At this point what do you even call Cradle of Filth? If you’re one of those black metal purists who will only listen to necro-fi recordings recorded in a forest with a tattered extension cord stealing electrical currents from the parents of one-man band bedrooms¹you probably shrugged the band off ages ago. Even fans of the band’s symphonic gothic black metal melange probably had a hard time somewhere around the time of their leap to Sony for Damnation and a Day and Roadrunner for Nymphetamine and its followups. Whatever your hangup, I’m here to tell you that for the last 10 years Dani Filth and Co. have been bringing the unrighteous metal might, and The Screaming of the Valkyries continues the trend of being distinctly CoF even as it consumes more thrash and melodic influences. Come live deliciously with me below the jump.

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At Nine Circles we go on and on about the Norwegian metal scene thanks to teeny, tiny signifiers like the birth of second wave black metal and labels like Pelagic leading the post-metal charge. But did you know there was, and is, a massive progressive rock scene there, too? It’s true; even Bandcamp thinks so! If I’m not here writing about trad and stoner metal, chances are I’m chasing down prog by the likes of bands like Wobbler and Tusmørke. But out of the crop of fresh blood peeking out across the country Sykofant has been one of my favorite bands to don the tag. Too many bands forget the “rock” part of the genre, content to rest on the laurels of the 1970s UK pioneers who built the genre. Sykofant never forget, and their new EP Red Sun is another testament to that fact.

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