UK's legendary extreme metal icons CRADLE OF FILTH have announced the details for the band's upcoming 12th full-length album.
‘Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness Of Decay’ will be released on September 22nd via Nuclear Blast.

First single -

Man, glad to hear they're keeping it down to 9 tracks - only real problem with their comeback albums is that they still have 2-3 tracks that could be trimmed off for a tighter experience. Looking forward to this, especially since Hammer of the Witches was great.

Yeah Hammer was really cool, it's rad to see this band doing music like that again as that is what drew me to them all those years ago. I stopped caring about them after a certain point. The future looks good for CoF.

I've actually never been a big fan of Cradle of Filth but for some reason I get really nostalgic when I think about them. When I started getting into metal as a teenager CoF were really big and often talked about among my friends so I guess that's why.

I do own a couple of their albums and there's always at least a couple of good songs on their records.

That being said Hammer of the Witches is fucking awesome. Easily one of the better metal records of 2015. The new lineup seems to have injected a lot of new – and needed – fuel in Dani Filth. Can't wait to hear what they release next.

This is exactly what I want to hear.

This is great news. Hammer of the Witches was their best album since Midian. The energy in the band has been revived and this is like a rebirth of sorts for them. The lineup change did wonders. I like Paul Allender but he needed to go so Cradle could become a great band again. The songwriting was getting very generic and the riffs just weren't there.

Hope to see them in the US again. They were incredible last time, playing an almost exclusive old school set. We even got the one-two punch of Principle of Evil and Forest to end the show.

+1. This line up is pretty good and "Hammer of the Witches" was exceelent so my expectations are quite high.

Interesting. I didn't care for "Midian" much or anything after really, but it seems like their recent output is pleasing fans of their mid era. Might be worth looking into "Hammer of the Witches".

Anything that continues the sound of Hammer of the Witches is an automatic winner in my book. That album kicked every kind of ass, and after over a decade of wanting a more old school sounding Cradle album, they finally made it and it absolutely delivered and ruled. I cannot wait to hear this, especially if they're gonna go more gothic and horror movie-esq like on Cruelty. Fits too since they're doing a Cruelty remix and remaster that's coming out next year.

Very good! I really liked Hammer of the Witches, the best one since Cruelty (although I liked Godspeed) in my opinion. It was a "safe" album admittedly, but I like the guitar playing way more than I did on the last couple of albums. Dani's voice got back in shape too!

Regarding how the album will sound, I don't put much credit to the descriptions. Godspeed was described as a cross between Dusk and Cruelty, and I think Darkly was described as a "dark Iron Maiden" or something. None of those descriptions held up.

Dani usually gives that description(Dusk+Cruelyt) to create some hype, I guess. He has used it several times and as you have said it doesn´t normally hold up.

Anyway, I like when he implies that it could be more atmospheric.

Updated the OP with new album information.

I agree with everything above.

I guess this will be the first time since "Bitter Suites To Succubi" that the same lineup makes two albums. That said, I can't wait for this!

Everything here, the album title, the concept bethind the music and the artwork makes me feel super hyped. I am sure this is gonna be an awesome record.

I was assuming this album might not come out until Halloween. I'm glad we don't have to wait that long.

The album artwork continues the proud tradition of looking like shitty cgi-esque painting, but I have come to accept that. I am curious if they can continue the streak of brilliance after Hammer. After Dusk and Cruelty it might be my most listened to full-length from Cradle of Filth.

When it comes to inconsistent bands llike cradle of filth I prefer to be patient and wait to listen to the full thing or at least get a preview. I feel like their latest good album was godspeed on the devil's thunder, venus aversa was not bad but a bit of a letdown from its predecessor, everything after that has ranged from OK to meh.

Seems a lot of folks dug Hammer, but I didn't hear anything on it that remotely captured their former greatness. The last album I liked from them was Godspeed, but to be honest after Gian left the writing hasn't been what it was like on Midian and Dusk.

I don't think I've heard anything of theirs since... Thornography?
That being said I really still enjoy the early albums... especially the two releases on Cacophonous.

Really looking forward to this. Hammer of the Witches was just about the best album they could possibly make at this point in their careers, and I'm expecting this album to be on that level since it's being made with the same lineup from that one.

Now to wait until Dimmu Borgir start announcing their new album details.

I am not that optimistic with Dimmu. Cradle has some fresh blood which helped to create a very good work, while Dimmu has the same members who progressively have created worse albums. I hope I am wrong and they can deliver but I am very, very cautious.

I've got hope for Dimmu's new album since Shagrath has said several times that they've greatly toned down the orchestra work and replaced that with old school black metal. If he said they were gonna go in the same direction as fucking Abrahadabra, I'd be right there with you dreading this album, but everything said in interviews has made me want to hear this album.

comeback? when did they go away?

"Comeback" in the sense of "Stuff that came out after Thornography that was better than Thornography by default", those being Godspeed, DDVA, Manticore, and Hammer.

Excited for this album. I am in agreement that Hammer of the Witches was their best album since Nyphetamine. For me it was the albums from Thornography-Darkly Darkly that were amongst the biggest let downs. Manticore I did like a bit more. So they are now writing stronger material ever since the lineup change but can't say Paul was to blame for the last few albums being bad. He is a great guy as well having spoke to him many times on Skype and Facebook. I think him and the rest of COF just simply grew apart. I will continue to support his work mind. Also worth noting is the next massive UK and Ireland tour to support the next album as well. Nice to see the back of these silly one off London dates. Its like the band have regained control of themselves now because I think they were just automatically told where to go on tour in the years before 2015 by the worst booking agents ever. So I first saw them in 2015 and they were excellent.

Hammer was their best album since Midian. Damnation and a Day was so fantastically unremarkable that it seems like the band themselves have forgotten that it exists. Nymphetamine has a couple good songs, but it too is quite boring. Thornography is a worse version of Nymphetamine, taking all the shortcomings of the previous album and accentuating them. Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder was an incredible breath of fresh air when it came out, but that album's formula got worn down on the next two albums quick, and it was clear when listening to The Manticore that Paul was just not into it anymore.

The cover is kind of a goth version of Boticelli's "Birth of Venus". Concerning COF, I haven't really listened to their post 90s stuff, maybe I should.

Sometimes I feel compelled to defend Damnation and a Day, maybe because it was the first COF CD I bought. I understand why people think it represents a turn for the worse though. You could argue it started the pattern in which the songs became shorter on average, but there were more of them per album - which typically meant more weak / skip-able songs per album. Plus DaaD has too many intro / outro / interlude things, so the whole experience feels bloated in a way that Dusk, Cruelty, and Midian do not.

Nymphetamine and Thornography weren't as overstuffed with interludes, but they had their share of filler songs as well. Especially the first half of Thornography, which is bad enough to make that album my least favorite Cradle LP. And The Byronic Man is probably their worst song.

After that, I agree with Subrick's take. Godspeed is great, and still holds up today. DDVA might be a slight step down, but is strong overall. Then Manticore began and ended with songs I really like (The Abhorrent and Succumb to This), but most of the ones in between blurred together. Manticore is certainly better than Thornography IMO, but is the weakest Marthus album.

Then the revamped lineup knocked my socks off with Hammer of the Witches.

I dunno man, the Temptation cover was considerably worse than The Byronic Man, wouldn't you say?

At least the cover was kind of catchy.

I admittedly judge cover songs differently from original songs. Even so, yes, I think The Byronic Man is worse than Temptation. TBM has a worse chorus, worse backing vocals, and overstays its welcome by being more than a minute longer. Temptation is rather harmless compared to it.

I do try to put my Thornography bashing in context though. As much as I dwell on the album's weaknesses, it's not a total loss. Under Pregnant Skies She Comes Alive Like Miss Leviathan is one of COF's best intro tracks, with one of their best titles. And the album at least finishes strong with Rise of the Pentagram and Under Huntress Moon. There's a solid EP in there somewhere.

I like the intro, Dirge Inferno, Tonight in Flames, Rise of the Pentagram, Under Huntress Moon, and The Snake Eyed and the Venomous. There's your solid EP.

For me it'd be:

1. Tonight in Flames
2. Rise of the Pentagram
3. Foetus of a New Day Kicking
4. I Am the Thorn
5. Cemetery and Sundown
6. Under Huntress Moon

Never heard any of the tracks from the extended version though.

Snake Eyed is one of the bonus tracks. It's also the most extreme song on either version of the album, and, perhaps not coincidentally, the best song to be found on the album.

I'm pretty excited for this. I don't expect it to be an eternal masterpiece, but I have found all their albums fun and enjoyable for an occasional spin.

Update:

UK's legendary extreme metal icons CRADLE OF FILTH had to push back the release of the first single off their eagerly awaited 12th album, 'Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness Of Decay', for one more week. 'Heartbreak And Seance' will now be released on July 11. The pre-orders for the album will coincide with the single release.
The band recently shot a music video for the song which will also be released on the above mentioned date. Find some photos from the set below this message.

Commented Dani Filth: "Working with such an artistic director as Artūrs Bērziņš was indeed an honour, as the video shoot was very extensively planned, involving a myriad of extras and crew, make-up girls and set builders, a crow, some well-behaved snakes and a considerable amount of snow, candles, water, trees, naked bodies, lamentable mourners, as well as all being submerged in suitably gothic landscapes and vistas. And the fact that we travelled to Riga in Latvia to film it was also very unique and interesting. The video itself is fantastic, drawing from the darkly erotic imagery of the album artwork and bringing it to richly technicolored classical life. We had such a blast shooting it, as the accompanying photos attest to..." 'Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness Of Decay' will be released on September 22 via Nuclear Blast. Find the stunning cover artwork by Artūrs Bērziņš below. Bērziņš is the mastermind behind the new record’s artwork, photography and videography – best known for his defiant neo-symbolism raster graphics and oil paintings; postmodern interpretations of classic myths. He has been proclaimed as a “sacred monster of Latvian postmodernism”.

CRADLE OF FILTH UK & IRELAND TOUR:
30.10. Belfast - Limelight
31.10. Dublin - Academy (Halloween Show)
02.11. Manchester - Academy 2
03.11. Glasgow - Garage
04.11. Birmingham - O2 Institute 2
05.11. Church - Leeds
07.11. Oxford - O2 Academy
08.11. Southampton - Engine Rooms
09.11. Norwich - Waterfront
10.11. London - Electric Ballroom
11.11. Bristol - Bierkeller

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWKgn_8Dm-p ... h_official

If they were supposed to release a song today, but didn't, you'd think they could at least reveal the album's full tracklist instead. Oh well, I'm blaming Nuclear Blast rather than the band. I think I can wait another week.

In other COF news, a mod deleted three Cruelty and the Beast reviews, which seems to have raised its average score. The review titled "Typewriter drums!" is gone, and although I love the album I still think of that line whenever I listen to it.

Good. That album deserved a higher score, despite having some very obvious problems with the mix. Oh well, the remix they're doing for that one will fix it.

Classic marketing strategy. They want the "purchase botton" available when we listen to the new song.

I am very interested to listen to the remix of CATB. Even with a weak production this cd slays so with a good one it should be epic!