Damnation And A Day

Damnation and a Day is the first album from Cradle of Filth that matches the group's monolithic musical ambitions. And it's no disappointment as they use their new-found major label muscle to excessive effect. Accompanied by a 40-piece orchestra and 32-voice choir from Budapest, they've raised their game, coming on like Venom as produced by Danny Elfman. Over 77 thrill-packed minutes in length, Damnation & A Day combines Cradle of Filth's trademark pulverizing riffs, shrieking raps, and monstrous chants with grandiose harmony vocals and portentous voiceovers. Like Black Sabbath, they regularly break their fierce assault with short instrumental interludes ("The Mordant Liquor of Tears"), then rev up again with ever more manic intensity. It seems their intention is to deliver a black-metal alternative to Carmina Burana, and it's to their credit that they come close, producing a series of scorching epics that would fit perfectly as the soundtrack to the extraordinary battle sequences in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. --Dominic Wills