Cradle of Filth

They’ve been spinning their creative wheels for a few albums now, but England’s cheekiest black metal gang have returned from their major label year with a relatively stripped-down album that contains a shocking amount of nods to traditional metal. Although the 14 tunes on Nymphetamine (another long album; how do these guys come up with so damn much material?) are obviously, painfully and wonderfully Cradle, tracks like "Nemesis” draw the listener out of any filthy haze they may have wound up in with melodic lead work that harkens back to the glory era of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. "Coffin Fodder” absolutely rips, although again in a more basic, traditional metal sort of way. Dani Filth’s vocals are still going to draw you in or send you running and cursing, but you have to admit the guy’s lyrics are masterworks of puns, wordplay, and tongue-in-cheek storytelling. And, once again, they’re having fun, entertaining (hopefully) the listener and themselves and enjoying some good ol’ macabre humour while they’re at it. If, like me, Damnation and a Day’s conceptual nature left you wanting a bit more rock in your Cradle, Nymphetamine is the antidote you need.