There was a time when over-the-top metal band Cradle of Filth was known mainly for a popular T-shirt featuring a phrase about Jesus that cannot be printed in this magazine. The English band led by Dani Filth built a following in Europe in the ’90s with its combination of black metal and symphonic metal and a n extravagant highly theatrical stage show. But metal fans not well-versed in the underground scene were more likely to encounter the notorious T-shirt (which Rolling Stone once called “the most controversial shirt in rock history”) before actually hearing the band’s music.
That music is similarly dark and provocative, often incorporating a full orchestra and featuring lyrics about Satan, witchcraft and creatures of the night, inspired by everything from the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Clive Barker to renowned real-life killers Gilles de Rais and Elizabeth Bathory. The band has risen to become one of the most popular in heavy metal, and 2017 album Cryptoriana: The Seductiveness of Decay hit the top 20 on the album charts in multiple countries. Hard rock magazine Kerrang! called it “a gothic horror that makes Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein look like The Emoji Movie.” That’s exactly what a band like Cradle of Filth wants to hear.
House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, 6 p.m. March 7, starting at $32 plus tax and fee, 18+. 800.745.3000 Ticketmaster
