Ask most people who hate Cradle Of Filth what they sound like, and they’ll get it wrong. The pervasive image of the band amongst younger Metal fans is that of pop-heavy, dance-floor filling Metal-lite, and though they must take some of the blame for the ubiquity of that image themselves, musically it just doesn’t fit a band who never dropped the solid core of Maiden, German Thrash and blast-beats that defined their sound. No, for all their leather man-skirts and guy-liner Cradle do not sound like that – but vocalist Dani’s new side-project most certainly do.
Devilment’s musical language is built on the combination of catchy, groovy riffs and the kind of sinister dance beats that filled 90’s Goth clubs. Song-writing is the absolute key here, and Devilment really have a tight grip on it – discrete, catchy songs with plenty of character, based around sharp hooks and driving riffs. Yes, riffs – catchy songs and Goth-club vibes aside, The Great & Secret Show (Nuclear Blast) is a Metal album, just one that eschews the posturing and macho sincerity of traditional Metal.
Dani’s presence is, of course, likely to be one of the big draws here, and existing fans will find his performance both familiar and surprising. The bi-polar extremes of his older performances are almost entirely absent, with the growled vocals completely excised and the testicle-piercing shrieks he’s infamous for barely present. Instead he dwells almost exclusively in a mid-paced speak-snarl reminiscent of the spoken-word vocals he used in Cradle, but with the portentous melodrama replaced with a knowing grin. Combined with his newly-indulged fondness for puns and joke song-titles (‘Even Your Blood Group Rejects Me’ is either brilliant or the exact opposite), he seems to be reinventing himself as the Goth Martin Walkyier – and doing a surprisingly good job of it.
There is nothing “extreme” about The Great & Secret Show, and little of the blood-and-thunder melodrama that traditional Metal is built around, but if the idea of catchy, groovy Pop Metal with dance sensibilities and a prominent sense of humour appeals, you could do a lot worse.
7.0/10
RICHIE HR