Cradle Of Filth Dusk And Her Embrace (1996)

British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH will release their 13th studio album, "Existence Is Futile", on October 22. Pieced together in isolation, at Grindstone Studios in Suffolk with studio guru Scott Atkins (DEVILMENT, BENEDICTION, VADER), the band's latest chef-d'oeuvre is a pitch-black, perverse and at times absurdly brutal and extreme masterpiece following a truly nihilistic concept: "The album is about existentialism, existential dread and fear of the unknown," frontman Dani Filth explains. "The concept wasn't created by the pandemic. We'd written it long before that began, but the pandemic is the tip of the cotton-bud as far as the way the world is headed, you know? I guess the title, 'Existence Is Futile', does sound a little morbid. But again, it's more about recognizing that truth and saying that everything is permitted because nothing really matters, which mimics the occultist Aleister Crowley's maxim. We all know we're going to die, so we might as well indulge life while we possess it. The final track on the album — 'Us, Dark, Invincible' — really drives that point home. Also, the artwork for this record was created by the Latvian visionary Arthur Berzinsh, who also dressed the last two albums, and that reeks of the exceedingly beautiful yet apocalyptic too."

Originally released in May 1998, Cradle of Filth’s heavy metal classic, ‘Cruelty and the Beast’ is regarded as one of the milestones in the Gothic Black Metal genre. Now 21 years later this lustfully dark masterpiece has been wickedly remixed and remastered by Grindstone Studio’s Scott Atkins and will be reissued on 1st November 2019 through legendary UK label Music For Nations.

The chant and polyphony on this record is easier to approach than that on the Patriarchate Choir's Panikhida disc (OPS 30-97). The znamenny chant is "harmonized" in a way that shows clear Western influence: The parts often move in parallel thirds; six-four chords are common; the melodies seem to move toward a tonic. Fortunately, distinctive Russian elements remain. The basic melodies are typical of znamenny chant; there are plenty of passing-tone dissonances; and the most usual cadence is 1-4-5 (e.g., d-g-a), which gives a pleasing shimmer to the ending of each chant. The performance by Anatoly Grindenko and his singers is entirely persuasive. This is yet another valuable addition to the discography of this important, little-known repertory.

Cryptoriana – The Seductiveness of Decay is the twelfth studio album by the British extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It is currently set for release on September 22, 2017 through Nuclear Blast Records. This marks the first time in the band's career where the same lineup since the previous album stayed as the Hammer of the Witches lineup continued on. Dani Filth said the album, "is deeply infused with Victorian gothic horror and thus the title is a reflection of that. 'Cryptoriana' implies the Victorians' infatuation with the supernatural, the grave and the ghoulish. And the subtitle, 'The Seductiveness of Decay', further cements this attraction to death and the glittering lengthy process of self-annihilation."