Review Summary: ...and then we released Damnation and a Day, which was the style at the time...
Cradle of Filth have never been a band famed for their conciseness. Encompassing multi-movement tracks on an imposing scale, as well as concepts that overarc the entire runtime of releases in a longform way, their output has always retained a resplendent sense of scope. It's one of the aspects that first drew me to the band, as these choices were almost always backed up by substantial musical landscapes and intelligent lyrics that allowed the impression of such striking characteristics to be one of purposeful élan rather than throwaway padding. Damnation and a Day is the exception to this otherwise steadfast rule. It gives the overblown theatrics and the lyrical integrity like no one's business, but its bloat and lack of imagination work against the solid foundation by hampering the core sound with underwritten songwriting and underwhelming instrumentation. It evokes the spirit of a septuagenarian on the cusp of senility attempting to tell a particular, favourite story from his youth. All the pieces are there, but the meandering, roundabout way the anecdote is relayed means that the impact is lessened, and the attention of the audience begins to wander. Non-sequiturs and narrative sidesteps plague the diatribe, and despite the passion at the heart of the story and the effort he puts into telling it, the effect overall is one of eye-watering dullness. Damnation and a Day is an album of clear effort, with the sweat and tears evidenced by just how impressive the scale of sound and attempted grandiosity of the individual movements are. Unfortunately, this is all just a facure that sits on the surface of Damnation, and if one digs even a fingernail beneath the surface, just how meretricious this project is becomes exceedingly apparent.
Despite its shortcomings, let it not be said that the album is without any merit whatsoever. It's beyond competent in its construction and orchestration, and exhibits a conceptual growth more fully-realized than anything the band would put out until 2008's Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder. 'Better to Reign in Hell' is a notable high point, with an intoxicating opening movement and varied vocal performance. It exhibits dancing melodies that swirl like maelstroms set against grand strings, and gives the signature Cradle energy in spades. Similarly, preceding track 'An Enemy Led the Tempest' has a frantic, vicious aesthetic with strong riffs and gut-punch chugs. Both of these cuts are some of the lengthiest on the album, but their lack of brevity feels justified because of how fleshed out and intuitively penned they are. They are able to capture the essence of classic Cradle (albeit slightly watered-down), and merge it with the more accessible, metallic style they would experiment with on the albums that followed. The combination feels careful and controlled, and showcases the two halves of the band's sound with grace and finesse. Production throughout Damnation is also extremely slick, with the money injected into the project practically on display every second. There are occasions where the mixing feels iffy, but overall this is a terrifically crisp album, with the production lending a phantom dynamism where the songwriting itself feels sorely lacking. Single release 'Babalon A.D.', exemplifies this, as despite its silliness, it's catchy and well served by its production; the sinister keys are lent an ominous ambience and frontman Dani Filth's vocals are afforded extra texture as he rips through the chundering melody like a guillotine. It's not one of Cradle's strongest outings, but it is buoyed substantially by the highly polished production choices.
The main issue throughout Damnation tends to present once the tracks find their groove and begin to peddle on their merry way without a great deal of creative development. Cradle of Filth have always been a dynamic band; their lengthiest songs are a veritable banquet of sharp twists and turns with imaginative songwriting choices, and even their more short-form outings showcase this creativity. Damnation feels stagnant, missing that eyebrow-raising smartness in its compositional chaos. True opener 'The Promise Of Fever' and its follower 'Hurt and Virtue' are very melodic but exceptionally bland, despite the groovy hooks that occasion the pieces. There is a layering technique introduced on 'Promise' for Filth's voice, which stacks his highs and lows to great effect, but unfortunately this creative aside is not enough to redeem the underwhelming nature of the song. Later on in the album, 'Serpent Tongue' is perfectly serviceable, but that's all that it can really be praised for. The groove feels very light, and the piece overall is quite forgettable. It does, however, have some swish passages where Adrian Erlandsson's percussion comes to the forefront and the group vocals swell, at which point the track really does shine. It also has some quieter atmospheric touches, which lend the experience a smidgen of nuance to offset the hollow core of the material. 'Carrion' and 'Presents from the Poison-Hearted' are similarly afflicted, with the latter featuring a caustic groove that flits between chunky and melodic. The vocals compliment this motif well, and the spindly interludes that punctuate the piece are memorable. Unfortunately, the surplus of energy can't distract from the fact that it feels overlong and underwritten, with not enough variation to sustain the piece until its conclusion. Comparatively, 'Carrion' benefits from its relative succinctness, but still feels underwritten even though the riffs do bolster the experience when they eventually kick into overdrive.
Damnation and a Day represents the first major label release by CoF, and the first major misstep of their career. From the opening of the album, through its overlong, overproduced sonic landscape and finally to its unceremonious conclusion, there is a distinct lack of personality on display, and the excess fat on the project would shave about 30 minutes from its 70-odd minute runtime. Damnation effectively ends Cradle of Filth's illustrious first era with a blunt, bland full stop that constantly feels as though it is desperately grasping at Cradle-esque memorability without ever actually getting there. The result is a band treading water for an ungodly amount of time whilst all the while peddling an underwhelming amalgam of their early career and their noughties phase. It's not overtly 'bad' by any stretch, but the disappointment in the project, from its lack of imagination to its bloated length are bugbears that tarnish the experience to an extreme degree. It has the Cradle energy and sound, but lacks the thoughtful development and sharp songwriting, its fast-and-loose concept more of a structural motif than an outright thematic implementation. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as the band have since managed to claw back a good deal of their reputation on succeeding albums that were either bereft of a concept or utilised a similarly general overtone. Yet, all of the ideas that went into the lyricism and form of the release feel shortchanged by the blandness of the material as a whole, and whilst there are definite high points, very little here espouses the extremity or creativity of the band listeners have become accustomed to. It's Stagnation and a Day, if you will.
