(Nuclear Blast USA/Peaceville Records)

By Jillian Locke

The latest concept album in the book of Filth, Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa, delivers an older, more mature, more focused Cradle of Filth ~ one that envelopes every musical territory they’ve prodded with their exploratory talons, while gathering and tightening the reigns on their craft.

Re-telling the tale of the infamous demoness Lilith, Dani Filth constructs a lyrical blaze of rebellion, good versus evil, and purity versus unadulterated blasphemy. Lucy Atkins provides Lilith’s haunting vocals, dripping with lust, temptation, and sin, just the way COF likes it. “…in my court is both gracious and insatiable, pure and obscene, for where pumps the true heart of life, there too seeps corruption.”

The 11 tracks offer thick, atmospheric testaments to a more solid, honed outfit, including the superb percussive assault of “The Nun With The Astral Habit,” the maniacal conductor one imagines leading the instrumental face-off of “Retreat of the Sacred Heart,” the chugging, thickly loaded intro of “The Persecution Song,” the raw, heavy-hitting, more-pure-rock-than-extreme-metal riffs of “Deceiving Eyes,” and the Bruce Dickinson-esque vocals and wicked guitar solos in “Forgive Me Father (I Have Sinned),” making this collection the body of work that will set the precedent for Cradle to come.

Even though the subject matter is not so different from typical COF topics of dissection, the way in which it was approached is. Whereas Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder, COF’s 2008 release, bulldozed with an unrelenting force through the entire album, Darkly explores the full gamut of rhythm, atmosphere, and erratic emotion, realizing a newfound maturity. There’s a beauty and softness here that was lost along the way, but still perfectly melded with the ever-present brutality…there’s more of a sense of controlled chaos ~ a stunning tsunami ~ rather than a wild wrecking ball, swaying to and fro. Cradle has brought their sights back to the heart of the metal matter…how befitting, the subject matter that brought them back was the original demoness who shunned the Garden of Eden, choosing her own individual path. It took the original rebel to bring Cradle home.

Released on November 9th, Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa marks a full-circle return to the heart of the Filth. They’ll be headlining the Creatures From The Black Abyss Tour on March 4th, at The Palladium alongside Turisas, Nachtmystium, and Daniel Lioneye, and in the meantime, check out the video for “Forgive Me Father (I Have Sinned)” and limited edition vinyl here: www.peaceville.com/cradleoffilth/darklydarklyvenusaversa/videos.php.

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