Nymphetamine | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 28 September 2004 | |||
Recorded | February–July 2004 at Parkgate Studios, Battle, East Sussex and The Chapel Studios, South Thoresby, Lincolnshire, England | |||
Genre | Extreme metal | |||
Length | 75:47 | |||
Label | Roadrunner | |||
Producer | Rob Caggiano and Cradle of Filth | |||
Cradle of Filth chronology | ||||
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Singles from Nymphetamine | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
![]() Special Edition cover |
Nymphetamine is the sixth studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. Recorded between February and July 2004,it was released on 28 September by record label Roadrunner. Nymphetamine marks the first recorded appearance of guitarist James McIlroy on a Cradle of Filth album. He would later record guitar for the band's 2010 release Darkly,Darkly,Venus Aversa . Nymphetamine is also the band's final album to feature keyboardist Martin Powell.
The title is a portmanteau of "nymphette" and "amphetamine", [1] and Dani Filth explained it as referring to "a drug-like addiction to the woman in question,with her insidious vampire qualities literally bringing her lover back from the brink of the spiritual grave,only to bury him further on the strength of a whim. This is very Edgar Allan Poe in style,and leaves one thinking that,despite the character's inner agonies,he is really a welcome submissive who readily enjoys the terrible highs and lows of his relationship with this alluring and filthy succubus." [1]
The album features guest appearances by ex-Theatre of Tragedy and Leaves' Eyes vocalist,Liv Kristine,and Doug Bradley,who starred as the cenobite Pinhead in the Hellraiser series and also collaborated on Midian .
"Mother of Abominations" begins with the chant of the phrase "Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!",which is a reference to H. P. Lovecraft's fiction,specifically the body of work encompassing the Cthulhu Mythos.
The title track appears on the album twice;in a three-part,nine-minute version ("Nymphetamine (Overdose)") and again in a shortened five-minute version ("Nymphetamine Fix").
Filth provided the following explanations for the album's individual tracks in a July 2004 press release: [1]
A harsh song demands an uncompromising title. The subject matter is simple. The "gilded cunt" refers to a spoilt dominatrix who demands worship through the acquisition of money. She is in actual fact,beneath the glitter of expensive jewellery,no more than tendered mutton dressed up as lamb. There was nothing quite as gratifying as screaming the word "cunt" at the top of one's lungs for the mid-section of this vicious little ditty. I loved it! An extremely angry song in the vein of Sepultura's Roots ,mixed with choice World Downfall tracks by Terrorizer.
In the wake of the September 11 attacks,few people could possibly remain unaware of the rising threat to world peace through concerted acts of terrorism. This song delves into the mind of one such militant and offers the reasoning behind his holy war:the needless loss of loved ones and the desire to avenge their memory against a privileged western enemy. This song seeks not to condone or encourage such retaliation,but to find an explanation. It is my personal favourite track on the album. Sounds like At the Gates meets Judas Priest meets Morbid Angel listening to "Amor e Morte".
Yet another little gothic romance embroiled around a murderer's infatuation with the dusky foreign woman of the title. I love the ending of the track,mainly because up to this point the character has only really poetic things to say about Gabrielle (although you do get the impression that something is definitely a tad sinister about his infatuation),but then everything finally darkens... The song rolls into culmination with a really Slayer-esque finale.
Two sinners reflect on their lives of decadence and pomp as they share their last drink on the very verge of the abyss. This song was inspired by a night of guilt and nostalgia (in fact I felt a little at sixes and sevens musing over all the events of the last six or seven years) and attributing our success to devilish intervention,as in the infamous Goethe story where Faust sells his soul to the Devil in return for a life of riches and splendour. It features some of my favourite lines,and sounds like Master of Puppets era Metallica.
The title track concerns itself with a love affair so intense,that although soured and dead,it ignites at the slightest sniff of re-invention. The cool thing about this song is that it is really a beast of several parts:a chimera. The main hub of the song is very lovelorn and drowsily melodic and it is these traits combined with shared female and male vocal passages that serve to highlight the plight of this,the title track of the album. However,this is offset against the first and last parts of the song,forming a darkly erotic triptych.
This track concerns itself with the priest and high priestess of a witch cult,who,through their utter devotion to themselves and the dark arts,conspire to invoke ancient forces from their graveyard slumbers,remaining as carnal gatekeepers in the interim. The lyrics join them in celebration of a triumphant return on Samhain night,when the deadways between the worlds are at their closest and most vulnerable to rupture. Sounds like "The Twisted Nails of Faith" meets early Destruction and Death in a misty cemetery.
This track is about escapism from a world ruled over by preachers,no-hopers and soul destroying vermin and the flights of fancy conjured by believing in one's own destiny (no matter what entails). A very personal lyrical content,this is about rising above the unappreciative mob with a life-affirming "fuck you!" The main harmony is the closest Cradle have got to sounding anything like classic Iron Maiden,but this song also veers towards blast-lightspeed. Though not as brutal and uncompromising as "Mother of Abominations",it is probably the fastest track on the album when and where it roars.
This song is very enigmatic. Slow,heavy and grandiose,it reeks of pomp and dark majesty,and rocks in a Sabbath,doom-laden context. Lyric-wise,it concerns itself with heritage and invigorated pride for one's own country:not in a nationalistic,fascistic sense,but in terms of rebuilding the beauty and stature of a once great nation. Obviously the title implies that nation to be England (Cradle's country of origin),but the words can be interpreted to speak of anyone's homeland that is seen to be slumping from the weight of its afflictions. Sounds like Manowar meets Cathedral,interspersed with moments of melodic reflection.
A very Lovecraftian tale about the guardian of an extraordinarily gifted beauty:a beauty who slips beyond the veil of the underworld at night to dam the rift between our world and the abyss. This she achieves by fucking everything that comes close to breaching the gap,therefore satiating demoniacal urges that want,quite literally,to rend our world apart. The twist comes when her guardian fails to resist his own desire for the beauty who,at all costs,must remain pure and untouched in our world in order that her erotically-charged spirit remain firmly hilted in the other. Any attempt to interfere with her seance will result in horrors from the pit slathering into the real world to wreak far worse atrocities than those they inflict nightly upon her gorgeous astral form. This track was never intended for the album. In all honesty it was a total rank outsider even for the special edition,until it was played to the producer,who thought it was such a catchy metal anthem that it was immediately drawn out of retirement and rehearsed vehemently at the studio to bring it up to date. Sounds like Mercyful Fate meets Motörhead at death metal's throat.
This is the second part to "Her Ghost in the Fog",and therefore follows the subsequent story of the young man avenging his woman's rape and murder at the hands of a self-styled lynch-inquisition. The original (which culminated in the man,haunted by his lover's spirit,burning those responsible alive in the village chapel) is expanded upon as he recalls the events of that fateful day. He too is then hunted by a vengeful mob in the same forest,where he converses with his lover's beautiful,but dead and rotting,body. This has a very Sleepy Hollow / Nightmare Before Christmas vibe.
A song about the great goddess Cthulhu and the awakening of her dark spirit from centuries of slumber,leading to the inevitable destruction of human existence. In truth,a continuation to Midian 's "Cthulhu Dawn". This is a very brutal track,lightning-fast and uncompromising,much like the Great Old One herself,sweeping away all before her in a colossal tidal wave of violence and millennial bloodshed. Sounds like Nightside -era Emperor meets early,fast Cradle,with extra thrash.
Nymphetamine debuted at number 89 on the Billboard Top 200 chart,selling 13,818 copies, [2] and reached number 92 in the UK Albums Chart. [3] By early 2007 Nymphetamine has sold 147,000 copies in the United States alone,making it the most successful Cradle album to date. [4] It has also been certified Gold in Europe by Independent Music Companies Association. [5] Since its release,Nymphetamine has sold more than one million copies worldwide. [6]
A music video for the "Fix" version of "Nymphetamine" was filmed by Dani Jacobs.
A Special Edition of the album was released in 2005,with an extra disc featuring two new songs,an alternate version of the title track,three cover songs,a guest appearance by King Diamond and a CD-ROM of the "Nymphetamine" promo video.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Chronicles of Chaos | 7.5/10 [8] |
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 5/10 [9] |
Metal Storm | 7/10 (2004) [10] 9/10 (2005) [11] |
AllMusic's review was favourable,calling the album "extremely entertaining". [7]
The title track was nominated for a 2004 Grammy Award in the Best Metal Performance category. [12]
"Mother of Abominations" appeared on the soundtrack to the 2005 horror film Alone in the Dark . "Coffin Fodder" is mentioned in episode four of the UK comedy television series The IT Crowd ,as track four on a gift-wrapped CD given by the goth character Richmond to a grieving widow at a funeral. "Nemesis" is featured in episode six of season five of the US comedy television series Viva La Bam (in which Dani Filth and the band make a guest appearance). "Nymphetamine" (in its short,"Fix" version) appeared on the soundtrack to Resident Evil:Apocalypse .
All lyrics are written by Dani Filth; all music is composed by Paul Allender and Martin Powell [13]
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Satyriasis (instrumental)" | 1:42 |
2. | "Gilded Cunt" | 4:08 |
3. | "Nemesis" | 7:18 |
4. | "Gabrielle" | 5:27 |
5. | "Absinthe with Faust" | 5:14 |
6. | "Nymphetamine (Overdose)" (feat. Liv Kristine) | 9:14 |
7. | "Painting Flowers White Never Suited My Palette" (instrumental) | 1:57 |
8. | "Medusa and Hemlock" | 4:44 |
9. | "Coffin Fodder" | 5:17 |
10. | "English Fire" | 4:45 |
11. | "Filthy Little Secret" | 6:16 |
12. | "Swansong for a Raven" (feat. Doug Bradley) | 7:09 |
13. | "Mother of Abominations" | 7:33 |
14. | "Nymphetamine (Fix)" (feat. Liv Kristine) | 5:02 |
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Devil Woman" (Cliff Richard cover, feat. King Diamond) | 3:38 |
2. | "Soft White Throat" | 5:40 |
3. | "Bestial Lust (Bitch)" (Bathory cover) | 2:54 |
4. | "Prey" | 4:57 |
5. | "Nymphetamine (Jezebel Deva Fix)" | 5:03 |
6. | "Mr. Crowley" (Ozzy Osbourne cover) | 5:41 |
7. | "Nymphetamine" (video) | 5:06 |
Year | Chart | Position |
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2004 | Swedish Albums Chart | 23 [14] |
German Albums Chart | 25 [15] | |
GfK Dutch Chart | 29 [16] | |
Finnish Albums Chart | 32 [17] | |
French Albums Chart | 44 [18] | |
Australian Albums Chart | 53 [19] | |
Austrian Albums Chart | 56 [20] | |
Canadian Albums Chart | 57[ citation needed ] | |
Ultratop Belgian Chart (Flanders) | 59 [21] | |
Swiss Albums Chart | 64 [22] | |
Ultratop Belgian Chart (Wallonia) | 84 [23] | |
Billboard 200 (USA) | 89 [2] | |
UK Albums Chart | 92 [3] | |
Oricon Japanese Albums Chart | 189 [24] |
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved originally from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic metal and other metal genres. Their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily influenced by Gothic literature, poetry, mythology and horror films. The band consists of its founding member, vocalist Dani Filth, drummer Martin 'Marthus' Škaroupka, bassist Daniel Firth, guitarists Marek 'Ashok' Šmerda and Donny Burbage, and keyboardist Zoe Marie Federoff.
Damnation and a Day is the fifth studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 10 March 2003 and is Cradle of Filth's only album on a major label, Sony Records, after which they transferred to Roadrunner. It features the one hundred and one-piece Budapest Film Orchestra including the forty-piece Budapest Film Choir. The album is partly based on John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost.
The Principle of Evil Made Flesh is the debut studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 24 February 1994 through Cacophonous Records, following three demos released between 1991 and 1993. The album's sound is significantly more raw than on subsequent releases, and frontman Dani Filth's vocals differ from his later style and technique. The album is a then-unusual hybrid of gothic metal and black metal. This would be the only album featuring guitarist Paul Ryan and keyboardist Benjamin Ryan; guitarist Paul Allender also left the band at this point, but returned five years later for Midian.
Dusk... and Her Embrace is the second studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on August 28, 1996. and is their first release on the label Music for Nations.
Cruelty and the Beast is the third studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth, released on 5 May 1998 by Music for Nations. It is a concept album based on the legend of the Hungarian "blood countess" Elizabeth Báthory and features guest narration by actress Ingrid Pitt in-character as Báthory, a role she first played in the Hammer Horror film Countess Dracula in 1971.
Daniel Lloyd Davey, known professionally as Dani Filth, is an English singer who is the lead vocalist, lyricist and founding member of the extreme metal band Cradle of Filth.
Midian is the fourth studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 30 October 2000, through Music for Nations. The album marks the return of guitarist Paul Allender to the band, as well as the introduction of drummer Adrian Erlandsson and keyboard player Martin Powell. It also features Doug Bradley as the narrator for various songs.
From the Cradle to Enslave is the second EP by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth, released on 30 October 1999 by record labels Music for Nations (Europe) and Metal Blade (US).
Bitter Suites to Succubi is the third EP by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 22 May 2001, through the band's own Abracadaver label.
Lovecraft & Witch Hearts is a compilation album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth, released on 13 May 2002 by record label Music for Nations.
Babalon A.D. is a DVD single by Cradle of Filth, released on 3 March 2003 by record label Sony.
Thornography is the seventh studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 17 October 2006, by record label Roadrunner. It was produced by former Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano, engineered by Dan Turner and mixed by Andy Sneap, and once again features narration by Doug Bradley. It is Cradle of Filth's second album as a five-piece, as keyboardist Martin Powell left the band in 2005. This would also be the band's final album to feature drummer Adrian Erlandsson, and the only full-length to feature guitarist Charles Hedger.
Cradle of Filth was formed in Suffolk, England, in 1991. The band's original members consisted of vocalist Dani Filth, guitarist Paul Ryan, keyboardist Ben Ryan, bassist John Pritchard and drummer Darren Gardner. With this line-up, Cradle of Filth recorded a demo in 1992, titled Invoking the Unclean. Soon after, they recorded their second demo, Orgiastic Pleasures Foul with new guitarist Robin Eaglestone and new drummer Was Sarginson. Robin left the band shortly afterwards, but following the departure of John Pritchard, Eaglestone returned to take his place as bassist. Guitarist Paul Allender joined the band at the same time. Following these changes, another demo was recorded, titled Total Fucking Darkness. Sarginson left the band soon after, paving the way for the entry of drummer Nicholas Barker.
Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder is the eighth studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 28 October 2008, through record label Roadrunner. It is the band's fourth concept album, after Cruelty and the Beast (1998), Midian (2000), and Damnation and a Day (2003), dealing with the life of the 15th-century French baron Gilles de Rais.
Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa is the ninth studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 1 November 2010 by record label Peaceville and is a concept album centred on the demon Lilith. It is Cradle of Filth's only album to feature keyboardist Ashley Ellyllon, and is also the band's final album with Dave Pybus as their bass player and James McIlroy as their second guitar player.
Midnight in the Labyrinth is an orchestral compilation album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. The re-recorded songs selected are from the band's first four releases. The title comes from the lyrics of "Mistress from the Sucking Pit", a bonus track on some editions of Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa.
Evermore Darkly... is the fourth EP by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth, released in October 2011. A companion piece to the 2010 album Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa, it contains two new tracks in "Transmission from Hell" and "Thank Your Lucky Scars", plus demo versions of some Venus Aversa tracks. An orchestral version of "Summer Dying Fast" is also included as a taster for the subsequent Midnight in the Labyrinth collection. The CD was originally packaged with a DVD containing a documentary, a live show from 25 June 2011's Graspop festival, and the promo video for "Lilith Immaculate".
The Manticore and Other Horrors is the tenth studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 29 October 2012 in Europe and on 30 October in USA. It is the band's only album as a three-man group rather than its six-man staple. It was also the last release with Paul Allender on guitar, who departed the band for a second time in April 2014.
Hammer of the Witches is the eleventh studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 10 July 2015 and is their first release under record label Nuclear Blast. Hammer of the Witches features the band's new line-up following the departure of Paul Allender and James McIlroy, which includes new guitarists Marek 'Ashok' Šmerda and Richard Shaw and new keyboardist and female vocalist Lindsay Schoolcraft.
Devilment are a British gothic metal/groove metal band originally formed in late 2011 by guitarist Daniel Finch. The band experienced problems finding a stable vocalist until Dani Filth from the extreme metal band Cradle of Filth joined. They released their first studio album, The Great and Secret Show, in November 2014.