Cradle Of Filth - Heavy Left-Handed and Candid DVD
Abracadaver
Black Metal
11 songs (74:18)
Release year: 2003
Cradle Of Filth
Reviewed by Jay

Cradle of Filth put out this DVD a year ago but I only recently got a chance to check it out. It contains a full-length live show recorded in Nottingham as well as a whole host of extras which we’ll get to later.

Cradle of Filth is known for the shenanigans that occur at their shows. Unfortunately, as when I saw them, they have nil in terms of a stage show. The guys are there playing but that’s pretty much it. The show does have a good selection of songs covering their entire catalogue up to the point it was shot. There are many songs off their newer albums but that is to be expected. We do get the old favorites of “Dusk & Her Embrace” as well as “Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids.” The sound quality is flawless and the 5.1 mix shows no errors. This band seems to be terrific at representing their music live and it certainly shows.

The picture quality is outstanding. It was shot on digital video but at extremely high quality. All the images are sharp and everything can be seen. Occasionally a cameraman will get in the shot but this is to be expected from a live release. There are few shots of Sara Jezebel Diva when she sings though. I only remember seeing her once in the entire concert. This is weird since when I saw them live, she had her own spot light. There are few shots of keyboardist Martin Powell as well. He gets much more screen time than Diva does however. What I like are the shots of Adrian Erlandsson behind the drums pounding everything to hell. There are plenty of drummer shots to satisfy people. What I don’t like is that every once and a while, the camera is switched into sepia tone mode. I don’t understand the appeal of this mode. When I watch a concert, I really want to see the concert in full color as I would if I was there live. The sepia mode is annoying and I really wish bands would stop using it in concert videos.

The extras are ok but nothing amazingly special. There are two versions of the video for “Scorched Earth Erotica.” Instead of including both the censored and uncensored cuts of this song, they should have put a third video on instead. The other video is “Born in a Burial Gown.” “The Blair Twit Project” features the band members prancing around and stealing a sign. If you like watching urban chaos, you’ll appreciate this as I did. “Sifting through Filth” is a bunch of backstage footage from Europe, the US and Japan which contains many people mooning the camera for some reason. The trailer to the Cradle of Fear movie is also on the disc as well as some picture galleries and DVD-ROM content which I didn’t explore.

If you can find this for cheap, it’s a worthy addition to your collection. It’s an above average DVD package in terms of quality though. This could have been an awesome package with better choices in the video editing and the extra content.

Killing Songs :
Cradle of Filth favorites
Jay quoted no quote
Other albums by Cradle Of Filth that we have reviewed:
Cradle Of Filth - Existence is Futile reviewed by Goat and quoted 80 / 100
Cradle Of Filth - Hammer of the Witches reviewed by Goat and quoted 85 / 100
Cradle Of Filth - Total Fucking Darkness reviewed by Goat and quoted no quote
Cradle Of Filth - Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa reviewed by Kyle and quoted 64 / 100
Cradle Of Filth - Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder reviewed by Goat and quoted 81 / 100
To see all 14 reviews click here
1 readers voted
Average:
 90
You did not vote yet.
Vote now

There are no replies yet to this review
Be the first one to post a reply!