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CRADLE OF FILTH
The Screaming Of The Valkyries
Napalm Records

What has proven to be a successfully beautiful concept, CRADLE OF FILTH has stood the test of time by unapologetically defining what Goth Metal should be, even before there was such a thing. In their early years having first dipped their bloody hands into what was perceived then as Black Metal, it evolved just as its fanbase did. With a live show to match the glamour of the music, romantically rising above people's expectation time and time again, Dani Filth and his beloved CRADLE OF FILTH are back with their 14th album, The Screaming Of The Valkyries. Certainly not an easy task to follow up from their 2021 release Existence Is Futile, which by-the-way made its debut at #20 on Billboard’s "Hard Rock Genre" during a plaguing time no less, this new album conjures up enough spirits to take it to the next level.

Better than to simply point out how every other song has remnants of past cuts, this new album of course is definitive CRADLE, encompassing their evolution over the decades and legacy at the same time. This brilliant collaboration consists of guitarist Ashok and bassist Daniel Firth who came in just prior to 2015's Hammer Of The Witches, along with drummer Marthus who has been there the longest since 2008's Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder. Add to this and marking their debut on record both bringing a youthful perspective and having toured with CRADLE OF FILTH since 2022, guitarist Donny Burbage (of ÆTHER REALM) and keyboardist/vocalist Zoe Marie Federoff (a product of Aundrada Polytechnic High School's Rock Music Program in Tuscon, AZ. - how cool is that?!), this amalgamation results in an outstanding album, one I will surely consider a candidate for Best of 2025.

Already topping the charts in many countries including Switzerland, Germany, Britain and Canada to just name a few - there are so many great tracks on this album that make it an album you will not tire of any time soon. First off, brilliant move to open the album with To Live Deliciously. A familiar feeling takes hold while embracing the great production that captures CRADLE's essence excellently. Totally present are the hints of Black Metal with songs like "White Hellebore" and "Malignant Perfection", while classic sensations have your reminiscing of old fan favorites like "Gilded C*nt", "Her Ghost In The Fog", and "Nymphetamine". With a cataclysmic ending in "When Misery Was A Stranger" which is without a doubt a favorite off this album, it brings to a close this epic record that only CRADLE OF FILTH can produce.

While a far cry from Dani's roots in demos like Total Fuckin Darkness and the debut, the gamechanging The Principal Of Evil Made Flesh, The Screaming Of The Valkyries is great representation of what CRADLE OF FILTH has become, the evidence of the hard work to keep going all these years and bring the fans exactly what they deserve, while enticing a whole new generation who was unaware that Goth Metal should sound like this. With Symphonic and Black Metal roots, CRADLE OF FILTH carves the line even further between them and the poser gawth-emos and womp'ires trying to suck the life out of the room and watered down modern goth metal bands who look like Black Metal but arern't. CRADLE OF FILTH, die-hard fans and new familiars are sure to celebrate the success of this outstanding record that sets the bar real high.

4.5 Out Of 5.0