Cradle Of Filth — Dusk…And Her Embrace- The Original Sin

Cradle Of Filth will need little or no introduction to anyone who's even a little familiar with the metal genre in general. Since the early 1990’s the British band have offered up a distinctively melodramatic(at a times muddled) blend of Black metal, Goth metal, horror film soundtracking, with darts into trash, more traditional metal, and death metal. The release we’re covering now is not a new release, but a different version of one of their cornerstone release’s- Dusk…And Her Embrace, which originally came out in 1996 and really fired the band into the big time.

So I guess the first question to answer is what is different about this version, and why is it worth picking up??. Well this version of the album was recorded with the line-up that recorded their debut album 1994’s The Principle of Evil Made Flesh,  by the time the 1996 version of Dusk.. was released the band had literal split in half( with  guitarist Paul Ryan & Paul Allender leaving the band, along with keyboardist Benjamin Ryan). So as you can imagine the bands sonic make-up had shifted & changed somewhat, moving away from the more horror filled & yet campy black meets goth & brit horror sound-tracking via death metal of their debut. To more a more polished more complex/ layered, but at times less memorable sound.

I still recall picking up The Principle of Evil Made Flesh, when it first came out & still have my original CD pressing on Cacophonous. Over the years I’ve  picked up most of COF back catalogue, and enjoyed elements of their discography, but that debut album still remains my favourite album from the band. As it perfectly blended  90’s melodic & keyboard heavy black metal( with Death metal hints),  together with great campy & slight cheesy British horror soundtrack elements, and big dollop of gothic dramatics. And above all very memorable & moody song writing, that remained focused & un-wondering through-out(which can’t be said for many of their ensue albums).  So as you can imagine when I saw this album was due to come out, I was more than a little excited.

So I’m happy to report this is everything I hope for, and more really. Sure I enjoyed the original Dusk…when it first came out, and of course fully appreciate it’s importance in the bands history,  & the wider commercial black metal market in general. But I always felt it was really a different band( which of course it was, as only half of the original line-up remaining), bringing elements of Principle, and moulding it for a wider worldwide metal audience ( which of course was helped by the band signing to Music For Nations, who also helped launch the careers  of the likes of Metallica).

So what’s different about this version?-  firstly we have switch around in the running order of the tracks, though all of the(non instrumental) tracks from 1996’s version save for “Malice Through the Looking-Glass” are present.  Secondly we have a few instrumental/ intro adjustments, and different arrangements for most of the tracks. But really the main  the main difference here is the sound it’s self- it really does feel like a true follow-up to Principle, with those distinctively Brit-horror fed keyboards firmly in place, along with the blend of different vocal techniques, moving from the shrieks, to deeper roars, onto gothic spoken-word, though to horror-fed theatrical. The whole thing just feels so much more campy, creepy & creative than the more polished version that was originally released.  Equally the songs themselves feel more multi–faceted & natural too, as on the 1996 version it often felt like the band were on auto-pilot a bit, with much of the surprise ironed out.

Moving onto the releases packaging- the CD comes in a clear jewel case , and we get a darkly glossy 12 page inlay booklet, which really is in the similar vein to much of the bands artwork blending together female erotic & horror fed photograph. You get a picture of the line-up from the time, but otherwise it seems that the art is newly created for this version, which in a way is a bit of a let down, as it would been much better to get more artwork/pics from the time, but maybe there just weren’t any.

Sonically extras wise- you get two demo versions topping off the release of "A Gothic Romance" & "Nocturnal Supremacy", and these are interesting listens in themselves, though they do unbalance the flow of the album( I prefer to let the albums original ten tracks play-out). And we get a new 2016 re-mastering of the whole thing, which is nicely opens up more sonic detail.

Really how much you get from & enjoy this release is down to where you sit with the band- if like me you think that Principle is the best thing they did, or you are new to the band , & have never heard the original Dusk - I think you will wholly embrace & cherish this release. Though if your first induction to the band was the 1996 version of Dusk, and you enjoy the more polished side of the bands sound, you may not enjoy this at all.  So in finishing I’d say for me  this version stands as my second favourite COF ( after Principle), and one of 2016 highlights.