A monstrous tour-de-force of utterly distinctive but reassuringly destructive heavy metal, laced with spectral disquiet but delivered with muscular aplomb, ‘Cryptoriana’ was conceived during the summer of 2016 as Cradle Of Filth convened in Ashok and Škaroupka’s native Czech Republic. From the exhilarating melodrama of opening two-fisted salvo ‘Exquisite Torments Await’ and ‘Heartbreak And Seance’ onwards, the twelfth Cradle album manifestly represents yet another wild expansion of the band’s sonic manifesto across nine epic and elaborate new anti-hymns.