Search - Cradle of Filth :: Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder(Special Edition 2 CD)

Yes, Finnally!

CRAZOTOLOGY | Joplin, MO. (USA) | 11/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Cradle Of Filth have not released a record this good since their epic 'Cruelty And The Beast'. 'Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder' is a concept album (like Cruelty..was about Elizabeth Bathory), on this album the subjected charachter of study is Gilles De Rais. Gilles, a former right hand man to Joan Of Arc, was a merciless child murderer. Anyways, this is all just in good fun for those of us who get it...musically this album is extremly fast and aggressive. Seriously, it's their second best album. The production is amazing BTW."

Cradle of filth does it this time!

Juan Melo | New york, NY USA | 11/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I must confess that I was really dissapointed with thornography and a little bit with nymphetamine. I think they lack the chilling atmosphere and the power that was present in midian, cruelty and damnation. Luckly, this is not the case of godspeed on the devils thunder! I would rather say that this album is better than damnation and it is at the same level as midian and cruelty. This is beacuse the songs are harder, faster and damned! they give chills down my spine as they have haunting keyboads, Sarahs signature vocals and a male baritone that really adds to the sick and disturbing atmosphere! the guitar solos are great as well as dani filth vocals! they sound very devilish and varied like in the past great albums! the lyrics and the concept of the album are great and seems like this album could turn to a black symphonic metal musical! do yourself a favour and buy this album!

best tracks for me are: intro plus shat out of hell, the death of love, the 13th ceasar, tiffauges plus tragic kingdom, honey and sulphur, midnight creatures....and darkness incarnate!"

Back In Top Form

Revelation 23 | 11/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It seems I'm not alone in my thoughts on Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder.



Cradle Of Filth have returned to a sound more reminiscent of their days before becoming "popular" (which should not be seen as a bad thing) and Godspeed is their best effort since Midian, if not better. That's not to say that Damnation And A Day, Nymphetamine and Thornography are bad albums. Quite the opposite, actually. But Godspeed features COF utilizing the best of old and new. Musically, this album sounds more like Cradle of old (without being as brutal or as fast as possible), while Dani has retained the clearer (but rarely clean) vocals of the later releases. No Cradle Of Filth album has grabbed me quite like Vempire did when I first heard the band, though Godspeed and Cruelty And The Beast come close, followed by Midian.



As mentioned, the album tells the tale of Gilles de Rais, a man who served with Joan of Arc and supposedly lived a second life, dabbling in the occult and turning to mass murder later in his life. While Dani may have taken some liberties with the subject matter (as with Erzsébet Báthory on Cruelty And The Beast), Godspeed does a good job at telling the story, including the execution of Joan of Arc in 1431.



Lending his voice to Cradle Of Filth for a fourth time is Doug Bradley, who is best known for playing Pinhead in the Hellraiser movies. I thought his voiceovers were used too much and they seemed to be a bit of a distraction at times. Really, that's the only flaw I can find with Godspeed. Everything else is in its proper place.



As has been commonplace throughout most of Cradle Of Filth's career, not everyone from Thornography is around this time. Also, only four members (Dani, Dave, Paul and Martin) are listed in the liner notes as being full members of the band (and shown in the picture), although Charles and Rosie are also mentioned as the live guitarist and keyboardist respectively. Sarah Jezebel Deva is also featured on the album, though not considered a "core" member.



The second CD offers two more tracks that were recorded during the sessions but had to be cut from the final result due to length, two songs from Harder, Darker, Faster: Thornography Deluxe, a cover song, two demos, a remix (the weakest of the offerings on the bonus CD) and two live tracks. I'm hoping that since this was made available in the beginning, there won't be a re-release of this album within a year or so, an annoying trend in music today.



Highlights:

The Death Of Love

The 13th Caesar (it took a while though - the vocals on the chorus were a putoff for me at first)

Honey And Sulphur

Darkness Incarnate

Ten Leagues Beneath Contempt



All said and done, this is an excellent release from Cradle Of Filth, easily one of their better efforts. I'd give it four and a half stars if I could, only because of how I thought Doug Bradley's lines affected the album. However, that's not enough to drop it down to a four because I can't do halves."