Valkyrian Music

Cradle of Filth
Existence is Futile
Released 22nd October 2021
Symphonic Black Metal/ Extreme Gothic Metal
Released via Nuclear Blast

The leaves have fallen, the nights are getting colder and autumn is now truly upon us. As we approach the Halloween season it seems like the perfect time to check out the latest album from the world renowned British extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. This delightfully eerie-looking opus is entitled ‘Existence is Futile’ and it’s the first album to feature the band’s new keyboard player Anabelle Iranti (also of Devilment). I’ve been a fan of their music since my early teens, so I’ve been really looking forward to this.

Now let’s just take a moment to adore the marvelously nihilistic cover art and Dani Filth’s song titles of lyrical poetry. You can’t really get more Gothic horror than a title like ‘How Many Tears To Nurture A Rose’. Music-wise this album feels like a continuation of ‘Midian’ with dose of ‘Nymphetamine’ mixed in. Crawling King Chaos first caught my attention due to infectiously catchy chorus, impressive riffs and symphonic keyboards. That chorus has been stuck in my head ever since I saw the music video. The aforementioned How Many Tears To Nurture A Rose is packed with thrash metal -style guitar riffs, well placed ethereal backing vocals and Dani Filth’s screams sound as creepy as ever.

The global warming -themed Suffer Our Dominion really reminded me of ‘Midian’, partially due to Doug Bradley’s spoken word intro. In a way it feels like a continuation of where they left off with ‘Her Ghost In The Fog’. It has the same atmosphere with the eerie keyboards creeping in the background paired with Anabelle Iranti’s angelic vocals which provide the ideal contrast to Dani Filth’s abrasive shrieks. The Hellraiser actor then returns to lend his voice for one of the bonus tracks Sisters of the Mist which concludes the trilogy that began with ‘Her Ghost In The Fog’. The spooky keyboards are an absolute treat. I adored Dani Filth’s haunting whispers midway through the track. A true masterpiece of Gothic horror.

In summary, despite of the bleak concept behind it, ‘Existence Is Futile’ is a surprisingly entertaining album to tune into. As far as symphonic black metal goes it ticks all the right boxes. The songs get better with each listen. It’s impressive that even after this many years and several line-up changes Cradle of Filth are still able to create a strong record that’s worth going back to.

8/10

Iza Raittila

This entry was posted on 22nd October 2021 at 7:29 pm and is filed under Review with tags Cradle Of Filth, Extreme Gothic Metal, Symphonic Black Metal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.