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Cradle Of Filth - Hammer Of The Witches review



Reviewer:
6.0

337 users:
8.2
Band: Cradle Of Filth
Album: Hammer Of The Witches
Release date: July 2015


01. Walpurgis Eve
02. Yours Immortally...
03. Enshrined In Crematoria
04. Deflowering The Maidenhead, Displeasuring The Goddess
05. Blackest Magick In Practice
06. The Monstrous Sabbat (Summoning The Coven)
07. Hammer Of The Witches
08. Right Wing Of The Garden Triptych
09. The Vampyre At My Side
10. Onward Christian Soldiers
11. Blooding The Hounds Of Hell
12. King Of The Woods [bonus]
13. Misericord [bonus]

It must be tough to be Dani Filth right now. The voice of your early career has left you and the one thing you can still properly sing is some gentle gothic metal as last seen on the Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder album. However, for this kind of music your chief songwriter has just left you. The departure of Paul Allender was both sad and promising. He is a great guitarist, yet most fans can agree that the band was in bloom at the times he wasn't around. That is why I personally had some hopes. But as it often turns out in the end, he should not have left.

Hammer Of The Witches is Cradle Of Filth's new opus and it was promised that this one would go back to the roots of the band. In a way, this is actually true, but that doesn't make the whole thing positive. The Godspeed and Darkly, Darkly albums marked a small comeback for the band with some gothic feeling, which actually made Dani's deep, dark voice fit perfectly again. The Manticore And Other Horrors hit in the same direction musically, yet with shorter songs and it was feared that they might fall back into that horrible Thornography style. Personally I also liked The Manticore; I thought that the band had now found some kind of master plan. But to unfold the plan, it is now clear that Paul Allender was a crucial factor when it comes to songwriting.

A return to the old days? Yes, but rather a wanna-be. The intention is good but the performance lacks its uniqueness from the early days and some originality. Let's go a bit in-depth and divide the album into two parts, e.g. splitting the album in the middle around the orchestral track "The Monstrous Sabbat (Summoning The Coven)." It is convenient to talk about the better and worse half of it here. And guess what (spoiler!) - the first one is better. Easily. Specifically "Yours Immortally?", "Deflowering The Maidenhead, Displeasuring The Goddess" and "Blackest Magick In Practice" are the songs that stand out on this album, being enjoyable, and some riffs are memorable, too. The worse half, however, is, as you might have guessed, not so good. I only remember some nice moments when listening to "Onward Christian Soldiers" while the rest was quite forgettable.

Concerning the performances of the other musicians it should be mentioned that Mr. Allender is also missing in the guitar works. And who else is still being missed badly, but Sarah Jezebel Deva with her strong voice? Lindsay Schoolcraft on female vocal duty might be a neat sight to look at, but musically there isn't much to praise. She is also a reason why "Right Wing Of The Garden Triptych" might actually be the worst song on Hammer Of The Witches. Okay, now I think I've said it all, and there is no need for a longer conclusion than this: some tracks are enjoyable but the whole piece is rather disappointing.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 5
Songwriting: 6
Originality: 5
Production: 8

Written by Windrider | 26.06.2015



Guest review by
X-FrEaK
Rating:
9.0
There are two ways that metal bands tend to choose to (not) stay relevant throughout their careers: The Opethian Way or the Amon Amarthian Way. The former consists of changing your musical direction aggressively, which is a lot riskier and can sometimes alienate a lot of old school fans (ex: Opeth or In Flames), but on the other hand it can provide a much-needed second wind (ex: Paradise Lost or Machine Head). The latter consists of staying true to your winning formula and changing nothing or very little from album to album, which may or may not keep your old school fans interested. For me, Amon Amarth are the band that best represents this formula, and I have lost interest in their most recent albums, as it's just more of the same.

Read more ››
published 17.09.2015 | Comments (6)


Comments page 2 / 2

Comments: 54   Visited by: 527 users
01.07.2015 - 15:58
Rating: 8
s_t_s

Well to compared similar bands, I would still raise tons of kudos to CoF while Dimmu Borgir, even tho they made a lot of quality releases, is long time dead by now :/

Yet these new tracks give me the same impression as with the latest Marduk effort, they just don't appeal to me... Cannot tell why, maybe it's me who changed tastes ? Whatever
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02.07.2015 - 15:56
Rating: 8
s_t_s

Written by deadone on 01.07.2015 at 16:11

Written by s_t_s on 01.07.2015 at 15:58

Well to compared similar bands, I would still raise tons of kudos to CoF while Dimmu Borgir, even tho they made a lot of quality releases, is long time dead by now :/



I see this explanation a lot and to be honest it doesn't make sense to say something is good because other similar bands are also releasing shit albums compared to what they used to.

I'd rather listen to old good stuff than force feed myself average or shit sounding new ones.


Hey don't get me wrong ! I'm certainly not listening to anything a band I like produced ! There are at least 2 In Flames albums that are really bad and I really don't like Transgression by Fear Factory.

What I tried to say is that CoF have been around for a long time, been doing a lot of different things and things I LIKE So they deserve kudos more than lazy bands. Now I'm not expecting this album to reawaken my interest for CoF, already have all their older stuff and I like to listen to them here and there.

Maybe Dani should just stop with CoF and keep going with side projects like Devilment.
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07.07.2015 - 09:18
Rating: 8
Daniell
_爱情_
Written by s_t_s on 02.07.2015 at 15:56

Maybe Dani should just stop with CoF and keep going with side projects like Devilment.


But Devilment was so bad that I couldn't sit through one full listen.
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07.07.2015 - 09:56
Rating: 8
Daniell
_爱情_
Written by deadone on 07.07.2015 at 09:26

Maybe Dani should just stop period.


He can go on for as long as he likes, no one is forced to listen to his music.
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07.07.2015 - 09:59
Rating: 8
Daniell
_爱情_
Written by s_t_s on 01.07.2015 at 15:58

Well to compared similar bands, I would still raise tons of kudos to CoF while Dimmu Borgir, even tho they made a lot of quality releases, is long time dead by now :/


I think "Abrahadabra" was pretty good. I listened to it recently and enjoyed it a lot. The band changed a lot since their most famous albums, but the change wasn't bad.
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07.07.2015 - 11:17
Rating: 8
s_t_s

Written by Daniell on 07.07.2015 at 09:18

Written by s_t_s on 02.07.2015 at 15:56

Maybe Dani should just stop with CoF and keep going with side projects like Devilment.


But Devilment was so bad that I couldn't sit through one full listen.


Matter of taste, I actually enjoy Devilment's album a lot ! But of course it's not brutal nor dark music, it's "easy" metal if I can say so
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07.07.2015 - 11:57
Rating: 8
Daniell
_爱情_
Written by s_t_s on 07.07.2015 at 11:17

Matter of taste, I actually enjoy Devilment's album a lot ! But of course it's not brutal nor dark music, it's "easy" metal if I can say so


I don't care what genre it is, it doesn't matter to me at all. The album was simply terrible, genres regardless.
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07.07.2015 - 17:06
Rating: 8
s_t_s

Written by Daniell on 07.07.2015 at 11:57

Written by s_t_s on 07.07.2015 at 11:17

Matter of taste, I actually enjoy Devilment's album a lot ! But of course it's not brutal nor dark music, it's "easy" metal if I can say so


I don't care what genre it is, it doesn't matter to me at all. The album was simply terrible, genres regardless.


Disagreed your honour ! This statement is purely subjective !
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07.07.2015 - 19:17
Rating: 8
Daniell
_爱情_
Written by s_t_s on 07.07.2015 at 17:06

Disagreed your honour ! This statement is purely subjective !

Of course it is mlud!
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10.07.2015 - 11:44
Rating: 9
Ziom

Listening to it now, the full album is out today on Tidal and others.

The best since Midian
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23.07.2015 - 09:38
Rasputin

Not bad, but nothing really to be so thrilled about. I still liked Thornography, as light and as mainstream that album was. Dani's vocals were not all shrieking and sounding like someone was stepping on his nuts. CoF still has some of the best lyrics of any band I know, and it is a crime that they are wasted on his vocal style, but there is no changing that.
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12.08.2015 - 12:42
Rating: 8
s_t_s

Still need to listen to the full album before I can make a final decision. There are some touches I like and that remind me of older albums. Not too found of the fast and punklike style heard here and there.
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24.08.2015 - 06:20
gaud2029

It's quite funny to see people are reviewing a review..
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03.09.2015 - 12:10
Rating: 8
Daniell
_爱情_
Written by gaud2029 on 24.08.2015 at 06:20

It's quite funny to see people are reviewing a review..


I always laugh when I read: "good review!" or "terrible review".
Who gives a damn if you like my review? It's not there to be liked...
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03.09.2015 - 12:45
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Daniell on 03.09.2015 at 12:10



I always laugh when I read: "good review!" or "terrible review".
Who gives a damn if you like my review? It's not there to be liked...


You don't give like I don't give a damn if peopl like or hate my reviews. But, unfortunately, there are reviewers out there. We had one, or maybe even more than one, but one I am certain of, here at MetalStorm who really cared if someone thought his/her review was considered good or bad by the reader.
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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03.09.2015 - 21:13
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 03.09.2015 at 12:45
You don't give like I don't give a damn if peopl like or hate my reviews. But, unfortunately, there are reviewers out there. We had one, or maybe even more than one, but one I am certain of, here at MetalStorm who really cared if someone thought his/her review was considered good or bad by the reader.

Review comments are to reviews what lyrics are to albums.
If they are good... Good!
If they are bad... Who gives a shit?

The only bad review is the one that is badly written in a grammatical sense or something like that.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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13.09.2015 - 01:59
RobRadcliffe
Account deleted
You rate this album with 6/10? Are you insane, wack or something? This album it's fuckin' awesome, a truly masterpiece!
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13.09.2015 - 13:14
Rating: 6
Windrider
Raureif
Written by Guest on 13.09.2015 at 01:59

You rate this album with 6/10? Are you insane, wack or something?

Yes I am Proudly.
Written by Guest on 13.09.2015 at 01:59

This album it's fuckin' awesome, a truly masterpiece!

No.
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07.10.2015 - 03:47
JakeRadcliffe

6/10??? Shame on you! 'Hammer of the Witches is one of the best COF's albums. Are you fuckin' wack? Who the fuck made you administrator of this awesome web site?!
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07.10.2015 - 03:53
Karlabos
Meat and Potatos
Contributor*
----
"Aah! The cat turned into a cat!"
- Reimu Hakurei
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07.10.2015 - 21:11
Paz
Nuclear Cowboy
I lol'd at all the butthurt fanboys.
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10.11.2015 - 14:57
LuciferOfGayness
Account deleted
Good review as it highlights some of the albums concern. But the rating is a bit low as CoF, even if the album isnt a classic, easily makes something that is more interesting than 90% of this years releases. If this was was the debut of CoF it would been a 7-8
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10.11.2015 - 23:23
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Written by Guest on 10.11.2015 at 14:57

Good review as it highlights some of the albums concern. But the rating is a bit low as CoF, even if the album isnt a classic, easily makes something that is more interesting than 90% of this years releases. If this was was the debut of CoF it would been a 7-8

As someone who's heard 90% of this year's releases I tend not to agree.
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03.08.2022 - 14:53
Rating: 10
Vonpire

Are you sure you listened to the right album ?
----
Beware the Shadows of Dusk
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