Dusk and Her Embrace was Cradle of Filth's third album, released in 1997. It features eerie keyboards and killer dual guitar riffs. Drums are full of blast beats and vocals are usually either screeched, growled and hardly ever understandable. Average song length is pretty good, with full songs not dipping under five and a half minutes.
Humana Inspired to Nightmare is the first track. It's just a short intro with some spooky keyboard and the occasional short drum roll or cymbal crash in the background. This leads into
Heaven Torn Asunder, which begins with the sounds of a building burning down. Then a metal riff kicks in as bass and keyboard join in with a scream from Dani. The guitar slows down as the vocals are lowly spoken and halfway high-pitched at the same time. Nonsensical screeching comes next, with a return to the speedier riff and some more screaming. Then things change and go from double bass to blast beats on the drums with speedy guitar and yet more screaming. The drums speed up accompanying a long scream and a dual riff. Now he goes back to screaming words (I think they're words. I dunno) for a while. A lowly spoken part interupts and then back to screaming. Another long scream and sped up snare action follows with more screeching. If you don't like screeching or screaming, then just give up now, it's gonna happen a lot. Out of nowhere, things mellow out with bass, keyboard, and ride. Guest vocals from Miss Deva come in, and after a bit the lowly spoken ways of Dani accompany. The mellow part continues, and is surprisingly good. The womanly vocals return with accompaniment from our friend, Mr. Filth. Then he ruins the moment with screaming. Now they go back into metal mode, with dual riffs and screeching vocals. The riffs speed up a bit and the drums change. "Heaven torn asunder" is screamed and said lowly at the same time to end the track.
A speedy tom roll starts
Funeral in Carpathia, followed by dual riffing and, you guessed it, a long scream. Another tom roll leads into a different riff and lowly spoken vocals. The riff changes, drums go to blast beat mode, and Dani starts screeching again. Things pause, with the lone guitar, but then another roll leads into double bass and screaming. Keyboards shine a bit here, as things change up a bit with the screaming intact. Guest vocals make another appearance and are followed with screaming and then a killer dual riff accompanied by double bass. This is what really saves the album, these killer riffs and keyboard work. A solo of sorts plays in one ear with keyboard in the other. Then more Dani and his vocals with blast beat drums and more keyboard. After some screaming, the deep vocals come back. Scream, scream, scream. A high(er)-pitched shriek leads into some great keys. Then shriek again with some guitar and cymbal crashes. Deep vocals, and then.. then is another killer riff behind some more deep vocals. The vocals then change to being whispered with keyboard behind it. Screeching returns with some high-pitched guitar, then another great riff. What follows is a real solo with double bass and creepy keyboard to back it up. A scream and some keys come back now with half screamed vocals, which lead into full on screeching with more guest vocals from Sarah. The deeply spoken vocals return again, and then screaming joins over top. Things then come to a halt with keyboard and guitar tones fading out.
Some keyboards begin
A Gothic Romance (Red Roses for the Devil's Whore). Then bass joins and a howling noise sounds. Dani squeels and then some tom work and deep vocals join in. The screaming starts and the riffing comes in. Deep spoken vocals return and are then replaced with screaming. A high-pitched riff and some keyboard work start, but don't last long, as they return to the previous line and the deep vocals return. Everything stops for a second and then goes into double bass and screaming mode. As usual, you can't understand a damn thing Dani is saying. Things stop for a second again and then there's a very creepy witch-like cackling followed by deep vocals. This leads strait into metal riffs, faster riffs, and quickly screamed vocals. Female vocals enter here, with thrashing drums behind her. Dani screams "Red roses for the Devil's whore" here, stretching the last word. Now things calm down a bit, with double bass, keyboard, and Mr. Filth's screaming. There's another slow down with guitar screaching which leads into some dual high notes. Back to metal riffing now, with Dani screaming away. Everything goes away except for keyboard, which brings theh song to an end.
A gong-like sound and keyboards signal the start of
Malice Through the Looking Glass. After a nice little intro there's a scream as drums kick in and keyboard remains. Guitar comes in and speedy screeches chime in, followed by deep vocals and more screaming. Then things slow down, with whispering vocals and keyboard. A killer dual riff comes in with pleasant keyboards only enhancing the moment. The riffing stops and female vocals make an appearance, with Dani's low voice not too far behind. Then a scream, and more killer dual riffing. This is one of my favorite moments of the whole album. That wonderful moment stops and leads into a deeper riff with high-pitched screaming to balance it out. Screaming stops with keyboard joining in it's place. As the music fades out, a deep, evil-sounding voice leads the track to an end.
The title track,
Dusk and Her Embrace skips the keyboard intro and gets right into the metal part. Tom rolling and keys lead into a scream and high-pitched riffing. There's some deep vocals now and then everything stops with just keyboard remaining. Soon thereafter things pick up as quick as they left off, with a speedy riff and just as speedy screaming. This would be one of the fastest tracks here. Riffs and drums change a bit with more woman-like shrieking. The blast beat returns with female vocals and deep vocals over it. Back to screaming and a deep growl of "Dusk and Her Embrace!" More speedy high-pitched shouting, followed by female spoken and deep spoken vocals. Keyboard and some cymbal taps are left with Dani's deep vocals, until female vocals return. Out of the blue, a scream comes in along with double bass and some speedy riffing. A lone guitar twiddles away and is soon joined by the other guitar and drums. Soon after, Dani returns as well. Things go away with the keyboard left alone and deep vocals over it. Everyone returns in a storm with machine gun snare work and screaming. Then the song ends in a flash.
The Graveyard by Moonlight is up next. The second of the instrumental tracks, this one is the better of the two. It's just keyboards and creepy sounds that succeed in sounding like, well, the graveyard by moonlight. This song is very eerie, and towards the halfway part, keyboard vanishes and some xylophone sounding twiddling comes in. Keyboard returns, with twiddling and a drum crescendo. Some cymbal crashes and tom rolls accent the end as the keyboards fade out.
Beauty Slept in Sodom follows, with some keyboard that sounds kind of like plucking strings. Guitars, drums, and whispered vocals all come in at once. The whispering turns into half-screaming, as a guitar gets higher-pitched. A scream brings things to a halt, with whispering vocals after. Screaming comes in, followed by a slow dual riff and then female vocals. The instruments get heavier now, with a speedy riff and double bass. Screaming returns as the riff gets less speedy. High-pitched guitar comes back with more deep vocals accompanied by high-pitched shrieking. Keyboards are all alone now, with a female vocal part and then back into metal mode complete with double bass. The riff and drums change, with Dani halfway screaming. Then a guitar solo comes in with double bass backing. Half screams return, followed by full screaming and a nice riff. Everything ceases with just keyboard left for a second, until everything returns just as fast, with a dual solo of sorts and screaming. Back to metal riffing mode and double bass. Some more screaming, and then things abrubtly end.
The final track is
Haunted Shores. It starts with some keyboard and is later joined by what sounds like violin. A guitar comes from nowhere, and then drums and the other guitar follow. A deep scream with a high-pitched one over it sound and then it goes to blast beat mode and metal riffing. Dani starts screaming very quickly, as this song features possibly the fastest screams on the album. Deep vocals come in and soon after, the shrieking comes back. Things change to keyboard and double bass with whispered vocals. Some raspy vocals are next, which leads directly into a good dual riff. The blast beats come back and then some deeply spoken vocals. The riffs change along with the drums, but they soon go back to blasting. The guitars have a moment to shine, and then it's back into metal mode with the screams going as fast as you'd ever want them. Riffs change and double bass fires away, as you're treated to guest vocals by Cronos. "The principle black metal master plan" is spoken and then the track fades away, ending the song and album.
[+] Pros
(+)There's some killer riffs
(+)Those creepy keyboard moments
(+)One of CoF's best albums
[-] Cons
(-)Most people don't like high-pitched screaming, and there's a lot of it
(-)Since the vocals are nearly always shrieked, you can't understand anything
(-)It's nothing really new or innovative
[?] Perplexing
(?)What's with all the screaming. I can't hear your English accent when you scream like that. You must be an angry person. Were you abused as a child?
For Cradle of Filth fans, this is a must buy. For those who enjoy metal, you should be able to enjoy this, despite the terrible vocals. If you don't like CoF, this isn't going to change your mind. It's a decent record, and if you investigate, you might find a track or two you'll at least find listenable.
Tracklist
1. Humana Inspired to Nightmare -1:25 (All songs written by Cradle of Filth)
2. Heaven Torn Asunder -7:06
3. Funeral in Carparthia -8:26
4. A Gothic Romance (Red Roses for the Devil's Whore) -8:37
5. Malice Through the Looking Glass -5:32
6. Dusk and Her Embrace -6:11
7. The Graveyard by Moonlight -2:31
8. Beauty Slept in Sodom -6:34
9. Haunted Shores -7:04 (Guest vocals by Cronos)
SCRUPLES
This is one of my favorite albums in the whole world.
