Cradle of Filth + Satyricon

On Saturday, January 17th, I took the 55 bus through the frigid, negative-something weather, and wound up in front of Metropolis to be greeted by a swarm of black t-shirted, long haired fans -the tell tale signs of any self-respecting metal show.

Cradle of Filth, formed in 1991 and hailing from Suffolk, England, took the stage with their usual barrage of theatrics: a projection screen of flickering images rife with sexual, morbid, Satanic and Christian references, a dancing woman with industrial sparks spewing from her wrist, a skeleton dangling from the mic stand, and gothic torches. 

However, all these things take a backseat to lead singer Dani Filth’s presence. Standing on several inches of platform boot and draped in a long leather skirt, the frontman is one of the few performers out there who manages to maintain theatrics throughout the entire show.  Even during stage banter, Filth speaks in a vocal affectation that can only be described as a demon about to burst into laughter. However, Filth’s platform-shoed trip on the stage stairs (almost resulting in a full-on face plant) early on in the show reminded fans that he is only human, after all.

Ironically, Cradle of Filth’s self-aware, over the top attitude does not at all stifle their true sincerity and love for their fans. “It’s good to be in Montreal,” growled Filth, “Despite the shitty fucking weather.” Later, before playing crowd favorite “Nymphetamine”, the lead singer dedicated the song to “all the pretty women in Montreal.”

Though they do not play the tightest of sets, it is arguably the band’s unique blend of lyrical goth-metal, coupled with their self-aware, clichéd dark theatrics and actual love for what they do, that generates many die-hard Cradle of Filth fans. Fans, like the friendly Halifax-local who sat next to me and excitedly told me about the long hours he’d driven to see Cradle of Filth live (since “they don’t visit the Maritimes much”). 

The band played about ten songs that night. They lead off the show with “Shit Out of Hell” and went on to play many favorites such as “The 13th Caesar” and “The Principles of Evil Made Flesh” (off their 1994 debut album of the same name.) Dani Filth’s bird of prey-like shrieking and calmer, melodic sequences had fans moshing or swaying virtually the entire time, creating a constant air of excitement and energy. When their set was done, the fans had clearly not had enough and cheered on until they played two encores: “Her Ghost in the Fog” and “From the Cradle to Enslave”. 

The show was supported by a solid, Norwegian black metal set from fellow Roadrunner-signed Satyricon (named after a Latin book of prose and poetry.) Created in 1990, Satyricon is currently promoting their seventh album, The Age of Nero, which was released in November 2008.

Also promoting their seventh album, Communion, was Septic Flesh.  This symphonic metal band was formed in 1990, in Athens, Greece.  Septic Flesh set the tone for the rest of the evening by separating the crowd into two groups, and, at the beat, having them merge together to create a massive clash of excited moshers.