REVIEW – CRADLE OF FILTH / WINTERFYLLETH: DUBLIN ACADEMY, 13/03/16

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The Academy Dublin hosts British Black Metal icons Cradle of Filth tonight for a gig almost a decade in the making. Overdrive was there to capture every drip of running mascara the band had to offer. Step inside……

The venue is heaving tonight, with more leather, lace and eye makeup than you’d see at an S&M party…..and that’s just the GUYS!!

The sweaty masses have just been warmed up by an incredible set from British support act Winterfylleth, whose own brand of “Heritage Black Metal” sets the tone for a night of old school Filth classics. 3.5/5

Two huge stone crosses adorned with crucified skeletons on either side set the stage and as Dani Filths’ ornate custom mic stand is revealed the crowd becomes ravenous for the main event. The band takes the stage to a twenty year old track “Humana Inspired to Nightmare” and immediately the audience knows that shit is on!

From here we are kicked in the face with Cradle’s best and boldest tracks with only a smattering of hits from newer releases. The crowd are quickly whipped into a white hot frenzy which is only heightened by Dani proclaiming that tonight’s show is dedicated to the late, great Frank Kelly. “Feck, Arse, Drink, Girls” are on his menu tonight and each chant is met with an even louder pop from the voracious crowd.

The band sound phenomenal! Both new guitarists Richard and Marek share lead duties and look like they were born to play together. Richard’s effortless solo work combined with his zombie-marionette impressions are a true highlight of the night. Dani is also on top form. He sounds like the god of thunder gargling nails and exudes enough stage presence, energy and malice to satiate the rabid crowd into submission.

There’s no fluff in the set tonight. A brief pause after a particularly vengeful version of “Lord Abortion” just about gives the fans time to catch their breath before a blistering eight track encore that leaves the masses battered, bruised and begging for more. Fittingly, Cradle close their set just as they began twenty two years ago with the title track from their debut album, “The Principle of Evil Made Flesh”. The crowd go bat-shit crazy and the final mosh pit battles of the night are fought much to the delight of the most cohesive and re-energised incarnation of Cradle of Filth in nearly a decade. 5/5

Words – Michael Wall

Photography – Down The Barrel Photogaphy

© OVERDRIVE 2016

Setlist

1. Humana Inspired to Nightmare

2. Heaven Torn Asunder

3. Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids

4. Blackest Magick in Practice

5. Guilded Cunt

6. Right Wing of the Garden Triptych

7. Malice Through The Looking Glass

8. Lord Abortion

9. Walpurgis Eve

10. Yours Imortally..

11. Born in a Burial Gown

12. Nymphetamine (Fix)

13. Honey and Sulphur

14. Her Ghost in the Fog

15. From the Cradle to Enslave

16. The Principle of Evil Made Flesh