Entry 1598 - Cradle of Filth - Damnation and a Day

Style: orchestral extreme gothic metal

Thoughts: I can just imagine the producers of this album getting together: "Hey guys, what if we did everything that Cradle did on the last album... but with an orchestra!" 

I think that there was something in the water in the black metal scene during the late 90's and early 2000's. All of the major black metal bands were changing things up. Some went more mainstream, others included more instruments than ever before, others went is a completely bizarre direction. Cradle was one of the ones that went with adding more instruments than ever before.

Two major things have changed from Midian to Damnation and a Day. The first is obvious, we've added an orchestra. This is one of the single largest changes that Cradle ever did. The second major change is that we've lost a second guitarist. This is another major change as a core part of Cradle's sound are those wonderful Iron Maiden inspired melodies and harmonies. Combine the orchestra with a single guitar and merging that in with the typical Cradle sound and you get an inkling on what this album sounds like.

My biggest concern with the album would be the role of the keyboards with the inclusion of the orchestra. The keys are still present, but their role has been reduced to a minor role on the album. There are tracks like Hurt and Virtue where they are used prominently, but overall on the album they are not nearly as core part of the Cradle sound as they had been to this point. 

Despite all these changes the album works. It still sounds like Cradle, just with one guitar and an orchestra. It's that one guitar though that drags the album down. Cradle needs two guitars for their sound to be complete. By only having one guitar the keyboards and orchestra have to try and fill the role of the second guitar and it's just not the same. 

Cradle was trying to find themselves, and I feel like Damnation and a Day was the first attempt to reach out beyond their established roots. They would go on to try a more commercial sound after this to disastrous effects. 

In many ways Damnation and a Day can be argued to be the last of their truly classic albums. I would side on that being Midian, but I can see the argument for this album as well. For what it is Damnation and a Day is not bad, it simply does not match the quality of the previous four albums.