Thornography

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Thornography
Thornography cover
Studio album by Cradle of Filth
Recorded 2006
Genre Crossover
Length 64:46
Label Roadrunner Records
Producer(s) Rob Caggiano
Professional reviews
Cradle of Filth chronology
Nymphetamine (2004) Thornography (2006)


Alternate Cover
Limited edition "First Day Cover"
Limited edition "First Day Cover"

Thornography is the latest album from Cradle of Filth released through Roadrunner Records on October 16, 2006. The album is produced by ex-Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano and mixed by Andy Sneap, and once again features narration by Doug Bradley (as with Midian and Nymphetamine).

Dani Filth explained the album's title thus: "This title represents mankind's obsession with sin and self. The thorn combines images of that which troubled Christ, the crown of thorns, thus intimating man's seeming desire to hurt God and also, of the protecting thorn and the need to enclose a secret place or the soul from attack. An addiction to self-punishment or something equally poisonous. A mania. Twisted desires. Barbed dreams. A fetish. An obsession with cruelty. Savage nature. Paganism over Christianity. The title can also represent a sexual attraction to religious iconography as in the case of the 'possessed' Loudun nuns. I like the title because to me it invokes images of a darker, sexier pre-Raphaelite scene wherein Sleeping Beauty's castle is won and she is awoken by a poisonous kiss. A darker adult faerytale."[1]

Paul Allender told Terrorizer magazine, "There are quite a few guitar solos on this album. To be honest, I've never really classed myself as a lead player as such, but this is the first time I've sat down and seriously practiced lead work. I've been so involved in actually writing new material and coming up with song structures that I haven't had time to practice all the frilly things that go on top of it. Up 'till now, there hasn't really been much room for guitar solos as such. The riffs we write, they're not riffs that are meant to be soloed on top of. They're melodic within themselves. But I'm a great believer that less is definitely more. I love listening to all the shreddy, widdly stuff, but I have no interest in playing it. This new album is quite guitar-orientated. The last album was, but this is definitely more melodic. Dare I say it, there are quite a lot of typical Maiden-esque harmonies in there." [2]

In news posted on the official Cradle Of Filth website in mid May 2006, it was revealed that the planned artwork for Thornography had been banned by Roadrunner Records. A second album cover has now been released (see box), although numerous CD booklets had already been printed with the original image. The "banned" cover has not yet been revealed. Dani Filth stated in an interview with Metal Hammer that the controversy was over the nakedness of the female figure's legs on the original cover: "When we put the original next to the new version, it was so slightly changed... The nymph's skirt was a little longer. It was like a game of spot the difference". Charles Hedger told Gothtronic.com that the new cover "is practically the same... A lot of Americans are really religious and Roadrunner were basically saying that Wal-Mart was not going to take Cradle albums with that on the cover. But Wal-Mart never takes Cradle albums anyhow, so it doesn’t make any difference."[3]

Three cover versions were recorded during the album's sessions, namely Samhain's "Hallowe'en 2", Shakespears Sister's "Stay", and Heaven 17's "Temptation". "Hallowe'en 2" (renamed "HW2") was released on the Underworld: Evolution soundtrack, and is the first Cradle track to feature clean vocals by Dani. It is included as a bonus track on the Japanese release of the album. "Temptation" is part of Thornography's finalised track listing, and features vocals by Harry from Dirty Harry. Harry also stars in the promo video for the track, which was released a week before the album as a digital single. "Stay" has yet to surface. Press releases by both Liv Kristine [4] and Cradle themselves [5] announced that "Stay" would be Kristine's second guest vocal spot with the band (following "Nymphetamine"). In a recent interview [6] however, Adrian Erlandsson stated that the duet never actually took place, although versions were recorded with both Harry and Sarah Jezebel Deva.

The album was leaked to p2p and torrent internet sources a month before its official release date.

Contents

[edit] Reviews

  • At first glance, Thornography inspires nothing but snorts of indifference... Startling to relate then, that [it's] the record they should have made years ago. It nails the formula they've been banging away at since 1999's From the Cradle to Enslave EP: sharp, slick, elegant, focused, catchy, accessible heavy gothic metal, with the dark romantic schtick still present, but reined in and more explicitly parodic... Songs like "I Am the Thorn", "Cemetery and Sundown" and "Libertina Grimm" sound perfect and are among the band's finest, though "The Byronic Man" and "The Foetus of a New Day Kicking" may well prove to be irritatingly, rather than artfully catchy... The closing cover of Heaven 17's "Temptation"... doesn't quite ruin the first good album Cradle have made since most of their biggest fans were born, but it has a fucking good go. (Chris Chantler, Terrorizer issue 150, November 2006)
  • While Thornography is a perfectly passable metal record, the black magic for which they're usually so dependable is in short supply... That said, the vampiric Iron Maiden-styled heavy metal they do so well is here in spades... It's all splendid, headbanging stuff, touched with dark mysticism, but it just doesn't capture your imagination in the same way previous albums have... The production lacks the epic, inspiring edge that such grandiose music demands... If there was a word to sum Thornography up. it would be "incomplete". For the most part it's a stonking record that'll please anyone with a taste for classic death metal, but where it falls short are on those small but crucial bits that make Cradle of Filth such a distinctive band. (Nick Ruskell, Kerrang! issue 1130, October 21st 2006)
  • Inevitably the Suffolk-based band's revolving door of musicians has inflicted further casualty [sic] since 2004's well-received and Grammy-nominated Nymphetamine... It's undoubtedly their heaviest and most guitar-dominated record in many years, though the intelligent, symphonic use of keyboards still makes them sound like the soundtrack to some long-lost gothic horror flick... Dani Filth offers his most convincing and varied set of vocals so far, mixing growls with clean sounds... "Temptation" is ridiculous and best avoided... Black metal - if indeed the description still applies to Cradle of Filth - has rarely sounded as accessible or enjoyable as this. (Dave Ling, Metal Hammer issue 159, November 2006)

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Under Pregnant Skies She Comes Alive Like Miss Leviathan" – 1:40
  2. "Dirge Inferno" – 4:53
  3. "Tonight in Flames" – 5:55
  4. "Libertina Grimm" – 5:51
  5. "The Byronic Man" (featuring guest vocals by HIM's Ville Valo) – 5:03
  6. "I Am the Thorn" – 7:06
  7. "Cemetery and Sundown" – 5:37
  8. "Lovesick for Mina" – 7:00
  9. "The Foetus of a New Day Kicking" – 3:43
  10. "Rise of the Pentagram" – 7:02
  11. "Under Huntress Moon" – 6:58
  12. "Temptation" (Heaven 17 cover) (featuring guest vocals by Harry, previously of Dirty Harry) – 3:47


  • Tracks 3 and 10 feature narration by Doug Bradley.

[edit] Singles

[edit] Credits

[edit] Chart positions

Year Chart Peak
2006 United Kingdom Album Chart 46
2006 Australian Aria Chart 35
2006 Canadian Album Chart 50
2006 German Album Chart 27
2006 Finnish Album Chart 16
2006 The Billboard 200 66
Cradle of Filth
Dani Filth | Paul Allender | Dave Pybus | Charles Hedger | Sarah Jezebel Deva
Official discography
Albums and EPs: The Principle of Evil Made Flesh (1994) | V Empire (or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein) (1996) | Dusk and Her Embrace (1997) | Cruelty and the Beast (1998) | From the Cradle to Enslave (1999) | Midian (2000) | Bitter Suites to Succubi (2001) | Lovecraft and Witch Hearts (2002) | Live Bait for the Dead (2002) | Damnation and a Day (2003) | Nymphetamine (2004) | Thornography (2006)
Demos: A Pungent And Sexual Miasma (1992) | Invoking the Unclean (1992) | Orgiastic Pleasures (1992) | The Black Goddess Rises (1992) | Goetia (1992) | Total Fucking Darkness (1993)
DVDs: PanDaemonAeon (1999) | Heavy, Left-Handed and Candid (2002) | Babalon AD (So Glad For The Madness) (2003) | Mannequin (2003) | Peace Through Superior Firepower (2005)
Singles: Temptation (2006)
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