Limited 180gm flesh tone-colored vinyl LP pressing of this 1996 album. V Empire was Cradle of Filth's second official release, following The Principle of Evil Made Flesh. Despite the circumstances in which it was written and recorded, it was well received by critics and a handful of its tracks are staples of the band's live sets to this day. V Empire sees a step up in production from the band's debut and introduces the fast, highly technical instrumentation that would be the hallmark of the bands next few releases. The overall delivery is faster, more brutal and symphonic than the more streamlined Principle.... It includes a re-recorded version of "The Forest Whispers My Name." and includes songs written by both the Principle line up and the new recording line up. This is where the band's lyrics began to manifest more as gothic poetry, fusing the band's brief satanic elements with depictions of macabre romance and vampirism that would encompass their later lyrical themes. Back On Black.
N**B
Get the other one
There are two CD's like this that are extremely similar. There's this CD which is "Vempire" and then there is the other one, "Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustine". Get the latter. It has an extra track "Ebony Dressed for Sunset" which is a much better beginning track than "Forest Whispers my Name". Not to mention they lead into eachother so I can't understand why they would remove it from this album. Just so you know, the CD with the extra track on it is very hard to find, I had to import mine from a seller on Ebay. Now onto the review...I am writing this after their latest release, "Damnation and a Day" - which I love. However I still find myself going back to this CD. There's just something about it that I never get tired of. And it's because of this that I felt compelled to write a review. I think every COF fan should buy this CD. It's very hard, in most places it's very fast. It's not like the Cradle of Filth of today, but equally as good. Not to mention it has the all-time fan favorite, "Queen of Winter Throned". My favorite however is the Intro ("Ebony Dressed for Sunset") into "Forest Whispers my Name". Get this disc if you can't possibly find "Dark Faerytales in Phallustein". It's worth it.
W**E
more epic melody and great, epic
This album was released before Dusk And Her Embrace and shows COF progressing musically and technically from their debut Principles Of Evil Made Flesh. Still fast and heavy, more epic melody and great, epic, ten minute plus track Queen Of Winter Throned and re-recorded version of The Forest Whispers My Name, alone make this an essential COF purchase for fans old and new. Six tracks, never boring, lots of replay value.
A**A
short cd but good
Im a fan of cradle of filth since 1998 when they do the cruelty and the beast. 5 of 5 stars. If your are a fan of cradle of filth you will enjoy it.
J**R
Definitely worth it
I'm not going to write out some long, drawn out review. What I will tell you is that this feels more like a raw Dusk. Stuart's great guitar playing, Nick's unmatched drumming and of course Dani's fantastic vocals. Get it
J**A
Metal classic's album
The album is as short as fast. The best from Cradle Of Filth's beginning production packed to 20 minutes. Everything you want know about 90's new wave of black metal.
D**R
"Queen of Winter, Throned" info.
This song is making refrences to 5 songs on "The Principle of Evil Made Flesh" Here are the comparisons in which to look for while listening to "The Principle of Evil Made Flesh" to compare to "Queen of Winter, Throned.""The Black Goddess Rises"-----Listen to the begining background music after the piano part at the begining, for the refrence. Not only that, he screams just as he does in QoWT during the begining of the similar instrumentals. The same instrumentals that resemble those that begin the "hard" parts of QoWT appear at the end of this song as well."Principle of Evil Made Flesh"-----Once again instrumentals, at the very begining, and somewhat throughout the song, but faintly noticeable. Plus, even the beat to this song takes on one that of QoWT at points."A Crecendo of Passion Bleeding"-----Begining guitar riffs/instrumentals...sound like those near the end of the song QoWT."The Forest Whispers my Name"-----At a point (Like 1:35 into it), the song's instrumentals sound like those in a begining part of QoWT."A Dream of Wolves in the Snow"-----If you can't tell by the begining lyrics, listen to the tune..it's that beautiful intro to QoWT. This one makes the most obvious of refrences, so if you don't notice it, you my fellow readers, are quite slow.It is in my belief that those 5 songs, make up "Queen of Winter, Throned." And, the instrumentals somewhat prove this.
F**E
Maybe the Most Solid EP Ever
What away to make an EP... This is so complete it really stands alone. This contains perhaps the most varried and complete sound "Cradle of Filth" has made to date. "Cradle of Filth" brings punk, thrash and goth to black metal and has done so now for some years. Thier variation and sound were at an extremely creative point here in Vempire. You have some quick songs on here that just jam with great melody and then you have 2 very solid Epics to make this album unfailing in its power. The use of (my guess) 2 or 3 female background vocalits adds a sensuality that is missing from thier later albums and gives Vempire an Allure on its own entirely(however "Cruelty and the Beast" has nearly the same strength in other areas).If you like Cradle of Filth this is the way to go to see what mastery they can accomplish. An experienced fan of extreme metal but a very recent fan of Cradle of Filth (myself) found it easy to put an end to my criticisms to this band especially after this little monster of an EP. Second to this would be (as previously stated by others) "Cruelty and the Beast" which is a great solid album as well. (follwed in a biased order by Dusk and Her Embrace, Damnation and a Day, Principle of Evil Made Flesh)
