CRADLE OF FILTH: 'Hammer Of The Witches' Track Listing, Formats Revealed

April 30, 2015

British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH will release their eleventh studio album, "Hammer Of The Witches", in July via Nuclear Blast. The cover artwork for the CD can be seen below.

"Hammer Of The Witches" will be made available on jewel case CD, limited-edition digipak, mail-order edition and 2LP vinyl.

"Hammer Of The Witches" track listing:

01. Walpurgis Eve
02. Yours Immortally…
03. Enshrined In Crematoria
04. Deflowering The Maidenhead, Displeasuring The Goddess
05. Blackest Magick In Practice
06. The Monstrous Sabbat (Summoning The Coven)
07. Hammer Of The Witches
08. Right Wing Of The Garden Triptych
09. The Vampyre At My Side
10. Onward Christian Soldiers
11. Blooding The Hounds Of Hell

Limited-edition digipak cd and vinyl bonus tracks:

12. King Of The Woods
13. Misericord

CRADLE OF FILTH vocalist Dani Filth states: "The artwork for 'Hammer Of The Witches' was created by Latvian artist Arthur Berzinsh and is a lavish walk-through of the lyricism, drawing on rich renaissance themes and displaying them in beautiful-yet-unsettling scenarios. Half of the detailed pieces are totally original for the release, others are Berzinsh classics cunningly tailored to the themes of the album, which are themes rife with heady witchcraft, be it persecution, retribution or unfettered spiritual liberation. The female form is rampant throughout the artwork, unashamedly displayed in its classical rendition of beauty... and horror."

Arthur Berzinsh is best known for his defiant neo-symbolism raster graphics and oil paintings, postmodern interpretations of classic myths and refined hooliganism in the playground of contemporary art. He has been proclaimed as a "sacred monster of Latvian postmodernism." And rightly so, his visually expressive and mannerly works tend to trigger emotions which can make thoughts fidget and wriggle, unable to find a comfortable position among the impressions gathered. His creative work is characterized by a varied range of voluptuous erotica, intensified imagery, dream-like scenes and decorativeness weighed down by visual metaphors and contrasts teetering on the edge of symbolism.

Arthur Berzinsh explains his artwork and concepts: "In terms of mood, I was looking for the inspiration of this set in the spirit of Faustian romanticism, the ambivalent art of renaissance that reanimated motives of pagan mythology after the Middle Ages, and, of course, the darkly beautiful and charming spirit of Goetia traditions that is filled with the atmosphere of hermetical rituals.

"My personal conceptual leitmotif that inspires me is a conflict between the free-thinking and totalitarianism, where the raw power always gains the upper hand over individualism.

"The act of art is a theurgical act that creates existence in the Platonic reality — reality of ideas. So, at least in this Platonic dimension let’s give the suppressed ones a chance to get their revenge.

"For me, the Goat of Mendes on the cover symbolizes the scapegoat who's tired of his humiliating role and wants a payback. This character is an archetypical symbol of libido and other primordial forces and instinctive aspects of a human being. And these forces always have been a menace for those who want to reign over the others, like it's schematically represented in George Orwell's '1984'."

CRADLE OF FILTH have been ensconced in creative purgatory for the last few weeks in Britain's darkest rural Suffolk, busy finishing the recording of their album at the reputedly haunted Grindstone Studios. It has been three years since the release of their previous album — the longest gap in the band's history. And the wait is almost over.

"Hammer Of The Witches" will mark the first release with CRADLE OF FILTH's new lineup, which includes new guitarists Ashok (of Czech groups ROOT and INNER FEAR) and Richard Shaw (of English acts EMPEROR CHUNG and NG26).

Dani Filth recently told Australia's "Rabid Noise" podcast about the band's upcoming album: "It's sounding amazing. It's gone back to the twin-guitar harmonies — very fast and ornate and atmospherically sppoky, but [with] lots of melody. I think it's gonna surprise a lot of people."

CRADLE OF FILTH is:

Dani Filth - Vocals
Richard Shaw - Guitar
Ashok - Guitar
Daniel Firth - Bass
Martin Skaroupka - Drums
Lindsay Schoolcraft - Keys, Female Vocals

Band photo courtesy of CRADLE OF FILTH's Facebook page

cradleoffilthhammercdcover

Find more on Cradle of filth
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).