Dani Filth explained the album’s title thus: “This title represents mankind’s obsession with sin and self. The thorn combines images of that which troubled Christ, the Crown of Thorns, thus intimating man’s seeming desire to hurt God and also, of the protecting thorn and the need to enclose a secret place or the soul from attack. An addiction to self-punishment or something equally poisonous. A mania. Twisted desires. Barbed dreams. A fetish. An obsession with cruelty. Savage nature. Paganism over Christianity. The title can also represent a sexual attraction to religious iconography as in the case of the ‘possessed’ Loudun nuns. I like the title because to me it invokes images of a darker, sexier pre-Raphaelite scene wherein Sleeping Beauty’s castle is won and she is awoken by a poisonous kiss. A darker, more adult fairytale.”[1]

Paul Allender told Terrorizer magazine, “There are quite a few guitar solos on this album. To be honest, I’ve never really classed myself as a lead player as such, but this is the first time I’ve sat down and seriously practiced lead work. I’ve been so involved in actually writing new material and coming up with song structures that I haven’t had time to practice all the frilly things that go on top of it. Up ’till now, there hasn’t really been much room for guitar solos as such. The riffs we write, they’re not riffs that are meant to be soloed on top of. They’re melodic within themselves. But I’m a great believer that less is definitely more. I love listening to all the shreddy, widdly stuff, but I have no interest in playing it. This new album is quite guitar-orientated. The last album was, but this is definitely more melodic. Dare I say it, there are quite a lot of typical Maiden-esque harmonies in there.” [2]

In news posted on the official Cradle of Filth website in mid May 2006, it was revealed that the planned artwork for Thornography had been vetoed by Roadrunner Records. A replacement was soon forthcoming (see box), although numerous CD booklets had already been printed with the original image. Dani Filth stated in an interview with Metal Hammer that the controversy was over the nakedness of the female figure’s legs on the original cover: “When we put the original next to the new version, it was so slightly changed… The nymph’s skirt was a little longer. It was like a game of spot the difference”. Charles Hedger told Gothtronic.com that the new cover “is practically the same… A lot of Americans are really religious and Roadrunner were basically saying that Wal-Mart was not going to take Cradle albums with that on the cover. But Wal-Mart never takes Cradle albums anyhow, so it doesn’t make any difference.”[3]

Three cover versions were recorded during the album’s sessions, namely Samhain’s “Hallowe’en 2″, Shakespears Sister’s “Stay”, and Heaven 17′s “Temptation”. “Hallowe’en 2″ (renamed “HW2″) was released on the Underworld: Evolution soundtrack, and is the first Cradle track to feature clean vocals by Dani. It is included as a bonus track on the Japanese release of the album. “Temptation” is part of Thornography’s finalised track listing, and features vocals by Dirty Harry. Harry also stars in the promo video for the track, which was released a week before the album as a digital single. “Stay” surfaced in early 2008 on the Harder, Darker, Faster re-release (see below). Press releases by both Liv Kristine[4] and Cradle themselves[5] announced that “Stay” would be Kristine’s second guest vocal spot with the band (following “Nymphetamine”). Adrian Erlandsson later confirmed however that the duet never actually took place, although versions were recorded with both Harry and Sarah Jezebel Deva.[6] The latter is the version included on the re-release.

Early reports during the album’s production process mentioned a track called “The Flora of Nightfall, The Fauna of War”.[7] It is unknown which track this was the working title for, although the words appear as a lyric in “Cemetery and Sundown”.

The album was leaked to p2p and torrent internet sources a month before its official release date.

[edit] Press reviews
“…Nails the formula they’ve been banging away at since 1999′s From the Cradle to Enslave EP: sharp, slick, elegant, focused, catchy, accessible heavy gothic metal, with the dark romantic schtick still present, but reined in and more explicitly parodic…” (Chris Chantler, Terrorizer issue 150, November 2006)
“…The black magic for which they’re usually so dependable is in short supply… If there was a word to sum Thornography up, it would be “incomplete”…” (Nick Ruskell, Kerrang! issue 1130, October 21, 2006)
“…Undoubtedly their heaviest and most guitar-dominated record in many years… “Temptation” is ridiculous and best avoided…” (Dave Ling, Metal Hammer issue 159, November 2006)

[edit] Track listing
“Under Pregnant Skies She Comes Alive Like Miss Leviathan” (Instrumental) – 1:40
“Dirge Inferno” – 4:53
“Tonight in Flames” – 5:55
“Libertina Grimm” – 5:51
“The Byronic Man” [ft. Ville Valo] – 5:03
“I Am the Thorn” – 7:06
“Cemetery and Sundown” – 5:37
“Lovesick for Mina” – 7:00
“The Foetus of a New Day Kicking” – 3:43
“Rise of the Pentagram” (Instrumental) – 7:02
“Under Huntress Moon” – 6:58
“Temptation” (Heaven 17 cover) [ft. Dirty Harry] – 3:47
“HW2″ (Samhain cover) (Japanese release only) – 3:38
All lyrics by Dani Midget Filth
All music except track 9 composed by Cradle of Filth
Track 9 composed by Paul Allender
Tracks 3 and 10 feature narration by Doug Bradley.

It was nominated for a 2005 Grammy award in the Best Metal Performance category, [1] and appears on the album twice; in a three-part, nine minute version -”Nymphetamine (Overdose)” – and again in a shortened five minute version – “Nymphetamine Fix” – as a bonus track. A video was released for the “Fix” version, and this track also appears on the soundtrack for the film Resident Evil: Apocalypse (without its suffix).

“Coffin Fodder” is mentioned in episode four of the UK comedy The IT Crowd. “Swansong for a Raven” is a sequel to the Midian song “Her Ghost in the Fog”.

The album features guest appearances by ex Theatre of Tragedy and current Leaves’ Eyes vocalist Liv Kristine, and Doug Bradley, who starred as the cenobite Pinhead in the Hellraiser series and also collaborated on Midian.

It was re-released as a special edition in 2005, with an extra disc featuring two new songs, an alternate version of the title track, three cover songs, and a CD-ROM of the “Nymphetamine” promo video.

[edit] Track listing
“Satyriasis” (Instrumental) – 1:42
“Gilded Cunt” – 4:08
“Nemesis” – 7:18
“Gabrielle” – 5:27
“Absinthe with Faust” – 5:14
“Nymphetamine (Overdose)” – 9:14
“Painting Flowers White Never Suited My Palette” (Instrumental) – 1:57
“Medusa and Hemlock” – 4:44
“Coffin Fodder” – 5:17
“English Fire” – 4:45
“Filthy Little Secret” – 6:16
“Swansong for a Raven” – 7:09
“Mother of Abominations” – 7:33
“Nymphetamine Fix” – 5:04

Narration on the first track of each section is by David McEwen, who played Kemper in Cradle of Fear and appeared in the video for Her Ghost in the Fog, miming Doug Bradley’s vocals.

This is the first Cradle album to feature only one full-time guitar player, as original guitarist Gian Pyres quit the band shortly before the writing and recording process. Keyboardist Martin Powell played session guitars for the album.

In addition to the Miltonic arc the album also features stand-alone tracks such as the Nile tribute[1] “Doberman Pharaoh” and the Aleister Crowley-influenced “Babalon AD (So Glad For The Madness)”.

The album spawned two DVD singles for the songs “Babalon AD (So Glad For The Madness)” and “Mannequin”. The former was directed by Wiz (who had previously worked with Marilyn Manson), and was modelled on Pier Paolo Pasolini’s notorious film Salò; an adaptation of the Marquis de Sade’s The 120 Days of Sodom. The latter, reminiscent of the films of Jan Švankmajer, was directed by Thomas Mignone, and featured stop motion animation by George Higham.

Their cover of Cliff Richard’s Devil Woman was originally recorded during the Damnation and a Day recordings, but only surfaced on the special edition of Nymphetamine in 2005, re-recorded and with some of the lyrics altered (feminine ways became nymphetamine ways). This was because the band were unhappy with the original recordings they did of the track.[2]

Track listing
I. Fantasia Down

“A Bruise Upon the Silent Moon” (Intro) – 2:03
“The Promise of Fever” – 5:58
“Hurt and Virtue” – 5:23
“An Enemy Led the Tempest” – 6:11
II. Paradise Lost

“Damned in Any Language (A Plague on Words)” (Intro) – 1:58
“Better to Reign in Hell” – 6:11
“Serpent Tongue” – 5:10
“Carrion” – 4:42
III. Sewer Side Up

“The Mordant Liquor of Tears” (Intro) – 2:35
“Presents from the Poison-Hearted” – 6:19
“Doberman Pharaoh” – 6:03
“Babalon A.D. (So Glad for the Madness)” – 5.39
IV. The Scented Garden

“A Scarlet Witch Lit the Season” (Intro) – 1:34
“Mannequin” – 4:27
“Thank God for the Suffering” – 6:13
“The Smoke of Her Burning” – 5:00
“End of Daze” (Outro) – 1:24

[edit] Eleven Burial Masses
A 2007 release by Peaceville Records combines the first disc of Live Bait for the Dead with the Heavy, Left-Handed and Candid DVD (minus the bonus features). The “eleven” of the title does not take into account the instrumentals “The Ceremony Opens” and “Creatures That Kissed in Cold Mirrors”.

[edit] Track listing
Disc 1 / Eleven Burial Masses (CD and DVD)

The Ceremony Opens (Intro)

Lord Abortion

Ebony Dressed for Sunset

The Forest Whispers My Name

Cthulhu Dawn

Dusk and Her Embrace

The Principle of Evil Made Flesh (misprinted on the cover as “The Principal Of Evil Made Flesh”)
Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids

Her Ghost in the Fog

Summer Dying Fast

Creatures that Kissed in Cold Mirrors

From the Cradle to Enslave

Queen of Winter, Throned

Disc 2 (Live Bait for the Dead only)

Born in a Burial Gown (The Polished Coffin mix)

No Time to Cry (Sisters of No Mercy mix)

Funeral in Carpathia (Soundcheck Recording)

Deleted Scenes of a Snuff Princess

Scorched Earth Erotica (Original Demo(n) Version)

Nocturnal Supremacy (Soundcheck Recording)

From the Cradle to Enslave (Under Martian Rule mix)

The Fire Still Burns (Twisted Sister cover)

Disc One (Lovecraft) consists of album tracks from their Music For Nations back-catalogue. Disc Two (Witch Hearts) consists of extra tracks culled from limited and import editions of their MFN releases (e.g. the two-disc version of Cruelty and the Beast), along with some remixes.

“Dinner at Deviant’s Palace” is actually The Lord’s Prayer played backwards.

On the special edition version of the CD, the track listing spells “Scorched Earth Erotica” as “Scorched Earth Erotics”.

[edit] Track listing
“Sin Deep My Wicked Angel” (Instrumental) – 2:23
“All Hope in Eclipse” – 6:39
“Born in a Burial Gown” – 4:46
“Summer Dying Fast” – 5:21
“No Time to Cry” (Sisters of Mercy cover) – 3:22
“The Principle of Evil Made Flesh” – 4:49
“Suicide and Other Comforts” – 6:57
“Dinner at Deviant’s Palace” (Instrumental) – 2:59
“The Black Goddess Rises II” – 7:22
“Scorched Earth Erotica” – 4:56

In the Bible, the Midianites are an Arab tribe descended from Abraham, and Midian itself is where Moses spent his forty-year exile from Egypt. The Midianites take their name, in the Bible, from Midian, a son of Abraham and one of his concubines. Today, the former territory of Midian is found through small portions of western Saudi Arabia, southern Jordan, southern Israel and the Sinai. The people of Midian are also mentioned extensively in the Quran, where the name appears in Arabic as Madyan. The Midian of Cabal and Nightbreed is a hidden city offering shelter for monsters away from humanity.

The song “Cthulhu Dawn” invokes the character from horror writer H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Many other heavy metal bands – including Metallica, Morbid Angel, and Bal-Sagoth – have namechecked Cthulhu.

The opening line of “Lord Abortion” (“care for a little necrophilia, hm?”) is a quote from Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (voiced by Kim Greist in the film but delivered here by Toni King, Dani Filth’s wife).

The title of the song “Amor E Morte” is Latin for “Love and Death”. [1]

“Her Ghost in the Fog” spawned both a video directed by Alex Chandon (which received heavy rotation on MTV2 and other rock channels), and a sequel in Nymphetamine’s “Swansong for a Raven”.

[edit] Track listing
“At the Gates of Midian” – 2:21
“Cthulhu Dawn” – 4:17
“Saffron’s Curse” – 6:32
“Death Magick for Adepts” – 5:53
“Lord Abortion” – 6:51
“Amor E Morte” – 6:44
“Creatures that Kissed in Cold Mirrors” – 3:00
“Her Ghost in the Fog” – 6:24
“Satanic Mantra” – 0:51
“Tearing the Veil from Grace” – 8:13
“Tortured Soul Asylum” – 7:46
“For Those Who Died” (Sabbat cover with guest vocals by Martin Walkyier) (Japanese Bonus Track) – 6:16
All music by Cradle of Filth

All lyrics by Dani Filth, except for “For Those Who Died”

From the Cradle to Enslave was the first of Cradle of Filth’s songs to have an accompanying video. The video was directed by Alex Chandon, who also made the film Cradle of Fear, starring Dani Filth. It featured explicit images of nudity and gore and was released in two versions, edited and unedited. Both versions can be found on the PanDaemonAeon DVD.

This was the first official Cradle release to attract the Parental Advisory warning.

Dani Filth revealed his antipathy towards the title track in Kerrang! issue 1130: “We have to play it at every gig… I’d like to erase it, so I wouldn’t have to play it again. After a while you just want to play something different. There’s something about the hook that just strikes a chord of fear down my spine.”

[edit] Track listing
“From the Cradle to Enslave” – 6:37
“Of Dark Blood and Fucking” – 6:02
“Death Comes Ripping” (Misfits cover) – 1:57
“Sleepless” (Anathema cover) – 4:19
“Perverts Church (From the Cradle to Deprave)” (Remix of FTCTE only on European release) – 4:58
“Funeral in Carpathia (Be Quick or Be Dead Version)” – 8:08
The American release features “Dawn of Eternity” (Massacre cover) instead of “Perverts Church”.

The track “Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids” has remained a staple of the band’s live setlist since the album’s release.

Track listing
“Once Upon Atrocity” – 1:42
“Thirteen Autumns and a Widow” – 7:14
“Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids” – 7:18
“Beneath the Howling Stars” – 7:42
“Venus in Fear” – 2:20
“Desire in Violent Overture” – 4:16
“The Twisted Nails of Faith” – 6:50
“Báthory Aria” – 11:02
“Benighted Like Usher”
“A Murder of Ravens in Fugue”
“Eyes That Witnessed Madness”
“Portrait of the Dead Countess” – 2:52
“Lustmord and Wargasm (The Lick of Carnivorous Winds)” – 7:30
All music by Cradle of Filth
All lyrics by Dani Filth

Orchestral sounds (although mostly synthesized) are more fully integrated into the arrangements here than on the previous two releases, although there are fewer purely instrumental tracks than on the previous full album The Principle of Evil Made Flesh. The album climaxes with a guest speech from Venom’s Cronos on the final track, “Haunted Shores”.

[edit] Track listing
All music written by Cradle of Filth.

All lyrics by Dani Filth.

“Humana Inspired to Nightmare” – 1:23
“Heaven Torn Asunder” – 7:04
“Funeral in Carpathia” – 8:24
“A Gothic Romance (Red Roses for the Devil’s Whore)” – 8:35
“Malice Through the Looking Glass” – 5:30
“Dusk and Her Embrace” – 6:09
“The Graveyard by Moonlight” – 2:28
“Beauty Slept in Sodom” – 6:32
“Haunted Shores” – 7:04
The two extra tracks that came with the special edition Coffin Box Set are
10. “Hell Awaits” (Slayer Cover) – 5:38
11. “Carmilla’s Masque” – 2:54

The Digipack version has the extra track between track 4 and 5
5. “Nocturnal Supremacy ’96″ – 5:58