Review by Lisa Burke, live photos by Sergio Bastidas
February 17th 2016, The Mayan, Los Angeles CA: It’s been a pretty full month of great shows and after Black Sabbath I wasn’t sure anything could come close to topping that excitement, but then I discovered I was wrong. Wednesday February 17th, 2016 at the Mayan Theater downtown I saw my first Cradle Of Filth show. They don’t play in Los Angeles very often and when they did I clearly missed them, but I’m glad I finally got the experience because it absolutely blew me away. I mean, extreme metal which is black metal, melodic death metal, and symphonic goth metal mixed beautifully together is of my favorite metal genre to begin with, but the enhancement of the amazing vocals and range with seriously talented musicians blew my mind completely. Opening acts for this show were Australian progressive death metal band Ne Obliviscaris, and the Butcher Babies.
I didn’t know much about Ne Obliviscaris going into this surprisingly early evening, however I was extremely impressed with what they brought to the table. I could see these guys headlining an Opeth show if they were slightly less underrated. The sound at times also felt to me what I would want Trivium to sound like, meaning I always want to like Trivium because the idea behind it is there and good but I’m never overly impressed with it. Ne Obliviscaris is really technically good progressive death metal with a violin and two singers. Featuring a bass with many strings and no headstock, slow echo filled drums, and two melodic guitars, the progressive talent was abundant. What was special about these guys to me was the dynamic between the singers and the beautiful use of the violin. The main singer was more growls and screams but done in a very classy way, while the other singer was all clean vocals and he interluded it with the most beautiful violin that sounded like a woman screaming to me. Also the main singer with his beautiful long dark hair in his face was reminiscent of the girl from the movie ‘The Ring’ at certain moments of headbanging which kind of added this nice horror element to the mix because I don’t think I ever really got to see his face. All in all this was a really interesting mix of genres with completely talented members and I’d really like to see them on a headlining tour soon.
Ne Obliviscaris Set List:
01. Devour Me, Colossus (Part I): Blackholes
02. Pyrrhic
03. And Plague Flowers the Kaleidoscope
Next on this nights agenda hitting the stage before 8 PM as the second band of the evening was the Butcher Babies. These girls and dudes are similar in style to Pantera, old Korn, and Slipknot with two female vocalists who play off each other with plenty of screams to go around. The two girls give off a good stage presence, circling each other and the stage and doing jumps with one of them crowd surfing at the end, as did the singer in Ne Obliviscaris. This band has hardcore elements and plenty of anger from the singers especially when they tell the audience not to be a fucking pussy and get up there and crowd surf. If I was sixteen and never heard Arch Enemy I might be super impressed with this band, however I have seen Arch Enemy twice this year and somehow that stage presence is so in-your-face amazing that even two colorfully haired, well dressed girls with an attitude can’t top it. That said, I would like this band to feature two guitar players because one average guitar with two loud singers gets a bit lost on stage. More riffage and more guitar would add to the attitude and the fun in my opinion. I’ve seen Butcher Babies before on a few occasions and I do see some positive growth and they must be commended for getting on some really great tours such as this one and Marilyn Manson in the past. Drums and bass sounded on par with the night and the overall sound was good.
Butcher Babies Set List:
01. National Bloody Anthem
02. Blonde Girls All Look the Same
03. The Butcher
04. Gravemaker
05. Igniter
06. Jesus Needs More Babies for His War Machine
07. Monster’s Ball
08. Magnolia Blvd.
09. The Deathsurround / Goliath / I Smell a Massacre
10. Axe Wound
The crowd at this particular show and space of the venue really enhanced this entire evening as well in its perfect fit, and with a sold out show, crowd surfing becomes a necessary evil. A little interesting note on the Mayan Theater is that not only did they start this show at 6:45 PM which in the land of metal is like the crack of dawn, but also if you go upstairs the ticket price is the same but it is considered VIP so they put better quality alcohol in the well drinks and charge you upscale prices. I mean, if people are willing to fall for this, more power to them for making more money. It definitely becomes a learning experience for everyone involved. So back to the most awesome minute of the whole evening which was when Cradle Of Filth came out on stage, and Dani Filth blew my mind into tiny pieces of metal fragments with his perfect high pitched to low growl vocal range. Of course it sounds even better when the guitars and bass are out of control awesome and full of great riffs, and the drums were fantastic as well. Interestingly enough, the keyboard was in one back corner of the stage while the drums were in the other back corner and covered by a plexi glass force field around the drum set. I’m not entirely sure what that was for, I mean I imagine acoustics but everything definitely sounded great and it was kind of cute in a metal sort of way so I have no complaints. Also, each band had really fun and impressive back drops and the lighting for each group was really well done and colorful in the most appropriate ways for the style of each band. While Cradle Of Filth may have a few satanic undertones it really isn’t their agenda and they are more gothic in feel, but I suppose the singer may have eaten satan for breakfast because it does sound like demons of all shapes and sizes are being released out of his mouth the entire time in the most creative way ever. If King Diamond, Behemoth, Bathory, and At The Gates had a demon child it would be called Cradle Of Filth and it would rule all the land. Interestingly enough, I remembered watching a few girls crowd surf during Butcher Babies and then I saw one of them upstairs hair whipping and next thing you know, I found out this was her first metal show ever and she was already a pro. There is hope for our youth yet, and this girl is just part of the proof, and I was proud to have met her. Anyway, back to the show, the hair whipping on stage was great, Dani’s costume changes from red shredded cloak to leather spiky jacket to a satan and medusa-esque headpiece for the five or so encore songs completely ruled. The female keyboardist was fantastic and sang some great backup vocals as well. I’ve seen many bands live of this genre and I have to say from the excellent guitar riffs and solos, to the absolutely mind blowing vocals they topped probably everyone including King Diamond which is no easy feat to accomplish. I fell in love with whatever demons must have haunted this entire band’s soul to make them sound that amazing on this night. I left the show wishing I had enough money to buy all dozen of their albums and if you are able to see this tour don’t over think anything, just buy a god damn ticket and walk out from the best evening of metal you had in a while, and if the venue you see them at ends the show before 11 PM, you can even get a decent night’s sleep afterwards, provided you aren’t flying high on metal and can’t sleep to save your life because all you can hear in your head is that amazing voice of Lord Filth keeping you awake and entertained all night long.
Cradle Of Filth photos:
Cradle Of Filth Set List:
01. Heaven Torn Asunder
02. Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids
03. Blackest Magick in Practice
04. Lord Abortion
05. Right Wing of the Garden Triptych
06. Malice Through the Looking Glass
07. Deflowering the Maidenhead, Displeasuring the Goddess
08. Honey and Sulphur
09. Gilded Cunt
Encore:
10. Yours Immortally…
11. Nymphetamine (Fix)
12. For Your Vulgar Delectation
13. Her Ghost in the Fog
14. From the Cradle to Enslave
15. The Principle of Evil Made Flesh
Remaining Tour Dates:
3/02/2016 Bogart’s – Cincinnati, OH
3/03/2016 House Of Blues – Cleveland, OH
3/05/2016 St. Andrew’s Hall – Detroit, MI
3/06/2016 Phoenix Concert Theater – Toronto, ON
3/07/2016 Corona Theater – Montreal, QC
3/08/2016 Webster Hall – New York, NY
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