| The Principle of Evil Made Flesh | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Cradle of Filth | ||||
| Released | 24 February 1994 | |||
| Recorded | 1993 | |||
| Genre | Extreme metal | |||
| Length | 52:34 | |||
| Label | Cacophonous | |||
| Producer | Mags at Academy Studios | |||
| Cradle of Filth chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Sputnikmusic | [2] |
The Principle of Evil Made Flesh is the debut album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. Its sound is significantly rawer than the style the band would subsequently develop, and Dani Filth had yet to find the voice he would use on future recordings. Some of Principle's tracks were later re-recorded on V Empire and Bitter Suites to Succubi.
Gavin Baddeley's The Gospel of Filth describes the album and its place within (or alongside) the contemporary black metal scene:
Principle... did share several characteristics with the Scandinavian black metal emerging at the time, above and beyond the kindred fascination with all things dark and devilish. Cradle's debut is their rawest recording, chiming with the crude underproduction now demanded by black metal purists (though how much of that rawness was due to inexperience and budgetary limitations is another matter). It's still the only Cradle of Filth recording accepted as "true" black metal by many in the murkier corners of the underground... [but] there were as many things separating Cradle of Filth from the emerging black metal pack as they had in common... Just as important to Cradle's developing identity as the metal bands they grew up with in the 1980s and their contemporaries in the '90s, was the dark verse and literature of the 1880s and '90s, produced by the artistic deviants of the day, known as the Decadents... Under the icy influence of the Norwegians, black metal had become a nihilistic, savage world of darkness and suffering, with little space for sensuality... Cradle pioneered a slick Gothic image, emphasising the seductive aspects of the dark side...[3]
The cover is a stock image from Nigel Wingrove's Redemption portfolio, chosen in part under the influence of Type O Negative's Bloody Kisses sleeve.[4] The CD booklet also features a Baphomet pentagram on the back cover, and photos of the band members wearing corpse paint, inverted cross necklaces, and T-shirts featuring the black metal acts Marduk and Darkthrone. The album's lyrics make reference to Set, the Valkyrie, Hecate, Baphomet, Artemis, Bastet, Astarte, Ishtar, Khem, Uzza, Eve, Aleister Crowley (through quotation of "Do what thou wilt"), Diana, and Lilith (who, sixteen years later, would take centre stage for Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa). The sleeve also quotes Hegel and Swinburne.
Additional vocals on "A Dream of Wolves in the Snow" are performed by Anathema's Darren White. This would be the last album featuring guitarist Paul Ryan and keyboardist Benjamin Ryan. Paul Allender also left the band at this point, but returned five years later for Midian.
All lyrics written by Dani Filth, all music composed by Cradle of Filth.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Darkness Our Bride (Jugular Wedding)" (Instrumental) | 2:00 |
| 2. | "The Principle of Evil Made Flesh" | 4:34 |
| 3. | "The Forest Whispers My Name" | 5:06 |
| 4. | "Iscariot" (Instrumental) | 2:33 |
| 5. | "The Black Goddess Rises" | 6:48 |
| 6. | "One Final Graven Kiss" (Instrumental) | 2:15 |
| 7. | "A Crescendo of Passion Bleeding" | 5:30 |
| 8. | "To Eve the Art of Witchcraft" | 5:28 |
| 9. | "Of Mist and Midnight Skies" | 8:10 |
| 10. | "In Secret Love We Drown" (Instrumental) | 1:29 |
| 11. | "A Dream of Wolves in the Snow" | 2:10 |
| 12. | "Summer Dying Fast" | 5:39 |
| 13. | "Imperium Tenebrarum" (Hidden Track) | 0:49 |
|
Total length:
|
52:34 | |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||