All Photos By Tom Russell
“Stay fucking filthy!”
Those were the last words uttered from iconic frontman Dani Filth before launching into the last song from his band CRADLE OF FILTH’s live streaming event on Wednesday night (May 12) from an undisclosed location.
The UK extreme/black metal band performed a killer 90-minute set that spanned the band’s mostly mid-to-later-era career. Joining Filth was drummer Martin “Marthus” Škaroupka, bassist Daniel Firth, new keyboardist/backing vocalist Anabelle Iratni (DEVILMENT) and guitarists Richard Shaw and Marek “Ashok” Šmerda. After their previous postponement due to the global Coronavirus pandemic, the highly anticipated live stream concert finally saw the light of day.
The event opened with the stage ensconced in massive fog, decorated with tiki flame torches as the band entered one by one with Dani Filth taking center stage brandishing a flaming torch as the show kicked off with the one-two punch of haunting instrumental “At The Gates of Midian”, leading into the menacing ”Cthulhu Dawn”, which also kicks off 2000’s Midian. From there, the band pulled out all the stops in its first show since 2019. Highlights include “stage snow” confetti falling during the chilling “Her Ghost In The Fog” and some great call and response duet vocals of Dani and Anabell during “Lilith Immaculate” and “Malice Through
the Looking Glass”. The pure ferocity of “The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh” and “Saffron's Curse” showed the band’s menacing and aggressive side, while the majestic and melodic trade-off twin lead guitar harmonies from Richard and Ashok during “Heartbreak & Seance” and “Malice Through the Looking Glass” were pure poetry in motion.
The multi-camera angles were used to the band’s advantage, seamlessly alternating between extreme close ups and overall stage shots. There were some post-production, super imposed graphics added for extra dynamic (see ”Creatures that Kissed in Cold Mirrors”), while the backdrop screen projection showed plenty of chilling visuals and horror movie clips throughout the show. The minimal light rigging and dazzling pyrotechnics added to the overall stage show as well.
Ending the night with the awesome ”From The Cradle To Enslave” (from 1999’s EP of the same name), CRADLE OF FILTH put on one awesome show. Most of us have seen many live streams during the past year-and-a half during the pandemic, but this one was one of the best to date. If you were unable to watch the show live, tickets for $20 will be available to re-watch on https://cradleoffilth.veeps.com site until May 26th.
Five takeaways from COF’s live stream show
1. The 16-track setlist was incredible (although some fans were anticipating a new track from the band’s upcoming magnum opus, Existence Is Futile, which will see the light of day later this year).
2. New keyboardist Anabelle Iratni proved to be a very welcome addition to the CRADLE family.
3. The production was amazing (except for the minor technical issues during “Saffron's Curse”).
4. Dani’s many vocal histrionics were insanely good.
5. The whole band played flawlessly.
Setlist
- “At The Gates of Midian” (Instrumental)
- ”Cthulhu Dawn”
- ”Blackest Magick In Practice”
- ”Lilith Immaculate”
- “Nymphetamine (Fix)”
- “The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh”
- “Honey and Sulphur”
- “Heartbreak & Seance”
- ”Mannequin”
- “Malice Through the Looking Glass”
- ”Creatures that Kissed in Cold Mirrors” (Instrumental)
- ”Her Ghost In The Fog”
- “Saffron's Curse”
- ”The Twisted Nails Of Faith”
- “Born In A Burial Gown”
- ”From The Cradle To Enslave”
Check out some more photos from the Livestream!
All Photos By Tom Russell
