| Vermoorden Posts: 141  |
Both the songs released so far have been fantastic, much better than anything on manticore. High hopes for this album still!
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| musicalkaratekid Posts: 1506 |
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| metalwolf Posts: 107  |
I saw them perform on Graspop a week ago and Dani's voice didn't sound that bad to me...
---- ---------------------------------------------------------- Cthulhu for President! Why settle for the lesser evil?
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| SoUnDs LiKe PoP Posts: 1060 |
Written by Opethian on 28.06.2015 at 05:26 Well, for starters, I had nothing but positive things to say about the two songs that have been released. I'm not a fan of CoF fan in the sense that I've never heard a full album from them that I enjoyed, however, they do have several independent tracks here and there that I enjoy.
---- I lift weights and listen to metal
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| Dr. Strawberry Posts: 698 |
Written by FYA on 27.06.2015 at 10:43 Yes. I usually "judge a book by its cover".
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| Ziom Posts: 640 |
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| Opethian Posts: 1757 |
Written by deadone on 29.06.2015 at 02:16 Damnation and A Day was Extremely boring for you!? ... That's a first 
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| Opethian Posts: 1757 |
Written by Ziom on 29.06.2015 at 13:43 Agree and disagree. Midian, Damnation, Gospeed, were all really good albums with Paul on Guitars. Manticore though?? ....ouch. Album was a waste of time IMO .. 
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| Ziom Posts: 640 |
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| psykometal A staff guy... Elite Posts: 6101  |
Agree numero three. Gian Pyres was a huge loss. Up until that point they were very dark and serious and actually quality horror. Now I do actually really love Damnation and a Day, but from Nymphetamine on, for me, they've really just been a corny cartoon parody of their former self. And everything I've witnessed about this album, including this review, tells me they still are.
---- ~Zep, Database and Forum Moderation~ 
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| Dr. Strawberry Posts: 698 |
Quote:Quote: Disagreed. Midian, Damnation..., Gospeed...and all their later releases were all really booooooring albums.
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| s_t_s Posts: 1208 |
When I read all these posts it strikes me that CoF has offered such variety in their albums over the last decades that many people like or dislike such or such album. Somehow this is a good thing as it shows they have never done the same thing twice (or at least too many times .I wish CoF offered us another epic and symphonic album as they did with Damnation or Godspeed but I don't think this will happen anymore. By the way no one here listens to Devilment's album ? I do and really like it as I take it for what it is : not a CoF album
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6101  |
Written by TheMAGAmvm on 26.06.2015 at 13:14 How is the review not convincing? Have you heard the whole album? I'm asking because only having heard the album you can judge the interview.
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6101 |
Written by Opethian on 28.06.2015 at 05:26 Please tell me you are joking...
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| Vombatus Potorro Posts: 2391  |
Obviously haven't listen the thing, but the review hints exactly how I feel about the album. Probably coz I find boring anything after Cruelty, though Godspeed was surprisingly interesting. I'll skip this one.
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| Ziom Posts: 640 |
Written by s_t_s on 30.06.2015 at 10:27 True. CoF always offered variety. No two albums sounded the same (with the excecption of slightly similar DDVA and GSDT). However, they always had problems with overproduction and forcing unnecessary lenght. CAB and Midian were short - 50, 60 minutes. Than they thought they're obliged to make 70 minutes of music. Why? I wondered if this dragging was Allender's lack of creativity, or Dani's demands (as he doesn't write any actual music, only acts as an executive producer or something). Manticore and Right hand... shows they came to their senses.
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