Also, a welcome addition to the Filth crew is Ashley Ellyllon, formerly of Abigail Williams on keyboards along with guitarist James Mcilroy, who only adds even more 'metal' to the sound of Cradle along with Paul Allender. They aren't as profound but still bring out the best symphonic elements. For one, the orchestral elements are much clearer, just like they were on Damnation and a Day. While listening to Aversa, one may say, "This sounds a lot like Godspeed." True, the guitars and drums (still handled by skinsman Martin Skaroupka), have that similar heavy, pulsating feel that the former album had, but there are lots of changes to distinguish the two albums. Cradle's story in Darkly, Darkly Venus Aversa is certainly delightful and as intriguing as their last plight on Gilles De Rais from their Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder album, but the music unfortunately doesn't always support that notion. No one really knows what happened to her after her banishment. This time, Cradle takes the listener on a journey about Lilith, Adam's supposed first wife who was cast out by God because she was too sexually deviant and headstrong, refusing to submit to Adam's status as a man. Almost every album that they've written has revolved around great figures, or works, of literature, from Countess Bathory to Milton's Paradise Lost to nobleman-turned-deviant, Gilles De Rais. However, if there is one thing that fans can really get out of Filth's creativity, it is their sense of literacy. all sorts of genres in between, they're loved and hated all over for numerous reasons. Heralded as black metal, symphonic metal, heavy metal. Venus Aversa is an excellent story, but lacks the usual Cradle eccentricitiesĬradle of Filth are the paragons (or perhaps renegades) of the British UK metal scene.