Black metal, death metal, extreme metal, or goth--U.K. band Cradle of Filth has been tagged as all four and more, a testament to their versatility and imagination within the confines of the often monolithic metal genre. Formed by lead singer and former Feast of Excrement member Dani Filth in 1991, the band has undergone many line-up changes, but the steady thread is Dani Filth's operatic and expressive vocals, which conjure the bliss of demons, the rage of heaven, and everything in between. The poeticism of his lyrics is supported by choral singing and other symphonic touches. The band released several independent albums before signing to Sony in 2003, and continue to confound and delight their fans with an ever-evolving yet always-extreme sound.
And so to 2006, where Cradle Of Filth find themselves in the enviable position of being in a league and class of their own. Having long since outstripped the achievements of their one-time contemporaries, the band is now firmly entrenched in a rich vein of form. The current line-up of Dani Filth, guitarists Paul Allender and Charles Hedger, bassist Dave Pybus and drummer Adrian Erlandsson is the most solid and powerful in the band''s career and Thornography is the resounding, conclusive proof. With songs as brutish, bombastic and diverse as Libertina Grimm, Tonight In Flames, Cemetery & Sundown, I Am The Thorn, The Byronic Man (featuring HIM''s Ville Valo on guest vocals) and a deranged cover of Heaven 17''s ''80s pop gem Temptation, the world''s biggest and best extreme metal band have never sounded so exhilarating, so vital, so venomous.
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