Cradle Of Filth, you love em.. or not. There isn't really a way in between I guess. I personally have had a weak spot for this band since their first album so I was quite thrilled to receive this next outing. Anyway, the world's biggest and best selling 'black metal' band is back with a DVD containing a live show and a lot of extra's and the following lines are about what I think about it, how's that?

The live part of this disc was shot last April in Paris at the end of their tour with The Haunted and Moonspell and shows the boys in pretty good shape. The show lasts about and hour and a half and is shot (of course) with multiple cams which makes up for a varied amount of shots and angles. The editing is well done as it never gets 'epileptic' and isn't boring either. An enjoyable view overall.

The sound quality really is astounding as I didn't really believe at first that I was listening to a live band at all. Everything is perfectly mixed so the renditions of even their most complex songs can be heard in all their glorious details. The song selection is also great and spans all of their albums except 'Bitter Suites To Succubi' (only if you prefer to think that the re-recording of 'The Black Goddess Rises' wasn't on it) but I personally would have liked some more Dusk And Her Embrace songs. Keeping in mind that this was the Nymphetamine tour, that album is represented with the most songs (4 + the intro) but classics like 'A Gothic Romance', 'The Forest Whispers My Name' and '13 Autumns And A Widow' are also present.

The stage is also nicely propped, with some people in gargoyle suits, a rope swinging gothic diva, a giant Eddie-like creature and video screens which show logo's, videoclips (during the appropriate songs) and animations. Personally I don't really care for such things, but it does add to the visual element of the band. All in all a very good concert which show the band in very good shape.

The bonus material contains six videoclips: Her Ghost In The Fog, No Time To Cry, Babalon A.D., Mannequin, The Promise Of Fever and Nymphetamine. I had already seen four of those on various music channels but it's great to have them all together on one disc. Cradle Of Filth have always put a lot of effort in their video's (especially Her Ghost In The Fog is a Tim Burton-like piece of art) so it's a very nice bonus.

There's also a 'shockumentary' on this disc, which shows Cradle Of Filth in their funniest, craziest, most drunk and even more drunk moments. It features singer Dani as narrator between all the clips, and it shows what the band is doing on tour, in the studio (Damnation And A Day and Nymphetamine sessions), during signing sessions, and of course: while drinking. It varies from blowing things up with firework, Sarah Jezebel Deva hitting other bandmembers to Jackass-like stunts, drinking a lot etc. It's quite a funny compilation which lasts well over an hour and is a very enjoyable view. Further bonusses are a picture/artwork gallery, your standard weblink and a video report of an instore signing session.

As you might expect from a Cradle Of Filth product, it is presented very nicely. Great artwork, nice packaging, good looking menus, high quality sound and video etc. There's really nothing bad about this DVD at all. Maybe a litte more additional band history or older footage would have been nice, but they might have done that already on their last DVD-outing. (I haven't seen it...)

For fans of the band this is a must-have because it shows the band in a great shape while performing live, at their funniest while leisuring and at the same having all their videos (except From The Cradle To Enslave..) complete on one disc. Very high production standards finish it off. Good view!