I forgot that I had not written about this one. Back in May, I had an occasion to head to Lincoln, my hometown, to see a band that has been on my wish list for some time. I am talking about Cradle of Filth, one of the first extreme metal bands I got into. They were accompanied by Suffocation (who I have seen before), Ghost Bath and Cultus Black. The venue was the Bourbon Theater, a converted movie theater in downtown Lincoln.
I am just going to tackle the two openers together, because I do not have a lot to say about either one. Cultus Black was pretty much terrible. Basically a Slipknot clone with even more cliche lyrics and music. They apparently identify as a cult, which is simply ridiculous. Ghost Bath was next and they are pretty much the definition of hipster black metal. The music was fine, if sort of boring. The band does not really do anything that groups like White Ward do a hundred times better.
Suffocation was next and they are essentially a tribute band to themselves at this time. I do not think they have a single original member left, and many of the members were different than when I saw them the first time. Nevertheless, they put on a hell of a brutal show. I did text my wife that all of the goth kids in the crowd from before were conspicuously absent during the Suffocation portion of the show. Nothing like brutal death metal to scare off the unprepared.
Finally, Cradle of Filth took the stage. They performed a hell of a set that covered most of their albums from their thirty-plus year career. They have a new album out that I do not yet have, but I recognized everything else that was played. Dani Filth's voice is not as powerful as it once was, particularly in the higher register, but he is still an effective frontman. And his sense of humor is as sharp as ever. He once said that everyone should be drinking during the concert because the band sounds better when the crowd is drunk. While I would have preferred to see Cradle of Filth ten or fifteen years ago, they were damn good.
