I must have years to focus seriously on a new release of Cradle Of Filth. I mean to listen to it a lot and finally buy it, as I had done in previous cases. Maybe because they did not excite me much in their latest works, maybe because they are not my cup of tea anymore compared to the past. The same eventually happened with their thirteenth full-length album.
With a rather different and much more pessimistic title than we are used to, as well as one of the most extreme covers they have presented to us, “Existence Is Futile” is a multifaceted blend of various musical influences. Something that has been happening in the band’s releases for years anyway, since black metal is an old story. We are basically talking about a symphonic metal album, mostly in mid-tempo. There are of course some fast outbursts in a thrashy style, while there are also several classic heavy touches in some very nice riffs and melodies.
The keyboards create enchanting gothic atmospheres, to which Anabelle Iratni contributes beautifully, in her first participation in the band. Dani Filth of course could not do anything different from what we all expect and I confess that to this day I am impressed by his unearthly vocals. He also uses in more theatrical ones in the form of recitations that perfectly match the general atmosphere of the album.
Of course, at the beginning I wrote that I was not excited and despite all the good work that has been done here, this is the truth. “Existence Is Futile” has eleven songs (nine in the basic version plus two bonuses) and three short intros/interludes and lasts one hour and ten minutes. Those of you who have read other articles by me, will find it tedious to keep whining about it, but an album that long will hardly be able to keep my interest. The fact that I interrupted the listening twice to watch the new episodes of The Sinner and Hawkeye, I think says it all.
Maybe it’s the fact that even separately, I did not find a song to impress me and make me focus more on what I was listening to. Also, as I said at the beginning, I cannot compare it with the latest works of the band since I do not remember them. But I have to congratulate them for the fact that thirty years after their beginning they sound so creative. However, I believe that “Existence Is Futile” is a nice symphonic metal album, with the necessary addition of extreme elements, and COF fans will find it more interesting than me.
