Cradle of Filth - The Principle of Evil Made Flesh (1994)^{Release ID: 4719}

When my self-imposed exile from metal was ending at the end of the Nineties and I was casting around for bands to get me into the new sounds that had developed since I left it behind in 1990, I stumbled upon CoF playing live on some late night UK TV show and was mesmerised by their sound and aesthetic which were all new to me. I soon obtained a copy of Principles of Evil (via Napster I am ashamed to say) and really got into this new, eccentric-sounding and thoroughly exciting "new" style. I've not always been wowed by all their stuff, but I did find that this debut, Middian and even Nymphetamine offered me enough enjoyment to thoroughly shred any possibility of me claiming to be any kind of trve kvltist black metal fan! However, over the intervening years my black metal listening has refined itself somewhat with Cradle no longer appealing to me that much and it has been a long time since I last listened to Principles of Evil all the way through, so it's time to see how it stacks up 25 years on from my initial discovery of the East Anglian black metal goths.

The most striking thing about CoF is the sheer theatricality of their sound. Combining the symphonic black metal of Emperor with the gothic aesthetics of MyDying Bride, Dani Filth strikes me as a black metal version of Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Cradle albums as soundtracks to black metal musicals. In truth, that fanciful notion has less basis in fact here on the debut than it does on some of their later releases, but it is still a fair comment, I think, as it is still steeped in theatricality. To this end Benjamin Ryan's keyboards play a significant role on The Principle... providing intros, outros, interludes and as atmospheric layering they are never far from the action and provide some great moments, such as during The Forest Whispers My Name where they provide a nice melodic overlay and my favourite track, To Eve the Art of Witchcraft, which is undoubtedly elevated by Ryan's keyboard work.

Obviously, Cradle never really sounded this black metal again, with them inching into more gothic metal territory with each release, but underneath the gothic and atmospheric trappings there are some pretty decent slices of melodic black metal blasting here with the title track, the aforementioned The Forest Whispers My Name and A Crescendo of Passion Bleeding. They are unafraid to slow things down, too, and lean more into the gothic metal direction. The Black Goddess Rises, for example, contains little actual black metal and is a much more considered tempo, almost resembling doom metal, for much of it's runtime.

I'm actually glad I returned to this for May's feature because it has held up quite well across the intervening years and I feel a bit more love towards it today than I did before revisiting it. Of course there is an inherent degree of cheesiness here, with Dani's clean vocals providing much of it, but I do like his singular brand of ear-piercing screams which possibly makes me a bit more forgiving.

The 1994 debut album "The Principles of Evil Made Flesh" from super-popular English symphonic black metal phenomenon Cradle of Filth is an interesting one for me personally, mainly because it sits fairly obviously in a stylistic space that I generally steer well clear of yet it somehow managed to slip under my radar & make an impact on my life nonetheless. You see, I was already an obsessive tape trader at the time when it first arrived so I was aware of Cradle of Filth through their 1992/93 demo tapes "Orgiastic Pleasures Foul" & "Total Fucking Darkness", both which showcased a much stronger death metal component. Neither were very good though to be fair but when "The Principles of Evil Made Flesh" hit the shelves it presented itself in a shroud of romantic gothicism that left an eighteen-year old me salivating at the potential it held. The images of the band that were floating around only added to my fascination & I found myself parting with my hard-earned cash for the CD well before the masses had gotten onboard the raging, out-of-control Cradle of Filth train. The front cover was so beautiful with its gloriously curvy & gothic moniker that I also found myself purchasing a t-shirt that sported the cover artwork so I'd invested quite a bit in the band without really understanding what the music was gonna do for me. When I finally came to grips with the album as a piece of art though, it didn't really grab me as much as I'd hoped, despite being a generally enjoyable listen. Cradle of Filth would go on to become bigger & bigger with each successive release but, after 1996's "Dusk and Her Embrace" sophomore record, I would find myself moving further & further away from them from a creative perspective, even if I'd inevitably give many of their future releases a listen in order to satisfy the obsessive completist in me. I have to admit though, it's been decades since I last listened to "The Principles of Evil Made Flesh" now & I'm fairly interested to see how it's held up (or if it even does anything for me at all) in more modern times.

"The Principles of Evil Made Flesh" dropped at a time when the black metal scene was just about to explode onto the global stage following two years of immense drama & controversy in Norway. The more significant & commercialized overseas metal media (Kerrang, Metal Hammer, etc.) had now gotten wind of the events (not to mention the quality of the music) & were now splashing it across their magazine covers in an attempt to cash in on the mania so when Cradle of Filth popped up with the most theatrical sound & image the world had yet seen to the time it gave the media a brand new crossover hero that could draw in a lucrative new audience that would touch on places that the imposing Norwegian bands had not been capable of. The overly romantic vampiric images would become a major drawcard for young females & goths which, of course, would bring with it a procession of horny young dudes like me. Trust me... I'm not complaining at all because I had some wonderful times with some pretty hot goth chicks when Neuropath was just finding its feet in the Sydney metal scene & I doubt I would have had that opportunity if not for Cradle of Filth so thank you very much Cradle but I'm digressing a bit now so let's get start digging into the actual music now, shall we?

I remember heading into my first listen to "The Principles of Evil Made Flesh" with great eagerness given just how much the imagery appealed to my young obsession with old gothic novels but also recall being slightly disappointed on first listen. The album certainly didn't sound anything like Bathory, Burzum or Darkthrone. This was a much cleaner & more accessible sounding form of black metal than I was used to &, looking back on it now, you can see that it was highly influential in that regard with a plethora of other more commercially successful black metal acts following suit in the years to come. I wasn't so sure I was a fan of the idea personally but I'd just forked out on not only the CD but also a t-shirt so I needed to get my money's worth. I'd give the album a whole bunch of listens over the next few weeks & would find that there was more to it than I'd first thought with it eventually digging its vampiric teeth into me, admittedly not quite deep enough to see it becoming something that I'd feel the urge to return to regularly in the future.

It's interesting to listen to the album now with more educated & mature ears because it's enabled me to pick up on some things that I may not have previously. Firstly, "The Principles of Evil Made Flesh" is generally tagged as a melodic black metal release but I have to admit that I don't see it personally. There's not much in the way of guitar harmonies here with most of the riffs being structured in a more standard black metal configuration. The use of keyboards is significant but not enough to justify the symphonic black metal label that Cradle of Filth would become synonymous with over the years either. To my ears, Cradle of Filth's debut album is best positioned next to gothic black metal bands like Opera IX, Graveworm & Theatres des Vampires because the gothic elements are really very significant in the overall feel & aesthetic of the music & imagery. I was genuinely surprised by just how big a role My Dying Bride has played in the direction of the album too because there are a whole bunch of references to them here, particularly in the slower sections which are some of the stronger parts of the album in my opinion. The appearance of Anathema/The Blood Divine front man Darren White on a song or two was also welcome, particularly given my Anathema obsession at the time. Sure, we have a lot of standard black metal riffs on offer here but Cradle of Filth also stretch the boundaries of the genre a little further with some movements breaking out of the confines of the strict black metal model to explore more creative & atmospheric terrains with some of the most effective tracks on "The Principles of Evil Made Flesh" not even being metal at all. In fact, my favourite piece on the record is surprisingly one of the neoclassical darkwave tracks in "One Final Graven Kiss" while my other highlight is a short ambient work by the name of "In Secret Love We Drown" so there's more to this record than meets the eye.

There are a few things that bother me about "The Principles of Evil Made Flesh" however. Dani Filth's screechy vocals aren't the most appealing you'll find in black metal & I've never thought he was all that special to be honest. The keyboards of Benjamin Ryan (The Blood Divine) can cross over the border into cheesy territory on occasion too & do ruin a few of the riffs. The guitar solos of axemen Paul Allender & Paul Ryan (both of The Blood Divine) aren't very special & strangely sit way further back in the mix than they should too. In fact, the guitars in general should be a little further towards the front of the mix with the keyboards being much more prominent. The rhythm section of bassist Robin Graves & legendary drummer Nicholas Barker (Twilight of the Gods/Ancient/Atrocity/Brujeria/Dimmu Borgir/Lock Up/Old Man's Child/Sadistic Intent/Shining/Testament) are the real drawcards here though with Graves' basslines representing arguably the most rewarding component of the album for me personally. Barker's blast-beat sections are quite simple but are generally very effective in providing Cradle of Filth with their more brutal side.

The thirteen-song tracklisting is actually pretty consistent with only the final track "Summer Dying Fast" leaving me cold after several listens. None of the proper metal songs seem to me to be particularly classic though & it's this limitation as much as anything else that sees "The Principles of Evil Made Flesh" not making as indelible a mark on me as it did on many of my peers. As I previously mentioned, the highlight tracks tend to be the interludes for me personally with the better black metal songs never quite reaching the top rung. The best section of the album is undoubtedly the three-track run of "To Eve the Art of Witchcraft" into the doomy "Of Mist and Midnight Skies" into the gorgeous ambience of "In Secret Love We Drown". The rest of the metal songs tend to draw a "Yeah... not bad" response from me more than a "Fuck yeah!" to be honest.

So look, "The Principles of Evil Made Flesh" isn't a bad black metal release overall. There are certainly those kvlt elitists that will want to bring it down because of what it represents & I have to admit that I can see their point but it also brought something new & exciting to a scene that was no doubt taking itself a little too seriously at the time & it should be commended for that. The influence that it had as a gateway release for many people is nothing to scoff at either &, contrary to what many metalheads may think, we need those records in order to sustain our scene.