Review Summary: A step in the right direction….
In 2008, Cradle of Filth displayed a concept album that centered on the demise of Joan of Arc’s lover, Gilles de Rais. Having that said, the whole concept ideal of making a new album came into play when the band decided to center that concept on Lilith. Some fans thought of the up-and-coming 2010 release a long, desired return to their roots of vampirism from the 90s. In
Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa, Cradle’s fan base saw a watered down version of their sound that was overpowered by nonsensical symphonies that shunned any potential of Paul Allender, James Mcllroy, or even Martin *karoupka. Listeners also experienced the worst vocal performance from Dani Filth with probably the most pathetic screams he has ever done in his career, as well as shy and unemotional female vocals from Lucy Atkins. Unfortunately, for Cradle the worst has still yet to come. In 2011 they released an embarrassing EP entitled,
Evermore Darkly , which featured a stale, unreleased song from the
Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa writing sessions and dance remixes of “Forgive Me Father (I Have Sinned)”. Six months later in the spring on 2012, we see the band release a compilation of symphonic-based songs derived out of their classics from the 90s.
Midnight in the Labyrinth was a disaster; people where calling it the
“rape of classics” and even
”the final nail in the coffin”. To make matters worse, they then claimed that their next album would feature a blackened-punk approach that adds to their “ever-developing” sound in these modern times. Surprisingly enough,
The Manticore and Other Horrors offers a rebound effort by Cradle of Filth that’s more or less designed to get themselves out of the downward spiral that they’ve put upon themselves in recent years.
“The Unveiling of O” starts the album as an instrumental, which has a direct draw of influence from Castlevania-esque orchestration. Following that is “The Abhorrent”, which will shock plenty of people for the use of vague black metal elements in the beginning of the song, considering they haven’t used quasi-black metal elements in a long time, even if they are short lived. The song also gives the impression that Dani Filth is slowly realizing his signature high-pitched screams have grown cold on him and almost unreliable if he uses them 90 percent of the time in any given new song that he and his band create nowadays. What I mean by that is, Dani’s screaming has grown drastically weak over the past three years, and the fact remains the same: he overused his screams during the writing sessions of
Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa to the point of straining and numbing down the strength behind his performance.
On a positive side of it all, Dani’s performance in
The Manticore and Other Horrors proves to be note worthy, because he’s now using his signature screams when they seem necessary. In return, his vocal performance improved greatly across the board allowing him to have impactful screams that don’t sound watered down from excess use. A great example of his improved screams can be heard when he screams
”When Hell comes crawling” in “For Your Vulgar Delectation”. However, Dani doesn’t stop there. He also improves in his lyric ability, mainly due to the fact that he isn’t forced to follow a concept but rather a theme of mythical creatures and the horror story that follows them.
Besides Dani’s modest improvement, the focus heavily falls on the claim of the album having an overtone of a “Blackened-Punk” vibe. The way how the band was describing the album in parts of various interviews for promotion reasons, it almost sounded like they were implying that the entire album would be a
Thornography Part 2 or the legitimate
”final nail in the coffin”. After listening to the album a few times, it’s clear that was meant to be an overstatement for promotion reasons to excite their fan base. There’s seriously only two songs having any punk influence throughout the course of the song structure that maintains consistency. Those two songs happen to be “For Your Vulgar Delectation” and “Siding With The Titans”. However, “Succumb To This” can be classified as a
Thornography carbon copy. For the most part, the guitar riffs are probably the most innovative since the
Nymphetamine – Thornography era.
In conclusion,
The Manticore and Other Horrors show redeeming factors for Cradle of Filth, even if it is only a few good songs here and there. However, will you enjoy the album is the question? If you happen to be a moderate Cradle fan (someone who can enjoy some of their stuff without being a tool about it) then you will probably enjoy half of the album. If you’re a diehard fan then you’ll end up loving it. If you hate the band, then you will still hate them and have more reason to hate them.
Recommended Tracks:
For Your Vulgar Delectation
The Abhorrent
Manticore
Frost on Her Pillow
