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A complaint i have(not of this album, but of "some" people) is the fact that most Black Metal fans are automatically labeled as "Satanists". That really makes me angry. I am not christian, nor am i satanist. I don't beleive in anything except myself and other people. But i would never label anyone just because they aren't the same religion as I am. If Cradle of Filth are truly satanists, i don't think they'd be wasting their time making music. It's just an image. All you dumb, closed minded people who are so obsessed with image and don't even bother to take in the fact there could be some nice, caring people under the image. Image means nothing to me. I'm here for the music. Music is art; music is noise; music is beautiful.

There is some good poetry too. Dani may be a freak but he's a good lyricist. If you like Classical music, black metal, or whatever appeals to you, give this record a chance.


WARNING: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART   August 9, 2000
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This album was first introduced to me about 8 months ago by a friend, and since has changed my life. The first time I heard it, the vocals alone took my breath away. They sounded like they were not human, to shrill and high, and in my mind I pictured they were being screamed by some kind of goblin or ghoul. Dani Filth is the only vocalist I have ever heard who sounds truly frightening.

This album is not for the faint of heart. Some friends of mine who listened to the CD confessed to having nightmares about it.To back Dani up, Cradle of Filth offers some of the spooky synths, moody bass lines, vicious and unrelenting drums, and some of the best double guitar work in music today.

This is a great starter album for someone looking to get in to Black Metal, and if you like COF, some other bands you might like are COVENANT, EMPEROR, DIMMU BORGIR, and MAYHEM. It takes a very special kind of metal head to like Black Meatl. But if you like to be blown away and scared stiff at the same time by some of the most angry, moody, and poetic music in the world today, this is the album for you.

Also, be sure to buy the special edition 2 disc version of "Cruelty and the Beast", it is worth your money and you will not regret it.


Fantsuu!!   October 11, 2000
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This album was kinda emotional shock to me. It's so dark and brutal, but still so beautiful. I cried the whole night listening album, because it reminds me from my cat. Leevi, this one goes to you!!


Cradle Of Filth's Darkest and Finest Hour! Yeah!   September 19, 2001
 3 out of 6 found this review helpful

Chapter IV in the saga of Cradle Of Filth was my introduction to them and remains my favorite. It was also my introduction to the Blood Countess, Elizabeth Bathory, cousin to King Stephen of Poland and descendant of Vlad the Impaler, and more notably, Transylvania's most notorious and prolific serial killer, who had 600 recorded victims. Romania's Nicolae Ceausescu, often compared to Dracula by the Hungarians he persecuted, had nothing on Bathory. Cruelty And The Beast is Cradle's most brutal work to date, and to me, their masterpiece.

This is basically a concept album about Bathory, and we pick up the story at the start of her decade-long reign of terror, which began with the death of her husband Franz in 1602.

Like Dusk And Her Embrace, the opening track is an instrumental, but "Once Upon An Atrocity" is more ominous rather than the gorgeously haunting "Humana Inspired To Nightmare". I picture the camera zooming in on Bathory's castle, through the black exterior, and into the bowels of her throne room, where we zoom into the enthroned figure with long black hair, upon which rests a crown of thorns. Her head slowly rises up, and yellow eyes flash open, and she bares her teeth with a snarl. Then the opening chords of "Thirteen Autumns And A Widow" hammer in their violent glory.

"Thirteen Autumns And A Widow" and "Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids" run a total of fourteen minutes together and are my two favorite tracks on the album. The latter begins with Sarah Jezebel Deva's proclamation: "Hear me now! All crime should be treasured if they bring you pleasure somehow!" The former details her newfound life following the death of her husband. As the last line of the song says, her widowhood also extends to God and His wrath. Sarah Jezebel Deva has the most erotic lines ever: "More. Whore. More./Twitching makes me wet with thee/Carcass rub me raw".

That is followed by "Beneath The Howling Stars". The background choir and the following keyboard solo played over Dani's gravelly vocals in the song's softer midsection are still way harsher than anything in Dusk.

"Venus In Fear" is probably the most disturbing track on here, as it basically consists of high-pitched female screams of agony, while Bathory is clearly in the throes of passion watching them suffer. Now there's another movie-worthy scene that could make it to the silver screen only in this day and age, where the envelope keeps getting pushed year after year.

Psycho-inspired strings begin "Twisted Nails Of Faith", as well as a of the wicked queen in Snow White: "Mirror mirror on the wall..." Nicholas Barker's zyklon beats are really strong here. I love in particular the string arrangement in the middle is lovely, followed by the spoken words: "If blood is what thou craves, foul fiend/I will yield this witch to thee/If thou wouldst draw a veil for Me/O'er lengthening scars of age and grief".

Those who know the story of Bathory will know how the story will end. "The Bathory Aria", split into three sections, tells of her fall, as her crimes are discovered and she is entombed in the tower, surviving only four years. Only the finale, which slowly crawls to a halt, during which Bathory's words are spoken, does the music resemble anything fitting Dusk And Her Embrace. There follows the lamentfully sad string instrumental "Portrait Of A Dead Countess". I see her lying dignified in state on a slab of stone.

As for the bonus disc, their cover of Iron Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name" is given the usual COF treatment, although the initial guitar sounds the same as Maiden before going into Cradle mode. This song is for those deviants or whoever had ways that were too much for society to handle. Linking this to the Bathory theme, this might be for her underlings. And the "Twisted Nails" remix is what COF would sound like if they decided to chunk their usual formula of black, operatic metal for techno.

Luisa Morando nearly steals the show from Cradle with the photos of her on the album cover and inside the album sleeve. Mark my words, that album cover of her as Elizabeth Bathory, lying naked in her tub of blood, will forever enter the music history books. Equally effective is the drinking from the chalice, and another shot of her in the tub, poised as if ready to rise, a bloodthirsty snarl on her lips. A quote from Nietzsche completes the photo: "There Is No Beast Without Cruelty."

Sarah Jezebel Deva and Danielle Cneajna lend their haunting and erotic vocals on their third Cradle album, beginning with Vempire, and they have surpassed themselves here. But apart from Morando, Deva, and Cneajna, there's one woman who surpasses them all, and that is the Heroine des Grauens herself, Countess Elizabeth Bathory.

All of which makes me wonder, why not make a movie about Bathory, based on this album, complete with music? Luisa Morando could easily translate her role as a mere album cover mannequin to a living legend. And it would have a limited audience instead of catering to the unadventurous mainstream masses, so that would be a persuasive argument for a COF collaboration on such a project.


Unholy acts of Depravity   May 24, 2000
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Cradle of Filth was introduced to me about 5 months ago by a friend who loves them, and I have to say this band changed my entire appreictaion of music. Dani Filth has such powerful vocals, and song number 3 on this CD is unbelievable. Dani has a voice unlike any singer I've ever heard, highpitched to the point that it would sound if you put Satan's genitals in a vice. If you want a GREAT CD, with real genuine POETIC LYRICS, that will turn you into a rabid animal, BUY THIS CD NOW! xxxxfilthxxxx@aol.com