Nymphetamine

Nymphetamine (not to be confused with the drug Nymphetamine/N-methylphenylethylamine) is the sixth studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. Recorded between February and July 2004, it was released on 28 September by record label Roadrunner. Nymphetamine marks the first recorded appearance of guitarist James McIlroy on a Cradle of Filth album. He would later record guitar for the band's 2010 release Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa. Nymphetamine is also the band's final album to feature keyboardist Martin Powell. The title is a portmanteau of "nymphette" and "amphetamine", and Dani Filth explained it as referring to "a drug-like addiction to the woman in question, with her insidious vampire qualities literally bringing her lover back from the brink of the spiritual grave, only to bury him further on the strength of a whim. This is very Edgar Allan Poe in style, and leaves one thinking that, despite the character's inner agonies, he is really a welcome submissive who readily enjoys the terrible highs and lows of his relationship with this alluring and filthy succubus." The album features guest appearances by ex-Theatre of Tragedy and Leaves' Eyes vocalist, Liv Kristine, and Doug Bradley, who starred as the cenobite Pinhead in the Hellraiser series and also collaborated on Midian. "Mother of Abominations" begins with the chant of the phrase "Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!", which is a reference to H. P. Lovecraft's fiction, specifically the body of work encompassing the Cthulhu Mythos. The title track appears on the album twice; in a three-part, nine-minute version ("Nymphetamine (Overdose)") and again in a shortened five-minute version ("Nymphetamine Fix"). Filth provided the following explanations for the album's individual tracks in a July 2004 press release: Gilded Cunt A harsh song demands an uncompromising title. The subject matter is simple. The "gilded cunt" refers to a spoilt dominatrix who demands worship through the acquisition of money. She is in actual fact, beneath the glitter of expensive jewellery, no more than tendered mutton dressed up as lamb.