Review by Ben for Cradle of Filth - Dusk... and Her Embrace (1996)

A rare case of a complete package, Dusk and Her Embrace is an astonishing album of gothic symphonic black metal.

So here it is. Cradle of Filth may be an embarrassing name to many black metal fans these days, with many distancing themselves from anything related to these gothic Brits. But even the most "elite" of these disgusted individuals can't deny that once upon a time, Cradle of Filth had something impressive and unique to offer. As rushed as it was (for reasons I won't repeat here), the band's Vempire EP that was released just months before this album, displayed a band reaching new heights. They'd always been gothic, romantic and supposedly vampiric, but now they were more complex, exhilarating and a fair bit more brutal too! Dusk...and Her Embrace finds the band in the same sort of form, but with an entire album worth of compositions and a sound that's capable of handling their lofty ambitions.

Comparing the sound of Dusk to Vempire is a slightly baffling experience. It's quite easy for me to do it as my limited-edition version of Dusk contains a re-recorded version of Nocturnal Supremacy which was originally found on Vempire. When I initially compared these two versions, it seemed that Dusk had a far muddier production and perhaps lacked a bit of the heaviness found on the original. But strangely, I liked it more! Over time I've realised that the reason for this is subtlety. Cradle of Filth's music is by its very nature completely over the top and many of their albums come across as pretentious and over-theatrical for this reason. Dusk...and Her Embrace avoids this better than any of their other releases by not allowing the symphonic aspect, or Dani's vocals for that matter, to rule over the black metal. The guitars are heavy and upfront, and the drums are powerful, with the gothic flourishes mixed into the metal rather than the other way around.

The album doesn't slip up at all from the atmospheric intro through to the brilliant Haunted Shores. It holds a consistent atmosphere that's more gothic and vampiric than sexy and silly and has numerous moving classical moments among the blood pumping metal. When combined with the intelligent poetic lyrics which are loosely based on the work of Sheridan La Fanu and the visually superb album cover based on a photograph by Simon Marsden (I say based as the original certainly doesn't include a vampire of any sort), Dusk...and Her Embrace is a rare case of a band creating a complete package from start to finish. Highlights are aplenty, but Heaven Torn Asunder, Funeral in Carpathia, the title track and Haunted Shores are up there with the best tracks Cradle of Filth have ever written. I'm not ashamed in the slightest, despite the elitist's constant persuasions, to give Dusk...and Her Embrace the full marks it deserves.