Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The pulse of a thousand suns beating in harmony throughout the Universe is a sound denied to Humanity and the deaf ear we place to the reason of existence we ignore for the vast majority of the time. It is a sound that if captured would serve us well to understand that we are not alone but that we are also quite insignificant when it comes to knowing our place in the great cosmic storm.
One of our only messages that could compete with the rage in the solitude of space, one that sets off its own nuclear arsenal of music assault and the battering cacophony is from Cradle of Filth and their latest release Hammer of the Witches. Some albums are meant to storm the breaches, some to raise the flag up from inside the battlements; others may even rally the troops to the point of exulted return, Hammer of the Witches though crushes all and sets its sight on conquest and mastery of all that is above.
For Cradle of Filth, they have knocked at the door, pounded to the point where the mighty barrier between them and acceptability on a grander scale has almost pulverised the door to splinters and wood dust. The wait of over 20 years for them to be taken in by those who think that extreme metal is a cause too far has finally been as breached as someone who finds that the Sun and its exploding source of boundless energy a staggering idea to use as a propulsion unit.
The album is extreme in its delivery, it rides like the legendary fifth horseman into the world but instead of joining the other four in a tale of destruction of humanity, it simply plays the soundtrack and offers people a vestige of hope that just because it is extreme, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be sheltered behind and listened to with great hope.
Tracks such as Yours Immortality, Deflowering The Maidenhead, Displeasuring The Goddess, The Monstrous Sabbat (Summoning The Coven) and Onward Christian Soldiers all burn with excitement and pulse like the sun with frenetic energy, an energy which does them great service throughout every single track available to the listener.
It perhaps is a sign of respect that whilst there are those who say that Cradle of Filth has turned its back on the true idealism of extreme, that they have become a puppet of a different cause, it nonetheless garners true affection, true interest, in a sound that blisters to the touch and radiates maximum vigour in a world that at times has become watered down and beige.
Hammer of the Witches is undeniably great, a real power broker in the world of Metal and one that just kicks flabby backsides into shape.
Ian D. Hall