Who’d have thought that a band born in the heart of sleepy Suffolk would go on to conquer the world of extreme metal? An unlikely story, but one that came true for Cradle Of Filth. Formed in 1991, the band rose from humble beginnings to become a national “treasure” by courting controversy and the mainstream media in equal measure. With a relentless work ethic the band have released a string of albums that have both shocked and satisfied those of us who enjoy music at the extremities. Album number fourteen is the aptly-titled The Screaming Of The Valkyries, a record which finds the band dabbling in their dark arts to conjure a spellbinding affair.

Cradle Of Filth certainly know how to make a dramatic entrance and that’s exactly what they do on opening track ‘To Live Deliciously’. It is as if someone has opened the door to the lower circles of Dante’s Inferno and Cradle Of Filth are performing as Satan’s house band whilst all around tortured souls are burning in eternal fire. Dani Filth’s vocals have never been delivered with such bite and are spat out with demonic fury while behind him the band unleash a beat that moves like a planchette over an Ouija board. Cradle Of Filth have had a revolving cast of musicians over the years but the current incarnation (since May ‘22) have found an easy equilibrium; the brand of metal is heavy, yet it’s also strangely accessible and as such it will please long term fans whilst also attracting virgins towards its sacrificial sound.

What really makes a Cradle Of Filth album is its sense of time and place; when the band are at their best, there’s a cinematic quality to their sound that implants dark imagery on the mind’s eye and Screaming Of The Valkyries comes up trumps. The likes of ‘White Hellebore’ could easily soundtrack films like The Devil Rides Out and The Satanic Rites Of Dracula and if you’re listening late at night then it’s best to keep a light on. The cold and glacial ‘Malignant Perfection’ is a walk through a haunted house at midnight and is guaranteed to raise the hairs on the nape of your neck whilst the following ‘Ex Sanguine Draculae’ is a caustic blast of metal that bounces from speaker to speaker like an angry spirit. But beyond all the dark, gothic imagery, this is a metal album that affords plenty of opportunity to get the follicles flying and the air guitar shredding and no more so than on epic closer ‘When Misery Was A Stranger’, a song that pulls all of the albums strands into a collective whole and finds the band departing in some style.

Cradle Of Filth have released some era-defining albums so Screaming Of The Valkyries is up against some pretty stiff competition, yet it stands as one of the band’s best. This is a record that will top all those “End Of Year” lists and has set the standard for others to follow.

• Screaming Of The Valkyries is released via Napalm Records on 21st March 2025.
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Track List:

1.  To Live Deliciously
2.  Demagoguery
3.  The Trinity Of Shadows
4.  Non Omnis Moriar
5.  White Hellebore
6.  You Are My Nautilus
7.  Malignant Perfection
8.  Ex Sanguine Draculae
9.  When Misery Was A Stranger