Band: Cradle Of Filth
Title: Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder (The Life And Grimes Of Gilles De Rais)
Label: Roadrunner Records
Distribution: CNR - Concreteweb Promotion Office
Release date: November 2008
Review: CD/Special edition-DCD

Dani Filth, Paul Allender and their same-minded Godspeed Freak-colleagues recorded this newest epos with e.g. Andy Sneap and Scott Atkins. And where does this newest Cradle Of Filth-album, which lasts for more than seventy (!) minutes, stand for? Well, in fact it is just the same sh*t as ever. However, if you like(d) this band’s material, then Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder needs your attention.
‘the same sh*t’ means: Cradle Of Filth still create different musical passages unto their own definition of Black Metal. As it has always been the case, some parts are bombastic and orchestral, including choirs and overwhelming synth-parts; others are more symphonic, with atmospheric keyboards and classical female vocals (by Carolyn Gretton and, of course, Sarah Jezebel Deva, who works with the band since the early years); some pieces are ultra-fast and blasting, combining razor sharp riffs with a pondering rhythm section; a few moments are somewhat creepy and horrific; a few are filthy-thrashy, up-tempo and groovy, while other parts are pretty catchy and rhythmic; and so on, and so on, and so on. The tracks are also connected to each other through spoken words, which stand for the thoughts of Mister De Rais himself. And more than before, instrumental parts are used to focus on the deep darkness of this album.
Pretty refreshing is the concept on Godspeed … As the subtitle states, Godspeed … deals with the very interesting yet sick life of Gilles De Rais, a French nobleman who used to be an acquaintance of Joan Of Arc. Many bands did ‘pay tribute’ to historical mass murderers, sexual deviants, warriors or Satanists before (Crowley, Dahmer, Tepes, Jack The Ripper and so on), but Gilles De Rais isn’t that well-known, even though he did some nasty things! Interesting material to learn about in case you might not be trusted with this fifteenth-century figure.
All these elements explain the reason of existence of this album: love it or hate it.

To the real fan I propose to look after the (limited) ‘Special Edition’, which comes with a bonus disc with rare and previously unreleased tracks. Two of them were recorded at the same time of the album, but they didn’t get the final mastering. Further on, two tracks are live recordings (Dirge Inferno and Dusk And Her Embrace), a few are taken from rare versions / releases of former albums, and two songs are the original demo versions.

88/100

Ivan Tibos.