Cradle of Filth - Midnight in the Labyrinth... (2012)

Cradle of Filth's music already has such a natural sweep and bombast to it that converting the metallics into sheer orchestration only seemed natural to me around the time Midnight in the Labyrinth, or Songs for the Recently Dead and Arisen showed up. This has always been a band refined at marketing, putting out elaborate products, focusing in hard on their videos, image, and so forth, and thus you shouldn't expect any less when they drop the heaviness to release a two-disc, 2 hour 20 minute collection of cuts across transformed into pure symphonic cheese from across their catalogue to date (in 2012). Unfortunately, while so much of this release is exactly what they promised, I can't help but feel that only the second of the two discs was actually necessarily...

Now, both of them are nearly identical, with the first one track longer, but the issue for me is that I had absolutely no interest in wanting to hear the narration from Dani Filth and Sarah Jezebel Diva. Filth is still putting sinister filters on his vocals as if he was still singing to the Gothic/black metal version, even going into a growl or two, and the whole thing seems boisterous, blustery and tremendously goofy. Did anyone really ask for this? One can certainly argue for the choir parts, they definitely contribute to the rousing evil feel of these epic compositions, but I am more than happy with the second disc, which simply converts a lot of the band's great tunes into pieces I can now use as a backdrop for a Gothic horror RPG, or even a glorified and more heavily produced dungeon synth album. Hearing "The Forest Whispers My Name", "Cruelty Brought Thee orchids" and "Dusk and Her Embrace" in this format is wonderful, really justifies the product, and they even keep the choirs though they are placed a little lower against the synthesized orchestra.

You can tell that some of the tunes here would be better with more natural instrumentation, but despite that I still think their material renders down to this version quite sincerely, as its obvious when they're composing a lot of the metal material they've got a Dark Wagnerian vision in mind to begin with. The organs and other tones simmer against the roiling storm-clouds of the bands' twisted British poetic imagination, making this perfect for a period piece vampire battle or some other Transylvanian epic, it's not all evil and creepy sounding, so bear that in mind; it's not such a great score for some unnerving Lovecraftian horror, but for something more historical it's wonderful. If only a little of the ego had been held in check, and they'd instead given us TWICE the songs in the pure instrumental/choral realm, this would be a home run release, but it ends up partly as corny as the digitized cover photo. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe there's a group of CoF devotees who really want to hear Dani's lustrous, demented narration while they bob for apples and compare spider-web tattoos, but I think Midnight in the Labyrinth is brought lower than its potential for this overindulgence.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

https://www.cradleoffilth.com/

Xytras - Passage (1997)

I probably listened to the 'real' Passage so many times, and just so obsessively that first year it came out, that any reinterpretation, no matter how genuine, even from one of its composers himself, was due to fail for me...so great credit goes to the Xytras 'symphonic' alternate recording of Passage that it does not. I can be one of those sticklers when it comes to remakes or covers, in all forms of media, from novel/comic adaptations to film to re-recorded metal records and so forth, but the beauty of this was that it might have proven the reality, the 'official' version of these songs all along. Hold up a sec, and let me clarify that this is not anywhere NEAR as good as the metal version, with Vorph's growling poetics and the amazing guitar riffs and atmosphere that they all create in contrast...but if you're going to produce an instrumental rendition of a masterpiece, whether by elevator muzak or flutes or a Broadway show, then it should at least strive for this level of quality and consistency.

There are a few dissimilarities in track choice here, with a pair of tunes being translated instead from Exodus than Passage ("Tribes of Cain" and "Winter Solstice" replacing "Liquid Soul Dimension" and "Chosen Race"), and the entire shebang being performed with keyboards/synthesizers alone. That is correct: no drums, no vocals, no guitars, no bass lines, just Xytras performing the material as if it had always been intended as a neo-classical soundscape, a lost Castlevania soundtrack, something that works pretty well when you think of a pine-studded mountainside after darkness, just as well as the cosmic and philosophical overtures provided by the lyrics on Passage itself. At times Xy layers in a lot more of an orchestrated feel, generally in sync where that was created on the metal renditions, and others it focuses more on just the haunted castle pianos. Generally it's impossible for this to feel as moving and dramatic as the harder versions, but surprisingly in a tune like "Moonskin" ("Mondhaut") which was so piano driven in the first place, it tends to come across even more sweeping due to the selected pads giving it that bolder, operatic atmosphere. Xytras' playing is busy enough to serve as proxy to the missing guitars, but he actually doesn't embellish the material very much with added lines, something I actually regret as a missed opportunity...

The music does lose some of its darker edge, naturally due to the absence of the rest of the band, the loss of impact from those electronic drums, but a few cuts like "My Saviour" ("Mein Retter") do capture much of that same magic. Is it a little pretentious that the titles are all in German? I suspect that was part of the intent, since this is probably more serviceable to that Euro Goth/Goth metal scene that several of their post-Passage recordings catered towards, but it might have also been that Xy wanted to differentiate this even more from the album that more people were going to know. On the other hand, it's rather telling that this was pretty much the end of this experiment, and that when the band would branch out into ambient/electronic pastures in the future (Era One/Lesson in Magick #1) it would focus on original material initially written specifically for that. But on hearing this, you can definitely hear how Xytras formed the basis of composition for the heavier tunes, and if you love the songs as much as I do then at least part of you would be curious to hear how they turn out in another genre. Hell, I love this Samael album so much that I wouldn't mind hearing it in fucking MIDI...so, to summarize: not as good as that 'real' Passage, but if you enjoy lashing out at things as Simon Belmont, or sipping wine with your Lindt chocolates, it's at least amusing.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

Triarii - Muse in Arms (2008)

The third album from Christian Erdmann's Triarii is quite possibly one of the best of the martial/industrial/classical field I've heard to date, for the 11 tracks represent a nearly flawless execution of bombast, majesty and darkness.

The formula is not difficult to comprehend: repetitive cadence drumming, sweeping orchestral hits, bells and choirs, and samples of various historical figures. Rinse and repeat, ever upward and onward to glory. Triarii excels here in capturing these epic moments of purpose and allowing the listener to apply them to his or her own aural environment at will.

The album opens with "Birth of a Sun", which is an ambient track featuring some industrial sounds as well as the leering menace of choirs and echo of glorious keyboards. "Muse in Arms" follows, another piece built primarily of orchestral synthesizer and reverberating glories, but with the crash of a drum to drive it. "Europa" introduces heavier use of drumming as well as deep vocals which paint a poetic and dark image of Europe as an ascendant, final matriarch to its people. "Les Extremes se Touchent" is a bombard of imminent warfare, summoning to mind the "Mars" theme of composer Gustav Holst. Pick and choose from the rest of the tracks, because the entire album is a gratifying and consistent proof of concept, from the graceful sweep of "Sonnenwalzer" to the thunderous ambient of "The Final Legion".

An album that should appeal to any fan of the martial ambient, the ritual industrial, or simply excellent quality neo-classical fare. I'd also recommend it to any fan of orchestral film music, in particular films that involve historical or war themes. And, believe it or not, I'd recommend it to anyone who loved the early Mortiis albums, before he sucked. It has a similar feel if presented in greater glory here. At any rate, I've enjoyed this far more than anything Triarii released previously.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

http://www.TRIARII.de

Gaia Prelude - Promised Land (2008)

Young Yakul used to listen to instrumental stuff all the time. The last instrumental album that I was completely in love with, despite completely hating Dream Theater, was LTE 2. That was a few years back now and even so I was pleasantly surprised to discover Gaia Prelude. They are a neo-classical metal outfit from Japan, and I half expected a Sigh ripoff, half expected a bad (!) Dragonforce, which would be a crime against taste and humanity. Luckily! they are neither. Remember when you were first discovering the guitar and you heard about Yngwie, but before ever hearing his music you thought of all the possibilities, and then he never quite measured up? Gaia Prelude might just fill in the gaps.

There is an impossible amount of music to talk about here in one review, and it definitely is not for everyone. During about the third or fourth song I was thinking to myself that the band could benefit a great deal from vocals, something to anchor the songs around. An uncountable number of solos abound, both guitar and keyboard. Unlike the aforementioned Dragonforce though, this band has ideas! And while they might catch a break with a more traditional band sound, they surely excel in their current format.

Each song plays like it is the final battle in your favorite 16 to 32 bit jrpg; the part where your teammates have to prove that they have the power of the human spirit to over come the Dark Lord of whatev. Take the half way point in “Illusion,” the hook comes through in a memorable, but simplistic keyboard melody between two furious solos. It is the slow and easy parts like that which catch the ear. However, the leads and solos aren't just there for show. Many times the insanely fast guitar work features enough repetition to be workable as a rhythmic section, parts that might be catchy enough to stick with you a bit. This is something I'll have to investigate with a few more listens.

It isn't all 65 lbs of Japanese muscle burning up the fret board non-stop. The title track “Promised Land” plays like an elegy to some fallen warrior, slow and mournful. I feel like these albums always come up short late in the game, but the last song “Mystic Formula” features an absolutely dazzling interplay of guitar and keys, which gives way to a somber outro. Of course that only lasts for a few minutes, because this is a band that goes out at top speed.

Verdict: Win (with a side of epic for guitar and key enthusiasts)

http://www.gaia-prelude.com/