In what turned out to be a hot and sweaty night at the Wedge, Cradle of Filth made their first live appearance of 2017. Legends within the world of black and death metal, I was surprised a night with the Filth hadn’t sold out way in advance.
With the exception of drummer Martin Skaroupka having joined the band in 2006, the current line-up is a relatively recent reincarnation. The band of course focus heavily around their leader, the infamous Dani Filth.
Elsewhere on these pages, Dani may get a tainted reputation from ex-Devilment bandmate, the talented Daniel Finch. Tonight however, Filth at least came across as the sober and charismatic frontman. His in-between song banter may have died on deaf ears, but his regular quip of “tally-ho” continued to be amusing.
Cradle of Filth
With regards to putting on a show, things become a serious business as Cradle of Filth live at the Wedgewood Rooms would prove. The warm up to festival season started with wobbly sound levels, the haunting backing of Lindsay Schoolcraft often absence within the mix.
It didn’t take too long until that was corrected, which really made all the difference. Until then Dani’s high-pitched lyrics could have been saying anything, at times just making more or less the right noises, maybe he’d even forgotten some of the words.
Then, suddenly everything fell into place. I’ve been listening to a lot of black metal lately (some of which reviewed here), the image may well be all corpse paint, spikes, leather and all very silly… but musically it’s a serious business.
Dani Filth has a decent set of musicians behind him with this version of the Cradle of Filth line-up, the band clearly well-rehearsed in preparation for the upcoming festival appearances. The older tracks from “Cruelty and the Beast” showing the youngsters how black metal should be done, while the more symphonic material a sign of how COF has evolved.
As a warm up show this was the first chance to show off the new visuals, with clips of past videos and demonic projections lighting up the back of the stage. Down the front an old fashioned mosh pit started to make me feel young again. While at the back a combination of familiar faces and new friends made this a special night to remember.
