Cradle Of Filth, Infected Rain @ The Gov, Adelaide 25/9/2024
Darkened skies above, a wicked chill in the air, the eerie silence of nature long gone. It must be the imminent return of Cradle Of Filth.
To normal people it’s been five long years since the Filth darkened the stages of Adelaide, to the legions of face painted corpse graveyard dwelling legions here tonight, it has been akin to being trapped inside one of Edgar Allan Poe’s nightmares for eternity.
While Cradle of Filth rest in their coffins for when the eternal darkness arrives, Moldovan four piece Infected Rain do add a splash of colour to the evening. Led by Elena ‘Lena Scissorhands’ Cataraga, they are venomous and powerful. I tend to stay away from gender explaining at shows however there is something intensely powerful with the female gutturals from Lena which scares when matching with the angelic melodic singing.
Showing up as demons themselves though, the Medusa looking group do match intimidation with gut wrenching lyrics and performance, best shown with the emotive Because I Let You, the expressive Lena performing as a tragically in pain contortionist. The crowd for their part, already packed out, are fully invested and when you can get a room full of devil minded anarchists to do the ol’ ‘get down and jump up’ routine, you’ve won them over.
You can hear the coffin doors creak, the rats scurrying away, the torches being lit as Cradle Of Filth arrive on stage. Last on stage – under a hooded cloak – is the enigmatic front man Dani Filth. Once he presents himself to the masses, he becomes powerful, enormous even, on his pulpit before he and his band give sermon.
They are best described as horror opera. Each song a storytelling of Dante-esq desperation. The keyboards from Zoe Federoff sweeping and underscoring the epic and furious guitars from Ashok and Donny Burbage that deliver music as you move through the stages of hell.
Saffron’s Hell has Filth deliver his universally known vocal range, She Is A Fire actually has a quite a rocking riff underneath the theatre with the packed room sounding large like a British football crowd.
Even though the stage is built out for the band, the six piece don’t have much room to spread their bat wings, focussing on channelling the aggression forward in magical spell casting as the momentous range of sonic sounds in Dusk And Her Embrace are performed.
Filth obviously is a great front man who plays the part of the evil king extremely well. The enthusiasm from himself and therefore for the crowd for frivolity is delightful. He is also a walking wardrobe of macabre outfits that Vivienne Westwood wished she had designed.
The encore from the band has a battle vested Filth enchanting the crowd once more through Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids and the rich From Cradle to Enslave. A set list that twists throughout their career, delivered on a vehicle with steeds from hell at the front on guitars, spiked wheels at the side in drums and keyboards while ridden all the way home by Dani Filth.
Dangerous, devious, and devilishly delightful, that was tonight’s show with Cradle of Filth and Infected Rain.
Live Review By Iain McCallum