LIVE(STREAM) REVIEW: Cradle Of Filth @ St. Mary’s Church, Colchester Art Centre
For everyone but the interminable pessimists out there, live music has once again become a tantalising possibility here in the UK. We can all but taste the warm lager, hear the soundcheck, and feel the floor sticking to our boots. In lieu of flesh-and-blood events, over the past year we have been sustaining ourselves on a steady trickle of livestreams, which have brought us some of the excitement of live music while we are sequestered away. Things had been a little quiet from Ipswich’s self-styled heavy funk outfit; until now. Dubbed the Dracula Spectacular, this livestream sees CRADLE OF FILTH taking to the black mirror for their plague-performance-premiere.
We’ve seen all sorts of different approaches to the livestream format, from pre-recorded and extravagant production masterpieces to lowkey living room settings. Dani Filth and co. have taken one of the more tenacious options, and opted to perform live as the stream goes out. That’s admirable; people tend to feel a little short-changed by pre-recorded streams, which lack the immediacy and ‘anything can happen’ thrill of any live performance. Unfortunately, they tend to amount to little more than a slightly stilted version of a regular live show.
In CRADLE OF FILTH’s case, we shouldn’t discount the quality of their live performances. The band have excelled in this regard recently, and tonight is no exception. They are like a well-oiled machine from the very start, ripping into Midian’s opening pair with well-rehearsed precision. The album quietly turned twenty last year and the night will turn into something of a belated birthday bash for the band’s millennial opus, but not before Blackest Magick In Practice and Lilith Immaculate are given their obligatory outings.
Projections help to keep things interesting, but as the show goes on it quickly becomes clear that we’re not in for any special surprises here. Yes, the pyrotechnics are there and yes, the eye-catching garb is on but beyond that there’s not much else to see. Through the course of his career Dani has managed to keep CRADLE OF FILTH on the slender boundary of gothic maximalism and tawdry spectacle, so it’s a little disappointing that there aren’t more visceral visual elements in the mix. The youthful vigour of The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh and anthemic bombast of Honey & Sulphur remind us that CRADLE OF FILTH are above all a metal band though, and guitarists Richard Shaw and Marek ‘Ashok’ Šmerda are more than capable of delivering some straightforward belters when the opportunity presents itself.
As the tell-tale overture of Nymphetamine begins, our eyes are turned to the band’s newest member, keyboardist and backing vocalist Anabelle Iratni. Her talents will be familiar to any true Filthling as another member of DEVILMENT alongside Dani, and her debut is truly impressive. She gets her teeth stuck into the band’s trademark gothic duet with gusto, and delivers faithful renditions of songs from across the band’s back catalogue. They’re not the easiest pair of shoes to have stepped into, not least with the tumultuous comings-and-goings of the last ten years, so we wish Annabelle Iratni the luck of the devil in her new role. Heartbreak & Seance leads on, with Mannequin and Malice Through The Looking Glass rounding out tonight’s career spanning set.
The road-worn rhythm section, comprising Daniel Firth and Martin ‘Marthus’ Škaroupka, are on top form this evening and reinvigorate the older songs with some fresh energy. A trio completes tonight’s Midian focused selection – Creatures That Kissed In Cold Mirrors, Her Ghost In The Fog, and Saffron’s Curse – with Lord Abortion conspicuous in its absence. Dani delivers exemplary vocals throughout tonight’s performance, presiding over the night’s proceedings with the careful diligence of a proud father, and saves his best for the finale and fan-favourite From The Cradle To Enslave. Tonight CRADLE OF FILTH have proven that they don’t need a spectacular production to deliver an exceptional performance. With thirty years of song-writing under their belt the material speaks for itself, but a little more sense of occasion wouldn’t have hurt either.
Rating: 7/10