''Damnation and a Day'' (subtitled ''From Genesis to Nemesis...'') is the fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

by English

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band

Cradle of Filth Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved originally from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic metal and other metal genres. Their ly ...

. It was released on 10 March 2003 and is Cradle of Filth's only album on a major label,

Sony Records Sony Records was a record label founded by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1963. It was not affiliated with Sony Group Corporation. Ike Turner produced singles by members of the Kings of Rhythm and the Ikettes on Sony Records. Records on the ...

, after which they transferred to

Roadrunner The roadrunners (genus ''Geococcyx''), also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, are two species of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests. They are found in the southwestern and south-central United States and Mexico, us ...

. It features the one hundred and one-piece Budapest Film Orchestra including the forty-piece Budapest Film Choir. The album is partly based on

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and politica ...

's epic poem ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 16 ...

''.

Background

In addition to the

Miltonic John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

arc, the album also features stand-alone tracks such as the

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tribute "Doberman Pharaoh" and the

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

- influenced "Babalon A.D. (So Glad for the Madness)".

Recording

This is the first Cradle of Filth release since '' V Empire'' to feature only one full-time guitar player (

Paul Allender Paul Allender (born 17 November 1970) is a lead guitarist best known for his work with the British extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. He was a longtime member with stints in the band from 1992–1995 and then again from 1999–2014. Cradle of ...

), as former guitarist

Gian Pyres Gian Pyres (born Gianpiero Piras, 20 October 1973) is an English guitarist, best known for his work with extreme metal band Cradle of Filth for which he recorded guitars for '' Cruelty and the Beast'' (1998), ''Midian'' (2000), ''Bitter Suites t ...

quit the band shortly before the writing and recording process. Keyboardist Martin Powell played session guitars for the album as well as keyboards. This is also the first album to feature Dave Pybus on bass. He would go on to play on all of Cradle's subsequent releases until 2012. Narration on the first track of each section is by David McEwen, who played Kemper in the 2001 horror film '' Cradle of Fear'' (also starring Cradle frontman Dani Filth) and appeared in the video for "Her Ghost in the Fog", miming

Doug Bradley Douglas William Bradley (born 7 September 1954) is an English actor and author, best known for his role as the lead Cenobite "Pinhead" in the ''Hellraiser'' film series and for narration on various Cradle of Filth albums. He is also starrin ...

's vocals. A cover of

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million ...

's " Devil Woman" was originally recorded during the ''Damnation and a Day'' sessions, but only surfaced on the special edition of '' Nymphetamine'' in 2005, re-recorded, with some of the lyrics altered ("feminine ways" became "nymphetamine ways"). The album's recording process was documented on Cradle's 2005 video release ''

Peace Through Superior Firepower ''Peace Through Superior Firepower'' is a music DVD by the English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth, released on 1 November 2005 through Roadrunner Records. The DVD contains a full concert filmed on 2 April 2005 at Elysée Montmartre, Paris. ...

''.

Videos

The album spawned two DVD singles for the songs "Babalon A.D. (So Glad for the Madness)" and "Mannequin". The former was directed by Wiz (who had previously worked with

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

), and was modelled on

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, filmmaker, writer and intellectual who also distinguished himself as a journalist, novelist, translator, playwright, visual artist and actor. He is considered one of ...

's film ''

Salò Salò (; la, Salodium) is a town and '' comune'' in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy (northern Italy) on the banks of Lake Garda, on which it has the longest promenade. The city was the seat of government of the Italian Social ...

''; an adaptation of the

Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer famous for his literary depictions of a libertine sexuality as well as numerous accusati ...

's ''

The 120 Days of Sodom ''The 120 Days of Sodom, or the School of Libertinage'' (french: Les 120 Journées de Sodome ou l'école du libertinage, links=no) is an unfinished novel by the French writer and nobleman Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade, written in ...

''. The latter, reminiscent of the films of Jan Švankmajer, was directed by

Thomas Mignone Thomas Mignone is an American feature film, streaming media, commercial, and music video director, and screenwriter. He is best known for directing and writing the dark drama ''On the Doll'' and ''The Latin From Manhattan'' and for directing co ...

, and featured

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

animation by George Higham.

Critical reception

''Damnation and a Day'' received a mixed response from critics.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

wrote, " 'Damnation and a Day''has some grand-sounding moments, and is recorded cleanly, with the symphonic and operatic elements being perhaps its best. But it is endless, and only a true Filth fan could tell one song from another", ultimately calling it a "taxing, less-than-monumental work that won't win them many new mainstream fans, if that's at all what they had in mind." Influential extreme metal website Chronicles of Chaos wrote, "The songs are lengthy without exception, exploring multiple motifs, but the quality has been stretched out to breaking point. Whereas ''

Midian Midian (; he, מִדְיָן ''Mīḏyān'' ; ar, مَدْيَن, Madyan; grc-gre, Μαδιάμ, ''Madiam'') is a geographical place mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and Quran. William G. Dever states that biblical Midian was in the "northwest Ar ...

'' offered us glossy slabs of great atmospheric metal, ''Damnation'' serves up overblown constructions that only capture your interest in sporadic bursts", before finishing with, "It is a real shame that Cradle's mainstream label debut should sound this misguided; one can painfully hear the effort that has been put into making ''Damnation and a Day'' a reality. What will sadden most CoF devotees is the reality that the insidious atmosphere that suffused ''

The Principle of Evil Made Flesh ''The Principle of Evil Made Flesh'' is the debut studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 24 February 1994 through Cacophonous Records, following three demos released between 1991 and 1993. The album's sou ...

'' through to '' Dusk... and Her Embrace'' has all but disappeared".

Track listing

Personnel

Cradle of Filth

* Dani Filth – vocals *

– lead guitar * Martin Powell – keyboards, violin, rhythm guitar * Dave Pybus – bass *

Adrian Erlandsson Adrian Erlandsson (born 27 October 1970) is a Swedish heavy metal drummer who is a member of At the Gates (1990–1996, 2007–2008, 2010–), the Haunted (1996–1999, 2013–), and Nemhain (2006–). He has also been a member of H.E.A.L ...

– drums *

Sarah Jezebel Deva Sarah Jane (born 25 February 1977), better known by her stage name Sarah Jezebel Deva, is an English singer. She was the female soprano vocalist for Cradle of Filth for 14 years and the frontwoman of the band Angtoria for 10 years. In 2009, D ...

– backing vocals

Additional personnel

* The Budapest Film Orchestra and Choir conducted by László Zádori * David McEwen – narration on all "Intro" tracks except "The Mordant Liquor of Tears" and "A Scarlet Witch Lit the Season" * Madame Slam – additional vocals

Production

* Doug Cook – producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

, mixing engineer * Dan Turner – assistant engineer *

Rob Caggiano Robert Caggiano (born November 7, 1976) is an American guitarist and record producer. Since 2013, Caggiano has been the lead guitarist of the rock band Volbeat. He had formerly been guitarist of thrash metal band Anthrax and nu metal band Boile ...

– mixing with Cradle of Filth * Steve Regina – mixing engineer * Daniel Presley – orchestral arrangement * John Coulthart – album sleeve illustration and design * Stu Williamson – sleeve photography * Sugar Babes – models * Samantha Bond – model

Charts

Album

Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cradle of Filth albums 2003 albums Concept albums Sony Music albums Epic Records albums