Herb Music

Beneath the Howling Stars Lyrics

Cradle of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast
Artist
Album

Cruelty and the Beast

(1998)
TypeStudio Full-length
GenresSymphonic Black Metal, Gothic Metal, Melodic Black Metal
LabelsMusic for Nations
Album rating :  92.5 / 100
Votes :  2
4. Beneath the Howling Stars (7:42)
Track rating :  100 / 100 Votes :  1 [ ]
Midwinter wrongs the rites of Spring
Her spinal chill rakes the earth
Whilst pensive souls at zero sing
Woebetidings of rebirth
Under cold stares of Mars maligned
Near-suicides cross their hearts
And unborns writhe in tepid brine
For something wicked this way starts

Beneath the howling stars

Elizabeth, paragon of vice
Watches the sun set pyres alight
As Bane and Tyranny, Her Dobermans sleep
Like spellbound paramours at Her feet

A chatter of bells without
Raise hellhounds, teeth on edge
From sleighs hastened through snow lit red
Guests espied from the garret ledge

Great gloomy mirror tell Her face
She will outblind them all
That heavenly bodies would fall from grace
To possess such a lustrous pall

For beauty is always Cruel...
For beauty is always...

(Let destiny in chains commence...
Damnation under Gods seeking recompense
Enslaving to the whims of this mistress)

As the dance ensued
Elizabeth's mood
Tempered by the craft of a vitreous moon
In slick black iciness it grew
To consume

The wench Her tower tombed
Tending to Her costume
Bore the brunt of the storm
When the needle askewed
She has Her dogs maul the bitch's wrists through

Restored to jaded bliss
This evisceratrix
Descended to the ball
With painted blood upon Her lips
Passing like a comet so white
As to eclipse
The waltz wound down, transfixed

Devoid of all breath in the air
Even Death paled to compare
To the taint of Her splendour
So rare and engendered
'Pon the awed throng gathered
There...

Beneath the howling stars

She danced so macabre
Men entranced divined from Her gait
That this angel stepped from a pedestal
Had won remission from fate
By alighting to darker spheres
Delighting in held sway
For She was not unlike the Goddess
To whom the wolves bayed

Whilst envy glanced daggers
From court maidens, arboured
Who whispered in sects
Of suspicions abroad
That Elizabeth bewitches
See how even now the whore casts
Her spells upon the Black Count
Whom Her reddened lips hold fast

Tongue unto tongue
Swept on tides without care
For the harpies who rallied
Their maledict glares
A halo of ravens tousled Her hair
Chandeliers a tiara
For passions ensnared

Phantasies sexed
When their eyes, moonstruck met
Their friction wore a way
Through the sea of foreplay
Lovers at first bite
She an Eve tempted to lay
Gasping at rafters
Flesh pressed in ballet

But caprice, honours leashed
She absconded the feast
To prowl wonderland
Beasts in hand from the Keep
Of Feudal dilemma
Well mantled in furs
Through cullis to watch
Dogstars howl at the earth

On this violent night
Unholy night
Winds lashed their limbs together
As the ether vent its wintry spite

She wished His kiss on Her frozen landscapes
To excite the bleak advance
From castle bowers
Wherein small hours
The Devil never came by chance

A lone charm tied to Her inner thigh
Sent lusts nova as hooves trod
Cobbled streets where lowlives fleet
Were flung to a wayward god

Midwinter wrongs the rites of Spring
Her spinal chill rakes the earth
Whilst pensive souls at zero sing
Woebetidings of rebirth
Under cold stares of Mars maligned
Near-suicides cross their hearts
And unborns writhe in tepid brine
For something wicked this way starts

Beneath the howling stars

Pounding upon the pauper ridge
Earshot of a hunched beldame
Elizabeth teased, would He dare to please
Such elderly loins enflamed?
To this He feigned a grim disdain
Playing to Her slayful eye
But the hag replied...
"This girl that chides
Will soon be as plagued with age as I"
Her consort laughed a plume of icy breath
For Elizabeth's grace could raise
A flag of truce in burning heaven
Or the dead from early graves
Yet still She seethed
This proud Snow Queen
Embittered with the cursed retort
And because He sought Her loves onslaught
He gutted the crone for sport

Soon in full moon fever they were wed
Lycanthropic in the conjugal bed
Littered with aphrodisiacs
To tease dynastic union
And beget them further maniacs

Elizabeth
Free reigned, now a Countess
Outwielded and outwore
Her title like a favoured dress
Whilst Her errant Lord
Whose seasons savoured war
Stormed black to fell the infidel
Her embers, tempered, roared.
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Cruelty and the Beast - Lyrics
Cruelty and the Beast - Album Credits
Members
  • Dani Filth : Vocals, Lyrics
  • Stuart : Guitars
  • Gian : Guitars
  • Robin Graves : Bass
  • Nicholas : Drums
  • Lecter : Keyboards
Additional musicians
  • Sarah Jezebel Deva : Backing Vocals
  • Danielle Cneajna Cottington : Backing Vocals
  • Ingrid Pitt : Narration [as Elizabeth Báthory] (tracks 7, 8)
Other staff
  • Cradle of Filth : Co-producer
  • Mike Exeter : Producer
  • Jan Peter Genkel : Producer
  • Dan Sprigg : Engineer
  • Mark Harwood : Conductor
  • Mez : Artwork, Layout
  • Stu Williamson : Photography
Best Cradle of Filth Songs
Rank Song Album Rating Votes
1 Cradle of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast Thirteen Autumns and A Widow Cruelty and the Beast (1998) 100 1
2 Cradle of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids Cruelty and the Beast (1998) 100 1
3 Cradle of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast ▶  Beneath the Howling Stars Cruelty and the Beast (1998) 100 1
4 Cradle of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast The Twisted Nails of Faith Cruelty and the Beast (1998) 100 1
5 Cradle of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast Bathory Aria Cruelty and the Beast (1998) 100 1
6 Cradle of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast Lustmord and Wargasm (The Lick of Carnivorous Winds) Cruelty and the Beast (1998) 100 1
7 Cradle of Filth - Dusk and Her Embrace Funeral In Carpathia Dusk and Her Embrace (1996) 100 1
8 Cradle of Filth - Midian Death Magick For Adepts Midian (2000) 100 1
9 Cradle of Filth - Midian Her Ghost In The Fog Midian (2000) 95 2
10 Cradle of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast Venus In Fear Cruelty and the Beast (1998) 95 1
11 Cradle of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast Desire In Violent Overture Cruelty and the Beast (1998) 95 1
12 Cradle of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast Portrait of the Dead Countess Cruelty and the Beast (1998) 95 1
13 Cradle of Filth - Dusk and Her Embrace Heaven Torn Asunder Dusk and Her Embrace (1996) 95 1
14 Cradle of Filth - Dusk and Her Embrace A Gothic Romance (Red Roses For the Devil's Whore) Dusk and Her Embrace (1996) 95 1
15 Cradle of Filth - Dusk and Her Embrace Dusk and Her Embrace Dusk and Her Embrace (1996) 95 1