On a chilly New York night, legions of fans gathered under the moonless
sky to witness the return of the British beasts of extermination, Cradle of Filth. They ascended to a sold-out Irving Plaza to witness the destruction during the Cryptoriana – The Second Coming Of Vice tour, which is a continuation of support for their 2017 album, Cryptoriana –The Seductiveness of Decay. Supporting the tour were Hollywood shock rockers, Wednesday 13 and LA’s own Dark Metal carnies, Raven Black. Together, they put on an unforgettable show.

In a crowded venue, the show started off headstrong with an intriguing
performance by Dark Metallers, Raven Black. Their set was really interesting as it incorporated a lot of elements in terms of visuals as well as sound. This band really came out with the props including an adorable teddy bear named Axel. The band presented themselves very well visually and you can tell that they put a lot of thought into their presentation. If I had to describe it, the best way to put is to imagine a Gothic Lolita themed circus. The band is also fronted by Raven, who while tiny in stature, packed a pretty powerful voice. What I also noticed about them was their ability to keep the room pack and resonate with the crowd.

Up next was Wednesday 13 who gave a pretty solid performance. If you remember
that scene from the Rob Zombie film House of 1000 Corpses where resident clown, Captain Spaulding, took the quartet of normies on creepy tour of his “Museum of Monsters and Madmen,” those visuals best describe a Wednesday 13 set. What I loved the most about it is that the lighting heavily complimented the glow in the dark makeup the band wore, which helped them execute their illusionary visuals including Wednesday 13’s backwards face mask. The band managed to help get the crowd really riled up in preparation for Cradle of Filth with the fans helping the band end their set with a huge circle pit.

Then it was time for the headliners, Cradle of Filth, who transformed the stage
at Irving Plaza into a scene from a gothic abyss. The band filed onto stage one-by-one to the sound of the ‘End Title (All The Power)’ by Jerry Goldsmith from the movie 1978 film ‘The Omen II.’ After Dani Filth stepped onto the stage, mayhem ensued as the band opened their set with ‘Gilded Cunt.’ The crowd went insane with this extreme opener and immediately formed a ridiculous pit. The crowd continued to go wild when the band performed ‘Right Wing Of The Garden Triptych’ which made my blood boil with passion. The orchestral melodies accompanied by Lindsay Schoolcraft’s angelic voice captivated me. This was my first time seeing Cradle of Filth perform live after being a fan of them for so many years and I was extremely impressed by the incredible vocal range of both Lindsay and Dani Filth. Their vocal range was spectacular, especially during this song. The song also increased the intensity of the set as moshing turned into non-stop crowd surfing. The crowd also went absolutely ballistic during ‘Heartbreak and Séance’ and mellowed out during ‘Bathory Aria.’

The band did an intermission before returning to the stage and continued laying their
path of destruction with ‘The Promise Of Fever.’ The crowd then went completely ape shit when the band performed their classic ‘Saffron’s Curse.’ They also joined the band and sang in unison while the band performed their bone-chilling classic ‘Nymphetamine (Fix).’ For the grand finale, the band performed their classic hit ‘Her Ghost In The Fog,’ which drove the crowd wild. After showing their devoted fans their appreciation, the band retreated into the abyss.

WORDS BY KIM GILL

PHOTOS BY OMAR CORDY