Cradle of Filth
February 17, 2016
Mayan Theater- Los Angeles, CA
British extreme metal band and masters of the darkest arts and crafts Cradle of Filth released their eleventh studio album titled Hammer of the Witches on July 10, 2015. Cradle of Filth launched their first US tour in 5 years because their previous 2013 tour was cancelled due to visa issues. Now that they released their new album, Cradle of Filth were more than ready to make their return to US soil. With them, they brought Butcher Babies and Australian progressive death metal band Ne Obliviscaris to form the Inquisitional Torture tour! Fans were so excited for this lineup that, despite the surprise of heavy rain, it ended up being a sold out show!
As Cradle of Filth was getting ready to come on stage, fans could be heard chanting the band’s name. Suddenly, the stage went dark as the sold out venue erupted into a huge roar as the members of Cradle of Filth made their way to the stage, wearing their traditional makeup and corpse paint giving the band the gothic look they’re known for. They started the show with Heaven Torn Asunder from their second album, Dusk…and Her Embrace. Surely enough, a mosh pit formed and stayed active throughout the night. Singer and founding member Dani Filth took center stage and sang, using his style of alternating between black metal-like growls to his signature high-pitch shrieks and screams that has made him who he is today. For the second song, Cradle of Filth picked Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids from their Cruelty and the Beast album, which is among one of their most popular songs. Since Cradle of Filth did release a new album, it was time to start playing some tunes from it. The third song played was Blackest Magick in Practice. Keyboardist and backing vocalist Lindsay Schoolcraft started the song with her haunting yet beautiful opera-like voice while the band played the song which was a bit slower paced than the first two songs, but still has a nice mellow vibe to it. Guitarist Richard Shaw seemed to enjoy himself during the song as he would walk around in an almost zombie-like trance while slowing moving his arms around his head to the rhythm of the song.
Lord Abortion was the next song and is another popular song among fans. The keyboard intro started, followed by the intro line, “Care for a little necrophilia?” and Filth started the song with his high-pitch scream and deep growls and sang the song to perfection as if straight off the album. This was also one of the many songs played where Schoolcraft displayed her beautiful singing voice singing in between Filth’s vocals. It was around this time that crowd surfers started making an appearance regularly and kept the security up front busy. Cradle of Filth played hit after hit and played songs from throughout their discography such as: Malice Through the Looking Glass, Deflowering the Maidenhead Displeasuring the Goddess, and another fan-favorite Honey and Sulphur. It seemed the show was coming to an end as Filth announced the final song which would be Gilded Cunt from their Nymphetamine album.
Cradle of Filth left the stage and all seemed quiet except for the fans that hadn’t budged or attempted to leave. Instead, they stayed and yelled out the band’s name for a few minutes. Surely enough, Cradle of Filth came back on stage and the crowd screamed in happiness. Cradle of Filth started the first encore of the night with Yours Immortally. Filth came out with new attire and even wore a crown of spikes to add to the song’s meaning. Now that the encore set was underway, Cradle of Filth brought out some of the best songs from their catalog. The next encore song was another one of their best songs titled Nymphetamine (Fix) and almost sounds like a ballad. Schoolcraft started the song with her opera-like singing that was absolutely chilling and beautiful to have it go through your ears. Schoolcraft dominated the song with her beautiful clean vocals while alternating with Filth using his traditional growls. For Your Vulgar Delectation was the next song and was the only song played from their previous Manticore and Other Horrors. Her Ghost in the Fog is another one of the band’s best songs and allowed Schoolcraft to utilize her opera-like voice alongside Filth’s deep growls and performed the song to perfection.
Filth announced that the band only had two more songs left and this next song was dedicated to everyone that came out. Before he could announce it, he had to stop mid-sentence and tell a loud fan in front of him to shut up. Everyone seemed to get a kick out of it and laughed. Filth announced From the Cradle to Enslave from their 1998 EP of the same name. This song is usually the show finisher so it was a bit unusual to have it played before the finale. Nonetheless, this was a popular song among fans and they loved it. The show was sadly coming to and end for real this time and Cradle of Filth decided to go all the way to the beginning by playing the first track from debut album of the same name, The Principle of Evil Made Flesh. This song was when the band had the raw sound to extreme metal and was played at a much faster rate than most of the songs played this night. Since this song had a more aggressive feel to it, it created the most violent mosh pit of the night and even where a mosh pit wasn’t happening, fans could be seen shoving against each other. Cradle of Filth finished the song and some members walked off stage while a few stayed behind to greet fans and throw guitar picks and drum sticks into the crowd. It was a very dark and gothic night for Cradle of Filth and all the Filthlings in attendance, but a night to not be forgotten anytime soon!
Review by: Misael Ruiz
