Review – Cradle Of Filth – London Koko – 23rd October 2015

Over the last 11 years I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen Cradle of Filth perform, they were really important to me growing up; I remember ‘Midian’ was one of the first cds I ever bought!  Tonight the Koko is packed out after the successful release of Hammer of the Witches winning back the attention of a lot of Cradle fans.

First up we have ‘She Must Burn’ (7) the London based band won a competition to support Cradle of Filth on the UK leg of the tour.  They have a tough crowd to warm up, but they do brilliantly, delivering a high energy performance and looking like they belong up on the big stage.  The only downfall for me was some sound issues as unfortunately the backing vocals were a bit drowned out to begin with but luckily improved as the set went on.  A fantastic performance and these London based metallers showed they are one to watch out for!

Up next we have Australian based Ne Obliviscaris (8) I had been told by a few friends they were well worth checking out.  They really are unique I really loved the contrast between the 2 vocalists Xen and Tim Charles.  Each song is of epic proportions and is really something quite beautifully different, they win the crowd over all set long with a sea of head-banging and applause.  I really enjoyed their performance and they offer up a good musical contrast this evening with their Progressive/extreme/melodic metal.

Last up we have headliners Cradle Of Filth (9) having recently seen them perform at Graspop this year, I couldn’t wait to see them again Tonight.  Times I had seen them previously, their performance had started to get a little stale.  I think the best thing that has happened to Cradle is the shift to the current line-up, it’s renewed them putting back the magic into the performance, and working together they put out their strongest album since the Midian era.  All set I kept getting drawn to Richard Shaw; I loved watching him engage with the crowd and use it to fuel his performance.  Also really Impressed with the vocals of Lindsay Schoolcraft especially doing a killer job on the older tracks; being a Canandian also, I know it must have been a task and a half pulling off the spoken word parts sounding very old English as perfectly as she did!

The set list is a fantastic choice, featuring some more obscure favourites from over the years such as a personal favourite of mine ‘The Twisted Nails of Faith’ mixed in with some fantastic new tracks such as ‘Right Wing of the Garden Triptych’ which all fit so well with the classic Cradle tracks.  Overall the best time I have seen Cradle of Filth over the years, there is just something that really works so well with the current line-up showing they are still a force to be reckoned with, and I’m very pleased to say my faith in them has been restored!

 

Set-list

1- Humana Inspired to Nightmare

2 – Heaven Torn Asunder

3 – Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids

4 – Blackest Magick in Practice

5 – Lord Abortion

6 – Right Wing of the Garden Triptych

7 – Malice Through the Looking Glass

8 – Deflowering the Maidenhead, Displeasuring the Goddess

9 – Queen of Winter, Throned

Encore

10 – Walpurgis Eve

11 – Yours Immortally…

12 – Nymphetamine (Fix)

13 – The Twisted Nails of Faith

14 – Her Ghost in the Fog

 

Links

https://www.facebook.com/shemustburn

https://www.facebook.com/NeObliviscarisBand

https://www.facebook.com/cradleoffilth

http://www.cradleoffilth.com/

About Kris White

Music Journalist @ www.planetmosh.com, Bassist at FyreSky, EK13 Photography, Creator at Poisoned Cogs