CRADLE OF FILTH are undoubtedly one of the most unique projects on the entire contemporary heavy scene. Attempts to confine them to any genre framework are always futile. I won't dwell on the band's history here — I'll just note that CRADLE OF FILTH have visited russia twice: first back in 1998, and then in 2003 the band returned and played shows in st. petersburg and moscow. Their next visit was supposed to have taken place a year earlier, but Dani cancelled part of that tour due to a number of problems. So russia never got to see them on the Nymphetamine tour. In the meantime, Thornography came out — a record that disappointed the absolute majority of fans who had come to the band through their albums from the 1994–2000 period. Instead of fury, expressiveness, horrifying atmosphere, and darkly frightening beauty, we get a flat, unremarkable album, completely washed-out compared to the preceding releases. For comparison, consider any song from the Elizabeth Báthory saga, where even the intro to each track contained some terrible, dark mystery.
So: on May 3rd the band play yekaterinburg, the following day they're already in Krasnodar, and on May 5th CRADLE OF FILTH are in moscow. The moscow show is part of a larger tour — in particular, Dani and company spent the entire second half of April playing shows in their home country. A separate word about "company," by the way. Dani has once again reshuffled the majority of the lineup. As is well known, he has always written all the lyrics himself (logical enough — I'd imagine the other band members have limited understanding of what is actually being sung in these songs, unless they sit day and night with dictionaries), whereas the music has almost always been written by the other members: Damnation And a Day was largely written by keyboardist Martin Powell, while Nymphetamine was by Paul Allender. Going back further, the band's lineup underwent a similarly significant overhaul in 1999, which didn't prevent the 1998 and 2000 albums from being objectively the best in the band's discography. The conclusion that suggests itself is that the loss of guitarist Gian Pyres was the most damaging to the musical side of the band's work. The new album was apparently written again by Paul Allender, which raises another question — why did he write something like this? Let's leave that question open. Martin Powell is no longer in the band, and there's no permanent keyboardist either.
Anyway. The "Ten'" club was somewhere I'd never been before. It's large, admittedly, but apart from the main hall there's practically no space anywhere, and the ventilation is simply appalling. I'll address all the other negative impressions that surrounded me throughout the concert further below. The lights went down with a mere 40-minute delay.
The intro from the latest album began playing, and during it all the musicians — except the backing vocalist and keyboardist — took the stage. Midway through the intro, Dani appeared centre-stage in enormous platform boots, walked to the edge of the stage, and greeted the crowd. "Dirge Inferno" and "Tonight IN FLAMES" from the latest album opened the concert; the sound was, to put it mildly, not the best — though Dani himself was actually quite audible. Surprisingly, but true: many people in the crowd knew the lyrics to the new album's songs extremely well. Next came one of the band's finest songs — "Her Ghost In The Fog." The session keyboardist performed behind the synthesizer throughout the entire concert, frankly forgetting that she was a keyboardist, not a dancer — and anyone familiar with piano technique would have winced at the position in which she held her hands, raising her elbow above her shoulder. The song, as is well known, is built around a chorus where the lead part is performed by Sarah Jezebel Deva, the band's permanent backing vocalist since 1995. This led to one curious incident: in the evening, when one publication interviewed the vocalist, she stated that she was not Sarah but a session singer. Whether that's true is difficult to say — the physical resemblance was quite considerable, primarily the ample figure packaged in an outfit from the "Casanova" shop aesthetic. The female vocals were dreadfully mixed and didn't fit organically, so one of the most beautiful compositions in the catalogue was decidedly not performed at its best. Regrettably, this song turned out to be the only surprise from Midian; next came "Mannequin" from Damnation And a Day, followed by the single most rapturously received track of the evening: "Nymphetamine" — a shortened version, actually quite similar to the one heard on the album's bonus disc, performed by Sarah. Finding a worse metal vocalist than Liv Kristin is rather difficult, so comparing to the original version, this came out reasonably well. Then Dani announced one of the band's shortest yet most celebrated compositions, "Ebony Dressed For Sunset" — and anyone hoping this would flow smoothly into "The Forest Whispers My Name" was sharply disappointed; the forest went unsung that evening. Instead, immediately after "Ebony…," the female recitation — "Hear Me now! All crimes should be treasured if they bring thee pleasure somehow" — heralded the opening of the number-one classic, "Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids." Everything proceeded brilliantly up to the climactic acceleration — as clearly as we hear every word of the lyric on the album, so unclearly did Dani growl/shriek it live. Then again at the song's conclusion he simply skipped a couple of lines, possibly for a brief rest; this fact in no way diminishes my respect for this singular vocalist, whose vocal cords already seem to be made of iron to endure such daily abuse. Next, Dani left the stage and the instrumental "Rise Of The Pentagram" sounded — in many ways the track that rescues the current album. It was performed brilliantly; even the keyboards sounded decent. Then the slow "I Am The Thorn" from the latest album, and a significant surprise as the closing piece before the intermission: "The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh" from the debut album.
The encore followed literally two minutes later. For the first time in my life I heard two intros back-to-back; the first I can't identify with certainty — it was probably "Humana Inspired To Nightmare" from the 1996 album — then came the more predictable "Satyriasis," which, just as on the Nymphetamine album, flowed seamlessly into "Gilded Cunt." The cover of HEAVEN 17's "Temptation" was received enthusiastically, which doesn't change the fact that it's a weak track; "Under Huntress Moon" continued the set, and "From The Cradle To Enslave" brought it to a close. Why this particular song is so popular is an open question — whether it's because it was the band's first music video, or some other reason — but the hall erupted. The band then departed very hastily; the whole concert lasted less than an hour and a half in total.
I understand, of course, that the need to promote the new album is pressing — but still, the fact that only 1–2 songs were played from each of the other albums was disappointing. However, Dani fully compensated for all the negative aspects of the performance itself — all the truly negative things were located in the hall itself, and in two words can be described as this: the audience and the security.
When I go to a concert, I go to watch and listen — and it always bothers me when many people come to be seen themselves, completely forgetting that besides them there are other people in the hall. The fact that the spiritual and intellectual level of the majority of the audience was on par with the attendees of a small-calibre punk show still strikes me as something very strange and inexplicable. There is one explanation, though: the most enthusiastic reactions from these individuals were reserved for "Nymphetamine," "Mannequin," the "Temptation" cover, and "From The Cradle To Enslave" — evidently the psychology of "this band is cool because they're on MTV" making itself known. Many people knew the lyrics to the new album quite well, while barely reacting to the track from the debut. On top of that, the pseudo-gothic ladies who came to the concert came, again, to be seen, to get into arguments, to get drunk — not to listen to music. In short, with a few exceptions, one wanted to quote Mikhail Lermontov: "Sadly I look upon our generation." I'm absolutely not speaking of everyone, but the general atmosphere in the hall was precisely this. I also have to say something about security — a word of warning to anyone planning to visit the "Ten'" club in future. The only adequate people were at the entrance. As for those in the hall — I won't generalise, but several security representatives behaved in an extremely outrageous manner. Climbing on stage is indeed wrong, but kicking a person back down into the crowd with your foot is complete idiocy. Then followed the confiscation of batteries from people's point-and-shoot cameras and even their phones — this despite the fact that from the hall it was physically impossible to take any decent photograph with a non-professional device. And finally, not long before the end of the show, one security guard at the exit to the hall blatantly provoked a minor scuffle through his own rude behaviour, while another simultaneously began clearing the area nearby, rather roughly advising others to move along and even pushing some people. Yes, the audience was quite drunk, many were out of it — but such behaviour is completely unacceptable.
What to say overall: the concert was undoubtedly in the category of interesting events. No complaints whatsoever about Mr. Daniel Davey — simply enormous respect for a brilliant performance, both in terms of artistry and execution. Aside from the opening songs, the stage lighting was reasonably good. The sound left much to be desired, as did the setlist. Nevertheless, Dani Filth unquestionably belongs to that small number of people who deserve to be seen and heard live. This in no way diminishes the fact that CRADLE OF FILTH are, first and foremost, a studio band — in the studio they are capable of genuine miracles. Put on Midian again and you won't be able to argue with me.
Report by Alan
Special thanks to Spika Concert Agency for providing accreditation
Setlist: Intro: Under Pregnant Skies She Comes Alive Like Miss Leviathan Dirge Inferno Tonight IN FLAMES Her Ghost In The Fog Mannequin Nymphetamine Ebony Dressed For Sunset Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids Rise Of The Pentagram I Am The Thorn The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh —encore— Intro 1: Humana Inspired To Nightmare Intro 2: Satyriasis Gilded Cunt Temptation Under Huntress Moon From The Cradle To Enslave
Photo report (photos by McAllen)
We thank Spika Merchandising for providing accreditation