Yes, the vocals can be quite a detriment. At least CoF's lyrics are brilliant. Reading them is a lesson in interpretation and understanding
I remember that a few years back I made a thread about CoF lyrics. There were numerous interpretations of some fragments. There were also fragments that even educated native speakers had problems interpreting You could always say that they made no sense, but I doubt it - all other songs were too good for that.
For example:

Tongue unto tongue
Swept on tides without care
For the harpies who rallied
Their maledict glares
A halo of ravens tousled Her hair
Chandeliers a tiara
For passions ensnared

Phantasies sexed
When their eyes, moonstruck met
Their friction wore a way
Through the sea of foreplay
Lovers at first bite
She an Eve tempted to lay
Gasping at rafters
Flesh pressed in ballet

Dani also likes alliterations and puns. Check the use of "s":

We strike as wolves from the thickening fog
To exalt our throne over the stars of God
Lowly holy goats bare the brunt
Of rabid dogmas on a stellar bearhunt
Bastioned in citadels and monastic cells
That smell of blessed cunt
Like a convent where crosses rust
From thirty dirty habits of shaved nun
There where deeper needs are begged of lust
And cess and less impress enough

Sometimes it takes actual effort to understand the lyrics

Written by Daniell on 22.09.2010 at 16:25

Yes, the vocals can be quite a detriment. At least CoF's lyrics are brilliant. Reading them is a lesson in interpretation and understanding
I remember that a few years back I made a thread about CoF lyrics. There were numerous interpretations of some fragments. There were also fragments that even educated native speakers had problems interpeting

I don't care if the lyrics are brilliant or pure cap. If the vocals don't fit the music they might as well be reciting Shakespeare for all I care but it doesn't make the MUSIC any better.

I agree. Take Primordial, which we discussed not long ago - the vocalist makes or breaks the music.

Written by Daniell on 22.09.2010 at 16:34

I agree. Take Primordial, which we discussed not long ago - the vocalist makes or breaks the music.

Yes cause he brilliantly evokes the sentiments and emotions required.

So does Dani filth!

I'm kidding of course. But the truth is, when I heard CoF in 1996 (I think it was "Vempire"), I was annoyed by the vocalist. But the music was so good, that I kept listening, and finally I got used.

Completely blown away! The new Cradle album is so much more than I expected it to be. One of the best albums I've heard in years. Throughout the whole album I was waiting for a mediocre song, but it never came. It's awesome extreme metal from beginning to end! Best Cradle album since Damnation and a Day, no doubt!

Written by Warman on 05.11.2010 at 16:25

Completely blown away! The new Cradle album is so much more than I expected it to be. One of the best albums I've heard in years. Throughout the whole album I was waiting for a mediocre song, but it never came. It's awesome extreme metal from beginning to end! Best Cradle album since Damnation and a Day, no doubt!

After reading daniell_p's review, and this comment, I am quite confused.
That's it, screw my plans for tonight, I'm devoting this Friday evening to "Darkly, Darkly Venus Aversa"

Written by Warman on 05.11.2010 at 16:25

Throughout the whole album I was waiting for a mediocre song, but it never came.

Let me rephrase these words to show my point of view:
Throughout the whole album I was waiting for a great song, but it never came.

Written by Daniell on 05.11.2010 at 16:54

Written by Warman on 05.11.2010 at 16:25

Throughout the whole album I was waiting for a mediocre song, but it never came.

Let me rephrase these words to show my point of view:
Throughout the whole album I was waiting for a great song, but it never came.

That's funny

Agree with those who mentioned the lyrics. Fantastically written stuff although its a bit cheesy at times. I suppose it reflects Dani Filth's personality as far as the cheesiness goes.

No seriously, very well written for the most part.

Got to say I'm disappointed with "Darkly, Darkly...". I haven't given it as much as spins as I wanted, but so far it sounds boring somehow, way too Dimmu Borgir-ish for me.
It's actually somewhat of "Thornography"'s evil twin. Whereas "Thornography" lacked symphonic elements, and was too weak, "Darkly, Darkly..." lacks good guitar riffing and is way too fast, frenetic. The thing that makes Cradle my favorite band of all times is the kind of sound where we have a catchy, atmospheric riff with synths in the background that help build the dark, macabre atmosphere. Here, the guitars feel like they are there just for the sake of being there and creating distortion. The lack of diversity between songs is discouraging as well.

Personally dont think that Darkly Darkly is that similar to Thornography. Its definitely lacking in complexity and riffs and stuff that the likes of Cruelty had, but its definitely superior to Thornography. Its more along the lines of their previous album IMO. Eitherway, its a typical CoF album and cheesy as hell. Average.

Written by Himann on 12.11.2010 at 10:52

Personally dont think that Darkly Darkly is that similar to Thornography. Its definitely lacking in complexity and riffs and stuff that the likes of Cruelty had, but its definitely superior to Thornography. Its more along the lines of their previous album IMO. Eitherway, its a typical CoF album and cheesy as hell. Average.

You misunderstood me. I meant "Darkly, Darkly" is like a mirror to "Thornography". Almost the same areas are flawed, only in opposite ways.

I agree completely with what you said, but do you really have to talk in riddles??

No disrespect to Cradle Of Filth fans, but how could they stand Dani's absurdly horrendous vocals? Cruelty, probably their proudest and defining moment, could have been perfect hadn't he spoiled the greater whole with his vocals. And it's not really the best formula to choose if you're trying to make your fans forget about your worst deliverance, that is to say, Thornography. I was 9 when Cruelty was unleashed so I wouldn't exactly know what sort of impact it had on the world back then. But one thing for sure, their stellar touch that we all thought to be untouchable and eternal is long gone. Now, I haven't listened to Darkly yet, probably because I was simply put off by their recent releases, but I already know it won't be perfect unless the whole album is instrumental .

Dani's vocals are too cheesy sometimes IMO. Thats probably what Ciel was talking about.

Written by Mindheist on 17.11.2010 at 02:17

No disrespect to Cradle Of Filth fans, but how could they stand Dani's absurdly horrendous vocals?

Anyone can ask this question about any vocal performance on any extremem metal album. You like some shrieks, you hate other, you like some growls you hate other. Dani's vocals are what they are, among thousands of other extreme vocalists. The difference is that you don't like them. Why ask such questions anyway?

Yep Daniell. There are thousands of extreme metal bands out there and whose vocals are as cheesy as Dani's or even worse, but there's a slight difference. I explain, take Immortal for example, seriously is Abbath a good vocalist? No, of course not but his vocals fit the music perfectly and that what makes him better. Same for Satyr. Let's face it, Cradle is long past its glorious peak, which I think to be modest. I respect those who think they are still catchy, after all, it's a matter of taste but as far as I'm concerned, finding gold in a suburban-Halloween-themed mine, isn't really my thing.

For me dani filth's vocals perfectly matches the cof style.Whether,it may be some sort of annoyance or not,the level of technicality of his style is quite high,and can be matched by very few.

I guess i didn't give this band a fair chance because of the insane amount of fanboy/girls i saw in my time when i was younger. they are indeed very good, though i really prefer their slower songs (you might argue these are the more commercial but i don't fucking care, they sound really good), such as The Death of Love(gotta love how the dude jumps up and down in the video haha), Forgive Me Father or Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids.

Dani's voice and cheesy as fuck lyrics indeed kinda ruin it sometimes but FFS the guitar riffs and the keyboard atmosphere are fuckin great.

edit: the unholishly awesome main riff in Her Ghost in the Fog kinda sounds like a traditional romanian melody haha. a fucking epic track, definitely one of my prospective highlights at Wacken next year

edit 2: spent some hours last night listening to them while playing Civilization IV. i can safely say they are one of my highlights at this year's Wacken and i finally got accustomed to Dani's horrific vocals(or at least i can tolerate them more)

Oh people! CoF is the best _METAL_ band ever is PUUURE BLACK METAL ! RAWR LOL!
as if!..
Dani's voice is like the erh... worse one i ever heard. It actually sounds like a pig while getting killed after raped.

Written by Valentin B on 20.12.2010 at 04:28

Dani's voice and cheesy as fuck lyrics indeed kinda ruin it sometimes but FFS the guitar riffs and the keyboard atmosphere are fuckin great.

Well not that great but yeah, they are cool .. what i love about Dani filth are his female fans. HA.. HA.

Cradle of Filth was the first extreme metal band I litstened to, and I thought I was such a badass listening to "evil satanic" music Of course now I realize that they're just a commercial product band, but I still like their music a lot. Their newest album is great too.

I'm still reeling from the shock that was Darkly, Darkly...
After Godspeed (brilliant stuff), I was expecting an album that will blow me away completely, but I got just an OK one (even slightly below that at times). It was like a sudden cold shower after a sauna.

Written by Valentin B on 20.12.2010 at 04:28

Dani's voice and cheesy as fuck lyrics indeed kinda ruin it sometimes

I'm a big harsh vocals fan but Dani Filth's vocals just plain suck donkey balls. Unlistenable crap that would ruin even the best Black Metal song ever written. He's beyond awful.

I'm on the other side of the fence, I love Dani's vocals, on earlier releases anyway, now he just does a sort of grunt/growl and tries to add some clean singing every now and then. Cruelty and The Beast, Dusk and Her Embrace and Vempire are my favorites, and I also like Midian and Damnation and a Day quite a bit. Nyphetamine is meh, with a couple of great moments ( Absinthe With Faust), and Thornography was terrible for the most part, it seemed like they were trying to get back their melodic twin guitar riffing back, but failing utterly to do so. There are two songs I like off of it, Tonight in Flames, and The Foetus of a New Day Kicking, cheesy as they may be. Godspeed was a lot better, if somewhat unsatisfying, and Darkly Darkly was also average, better than Thornography, and Nymphetamine, but still just average. I had hoped for a return to form, as they were leaving Roadrunner, and going to Peaceville, but I guess they've pretty much already passed their peak moment.

Apparently they've got a new album coming out next year.

Written by Slayer666 on 06.03.2011 at 23:45

It was like a sudden cold shower after a sauna.

Although I do understand the analogy.... I really love taking an ice cold shower right after the sauna.

COF is a great band, throug all these years they have been faithfulll to their sound eveng thoug these last two albums are'nt that great but the only thing to say about these motherfuckers is that when the really want to sound great the do it and whenever the want to sound sound like shit the do it aswell... COF Kicks ass

I listened a bit to COF a couple of years ago and I think that's the role they play best .. like a "inkörsport" as we say in sweden. A way to start off and get to the heavier stuff and leave the stuff you started with behind. And a lot of people still seems to think that COF isn't black metal but goth. Personally I don't care.

CoF copy band 100% rip of
http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Ethereal_Blood/3540390771