Shadows
01-09-2005, 02:15 PM
Cradle of Filth – From the Cradle to Enslave (Released 1999 on Metal Blade Records)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004RDIX.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
EDIT: Thank you Superpeer. :mad:
Tracklisting:
From the Cradle to Enslave
Of Dark Blood and ****ing
Death Comes Ripping
Sleepless
Funeral in Carpathia (Be Quick or Be Dead Version)
Dawn of Eternity
Cradle of Filth is:
Dani Filth - Vocals
Paul Allander - Guitar
Adrian Erlandsson – Drums
Nic Barker - Drums
Lecter Smith - Keyboard
Robin Graves - Bass
Gian Pyres – Guitar
Stuart Antsis - Guitars
Welcome my friends...its been quite a while and it feels good to be reviewing again.
No biography? What the hell am I thinking!?
Ah, Cradle…does anyone really need background info on them anymore? I’m going to skip the biographical stuff and concentrate more on the release itself. From the Cradle to Enslave is a very significant release for the band, but not for the music. I’m sure you all noticed that they couldn’t have been using two drummers and three guitarists all at once. That is because this EP (their second after Vempire) signals some very important lineup changes in their career. Guitarist Stuart Antsis didn’t stay; he was simply a guest musician on a few of the tracks. This also marks Lecter Smith’s second and last work with the band after doing Cruelty & the Beast…Martin Powell took over soon after. But the most important change of all was in the drumming. Nic Barker played his last few tracks with Cradle of Filth here while Adrian Erlandsson permanently took over to finish the EP and stayed on as full-time drummer. ‘Tis hard to decide who is better…they went from one kickass drummer to another. Unfortunately, many people feel that this is when Cradle started going down hill (those people are wrong, by the way).
The music on this release is so diverse and each track is so different than the others that I had no choice but to do a track-by-track review.
Oh Em Gee! The music is here!!!
The thingy catapults to a deceptive start with the title track From the Cradle to Enslave. If one were to listen to this track only, they would be tricked into thinking that this EP was well worth the money. In short, the song is amazing. The into kills with the bass and keyboard…especially when Dani starts vocalizing. The entire track is built around being very melodic and atmospheric and they did a damn good job of making it The "This is the end of everything" line is quite cliche, but I still love hearing it. The heavier parts aren't quite as special, but add a nice build-up effect for the magnificance. Never pass up this song - in fact, if you're a fellow Cradle fan, then it would be worth paying the money for this one song. It also has the most explicit and ridiculous music video of all time, which I will go more into later. Of Dark Blood and ****ing follows. Nothing too special here, but its still nothing to overlook completely...the drum/bass into is nice and interesting. The entire song is mostly heaviness without a whole lot of pure melody (topped off by overabundant speed). At times it just sort of sounds generic with nothing to make it stand out. The only thing really notable about it is that its Adrian Erlandsson's debut with the band. Its not nearly as good as the title track but I suppose this would be second best.
And then we come to Death Comes Ripping...oh, the horror. As much as I love Cradle of Filth, they are one band that should not cover other bands. This song is a Misfits cover (Dani's favorite band) and is proof that punk and metal really shouldn't mix. Dani's vocals are unique on this song, but sound horrible overall. The rhythm doesn not work well with the band's style. They also tried to give off that punk atmosphere, which clashed horribly with their sound. I don't know what the hell they were thinking, we just have to hope that they never think it again (just be thankful that the song is less than two minutes long). And of course we proceed to another cover, this time they tackled Sleepless by Anathema. Needless to say nothing could combat the terrible Death Comes Ripping. Sleepless is a little better. Its slower and much more melodic...while for some reason the guitarists seemed desperate to prove that they knew how to pull a pinch harmonic (thank you very much Zakk Wylde). This track is very linear with a lot of repeating, but luckily it isn't very long either.
By looking at the title, you may have initially seen a shimmer of hope. The remake of the amazing track Funeral in Carpathia was completely pointless, however. All they really did was take a classic and subject it to their surrent style. There was more synth and the song was played at a higher tempo, but there was nothing special about it. I suppose they just had an urge to play an old song again...which is very understandabel. Stick with the original if you must. To wrap up the 1999 release, we have Dawn of Eternity, which was released instead of Perverst Curch on the US version only. I'm sorry to say I don't know much about this track. I thought it was a cover, but now I'm thinking its not...somebody help me out. The entire first half of the song is atmospheric noises without any actual music to match. Of course, once the music starts, I once again start to think (this time I'm pretty sure) that this is a cover. A little more of punk/metal type stuff goes on for over six minutes. Not quite as bad as Death Comes Ripping (that would be hard to beat) but is just a 6:24 waste of time to be honest.
To conc...
I'm sure there are many like me who payed for it knowing that it was bad but still wanted to complete their Cradle discography. It wasn't a total waste...we did get one very good track. But those who don't care about the band and only want the good stuff should avoid this like a plague. Thank God Midian followed to redeem them or the could've had a serious disaster on their hands.
Recommended tracks:
From the Cradle to Enslave
Final Rating - 2/5
Ugh...just ugh. Download the one song and leave the rest alone.
I'd like to upload the From the Cradle to Enslave video for you guys to see it, but I can't figure out how to do it. That's a dissappointment. It had everything from pointless nudity to extreme violence. Anyone want to help me out?
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004RDIX.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
EDIT: Thank you Superpeer. :mad:
Tracklisting:
From the Cradle to Enslave
Of Dark Blood and ****ing
Death Comes Ripping
Sleepless
Funeral in Carpathia (Be Quick or Be Dead Version)
Dawn of Eternity
Cradle of Filth is:
Dani Filth - Vocals
Paul Allander - Guitar
Adrian Erlandsson – Drums
Nic Barker - Drums
Lecter Smith - Keyboard
Robin Graves - Bass
Gian Pyres – Guitar
Stuart Antsis - Guitars
Welcome my friends...its been quite a while and it feels good to be reviewing again.
No biography? What the hell am I thinking!?
Ah, Cradle…does anyone really need background info on them anymore? I’m going to skip the biographical stuff and concentrate more on the release itself. From the Cradle to Enslave is a very significant release for the band, but not for the music. I’m sure you all noticed that they couldn’t have been using two drummers and three guitarists all at once. That is because this EP (their second after Vempire) signals some very important lineup changes in their career. Guitarist Stuart Antsis didn’t stay; he was simply a guest musician on a few of the tracks. This also marks Lecter Smith’s second and last work with the band after doing Cruelty & the Beast…Martin Powell took over soon after. But the most important change of all was in the drumming. Nic Barker played his last few tracks with Cradle of Filth here while Adrian Erlandsson permanently took over to finish the EP and stayed on as full-time drummer. ‘Tis hard to decide who is better…they went from one kickass drummer to another. Unfortunately, many people feel that this is when Cradle started going down hill (those people are wrong, by the way).
The music on this release is so diverse and each track is so different than the others that I had no choice but to do a track-by-track review.
Oh Em Gee! The music is here!!!
The thingy catapults to a deceptive start with the title track From the Cradle to Enslave. If one were to listen to this track only, they would be tricked into thinking that this EP was well worth the money. In short, the song is amazing. The into kills with the bass and keyboard…especially when Dani starts vocalizing. The entire track is built around being very melodic and atmospheric and they did a damn good job of making it The "This is the end of everything" line is quite cliche, but I still love hearing it. The heavier parts aren't quite as special, but add a nice build-up effect for the magnificance. Never pass up this song - in fact, if you're a fellow Cradle fan, then it would be worth paying the money for this one song. It also has the most explicit and ridiculous music video of all time, which I will go more into later. Of Dark Blood and ****ing follows. Nothing too special here, but its still nothing to overlook completely...the drum/bass into is nice and interesting. The entire song is mostly heaviness without a whole lot of pure melody (topped off by overabundant speed). At times it just sort of sounds generic with nothing to make it stand out. The only thing really notable about it is that its Adrian Erlandsson's debut with the band. Its not nearly as good as the title track but I suppose this would be second best.
And then we come to Death Comes Ripping...oh, the horror. As much as I love Cradle of Filth, they are one band that should not cover other bands. This song is a Misfits cover (Dani's favorite band) and is proof that punk and metal really shouldn't mix. Dani's vocals are unique on this song, but sound horrible overall. The rhythm doesn not work well with the band's style. They also tried to give off that punk atmosphere, which clashed horribly with their sound. I don't know what the hell they were thinking, we just have to hope that they never think it again (just be thankful that the song is less than two minutes long). And of course we proceed to another cover, this time they tackled Sleepless by Anathema. Needless to say nothing could combat the terrible Death Comes Ripping. Sleepless is a little better. Its slower and much more melodic...while for some reason the guitarists seemed desperate to prove that they knew how to pull a pinch harmonic (thank you very much Zakk Wylde). This track is very linear with a lot of repeating, but luckily it isn't very long either.
By looking at the title, you may have initially seen a shimmer of hope. The remake of the amazing track Funeral in Carpathia was completely pointless, however. All they really did was take a classic and subject it to their surrent style. There was more synth and the song was played at a higher tempo, but there was nothing special about it. I suppose they just had an urge to play an old song again...which is very understandabel. Stick with the original if you must. To wrap up the 1999 release, we have Dawn of Eternity, which was released instead of Perverst Curch on the US version only. I'm sorry to say I don't know much about this track. I thought it was a cover, but now I'm thinking its not...somebody help me out. The entire first half of the song is atmospheric noises without any actual music to match. Of course, once the music starts, I once again start to think (this time I'm pretty sure) that this is a cover. A little more of punk/metal type stuff goes on for over six minutes. Not quite as bad as Death Comes Ripping (that would be hard to beat) but is just a 6:24 waste of time to be honest.
To conc...
I'm sure there are many like me who payed for it knowing that it was bad but still wanted to complete their Cradle discography. It wasn't a total waste...we did get one very good track. But those who don't care about the band and only want the good stuff should avoid this like a plague. Thank God Midian followed to redeem them or the could've had a serious disaster on their hands.
Recommended tracks:
From the Cradle to Enslave
Final Rating - 2/5
Ugh...just ugh. Download the one song and leave the rest alone.
I'd like to upload the From the Cradle to Enslave video for you guys to see it, but I can't figure out how to do it. That's a dissappointment. It had everything from pointless nudity to extreme violence. Anyone want to help me out?