I've never liked their older stuff. Hated Thornography at first but I kinda grew into liking it. Used to think Godspeed was their best album but then Hammer of the Witches, came out and man was that a wake up call because the last two albums after Godspeed were boring.

Enshrined in Crematoria and Ten Leagues Beneath Contempt are their best songs and I will not be changing my mind.

I'm a big Cradle of Filth fan. They are one of the most creative and interesting black metal bands from the UK.

The "trilogy" of V Empire, Dusk... and Cruelty... are 10/10 albums.

Back in the day (the mighty 2000s) they and Dimmu Borgir were insulted among black metal fans for being too commercial.

It's been a while since I last heard of them, but I always thought they were a little bit corny. I know they have a lot of fans in the goth rock district, maybe a little bit more than in the metal side of things.

But they played a really catchy style of black metal, not so sure if people here like them, probably not.

I know what you mean. I was aware of COF, had nothing against them but just never got into it. It seems some confuse commercialism with becoming successful do you think? That being said, COF was on Sony for a while, but they have been on almost as many labels as they have records. Despite all the wardrobe faux pas I really dig the music.
I'm a fan of DB too, Eonion which I gather a lot of fans didn't like. I for one, thought it was nice to have something new after 9 years of not having anything new but I digress...

Yeah man, I was remembering those times with a smile on my face, when I was younger I really gave a lot of importance to the "underground" and "real" stuff that metal dudes said in those times. Now I laugh at that, and I created a thread to talk about the lack of commercial success of metal in this time.

Back to the topic, man I should listen to Cradle again. It's really been a while since I heard a song from them, same with Dimmu, but I remember them a bit more, they had really bombastic and weird metal videos like the one of Progenies of The Great Apocalypse, fun band.

I only started listening to them in the last few years. Picked up a couple of their early albums since they seem to be the most highly regarded. I enjoyed them, didn't think they were spectacular, but I've never been that sold on that style of black metal

Then I heard Godspeed...and thought it was absolutely phenomenal. Loved their latest too

In late 90s, early 2000s, it was one of those hugely popular gateway bands that got so many of us kids into more extreme metal.
When I think of COF, it's mostly from Dusk to Midian or Damnation. I remember being at school trying to find metal video clips on the Internet. "From the Cradle to Enslave" made big impression with the wrist-cutting bow, blood, monsters and nudity.
They were catchy, had some proper budget and a big, heavy sound. Without forgetting some t-shirts designs that triggered the principal. It was certainly cool to listen to Cradle at that time.

I still enjoyed Nymphetamine and even Thornography to a point... Then I kind of lost interest. Bought a CD of their last one though. It's pretty good, sometimes great, but it's not quite the same style now. It's really the Dani Filth project anyway and not the same band as I remember. I'm also less impressed by succubus and latex

Absolutely love Cruelty and the Beast. "Thirteen Autumns and a Widow" and "Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids" are an incredible pair of opening tracks. I like most of their pre-2010 work but put Cruelty well above everything else they've done.

A few years before I registered here COF was crucial in getting me into metal a bit more obscure than platinum-selling bands like Metallica and Pantera.

My opinion on their discography is pretty predictable.
+ Dusk, Cruelty, and Midian are fantastic. Gun to my head, I'd probably call Cruelty my favorite since the remixed version fixed the clicky drum sound that was my only real complaint.
+ Hammer, Cryptoriana, and Existence are another stellar 3-album run, with Cryptoriana possibly being my fave as long as we're talking the bonus track versions.
+ Godspeed measures up quite well against any of the above six.
+ Vempire is their most essential release that isn't a full length studio album.

And since even subpar Cradle has its moments, here are my top songs from their less popular releases.

It took me a while to get into the band, as when I was getting into extreme metal/black metal (2008-2010ish) they were often derided as "mallcore" or "commercial" black metal, much like Dimmu Borgir. In 2017, I finally checked out Dusk... and Her Embrace on a whim and loved it. I'd even go so far as to say that album and Cruelty and the Beast are some of my favorite 90's black metal releases. V Empire and Midian are very good as well, as is Cryptoriana, which came out right after I got into them. They're one of the few metal bands out there where I think the lyrics are a strong draw, Dani clearly puts a lot of effort into them and they really enhance the overall presentation.

Saw the band live a few years back and they put on a great show.

When Dark Faerytales & Dusk and Her Embrace came out, I was very much into them!
Back then we used to call them the King Diamond of black metal hahaha. Also Midian was a sublime album.
Then around 2003 I lost interest a bit as their albums were getting worse but the last few have rekindled my love for them

Dusk, Cruelty and Midian are all fantastic albums, with Midian being among my all time favourite metal albums. V Empire, Bitter Suites, Nymphetamine, and Hammer of the Witches are all strong releases too, whilst many others have their moments as well.

That said, I feel most of their albums since Martin joined on drums have been more forgettable than what came before. I don't know if he's involved with arranging / songwriting, but Hammer aside, I find them all less engaging than the material before he joined.

I was heavily into CoF when I discovered 'em - which was the song ''Tragic Kingdom'' from a Metal Hammer Magazine issue CD. And ''Godspeed'' is my favorite CoF album (probably due to it being the first one I heard), but I really like ''Midian'', ''Damnation'', and ''Thornography'' as well. I've heard all their albums up 'til the album that came after ''Godspeed'' (I dont remember the album name). Should maybe give it 'em another spin.

I've also never seen 'em as Black Metal, as they dont really sound like it - I usually just call 'em ''Symphonic Extreme Metal'', since I dont think they fit into BM.

I guess when comparing Marthus to Nick I get that....but I feel like he holds his own.....he's fast as fook I can tell you that and fits in well IMO. From what I understand the musicians put together tracks and then his heinous comes in and does the poetry

A month or so later, they released Midian, which is still by far my favourite CoF record. In my opinion, it's their best and a pure classic.

I'm not talking about the quality of Martin's drumming, which is very good (and a noticeable step up from Adrian's playing), I'm talking about the songs themselves. Paul Allender was still there and writing for the first three albums of Martin's tenure, but I find them a lot less memorable than the Paul era albums Adrian was drumming on. This has continued, even since Paul left (Hammer excepted), which is why I wonder if Martin has been heavily involved with the arrangements / songwriting, or if it's just a coincidence.

I was a freshman in high school when I first heard "Born in a Burial Gown" playing on the metal channel on my friend's family's newfangled satellite tv setup. We were very much like, "what in the fuck is this? It's fantastic!". From that point we went backwards and got very into Damnation and a Day, Midian, Cruelty and the Beast, etc. Cruelty is still one of my favorite albums of all time, and I'm very happy that I got to see them perform the whole thing in San Diego a couple years ago.

I've been pretty excited about their new lineup since Hammer of the Witches.

At the beginning of 11th grade, I heard Malice Through The Looking glass, and their cover of Black Metal on the same day. Was instantly hooked on both. They were the first band to get me into black metal (not counting Venom). A month or so later, they released Midian, which is still by far my favourite CoF record. In my opinion, it's their best and a pure classic.

Dani's lyrics have always been next level. I kind of fell-off with them in 2005-ish, but yeah, the last 3 records have all been REALLY good. Finally got to see them live in 2018 and they did not disappoint. Even after listening to them for 20 years, sometimes when I truly stop and pay attention, I'm amazed at what Dani can do with a human voice.

They've never been my thing. The only album I can say I really like is 'Vempire' and I used to spin the first one quite a bit, but that was before I properly got into black metal and I remember thinking that if that was black metal, then it wasn't for me...
I've checked out their other classics on several occasions (Dusk, Cruelty, Midian) but nah, just not my cup of tea really.

Cruelty and the Beast, VEmpire and Dusk are absolute 10/10 classics, Cruelty being my favourite and one of the my favourite albums ever. Principle is also up there.

Midian is great but it was the beginning of the end for me. It was very over the top and dramatic - and pretty silly - and while its still a steller album, with songs like Her Ghost in the Fog you could see the direction they'd go in. Everything after was bland as fuck until Hammer of the Witches and the last 3 have been great.

I never got into this band and don't think I've heard a single full length or have no recollection of doing so. But in a another thread I talk about how Ashok is one of my favorite lead guitarists and his leaving Root for COF basically killed off Root(though when Blackie left that was already the beginning of the end but I digress). I noticed however that avg. review scores for COF albums got a bump once Ashok joined so, question:

Did Ashok's playing make a difference? Any notable solos the fan base can recommend?