Regarding the album's title, CRADLE OF FILTH frontman Dani Filth had previously stated, "This title represents mankind's obsession with sin and self. The thorn combines images of that which troubled Christ, the crown of thorns, thus intimating man's seeming desire to hurt God and also, of the protecting thorn and the need to enclose a secret place or the soul from attack. An addiction to self-punishment or something equally poisonous. A mania. Twisted desires. Barbed dreams. A fetish. An obsession with cruelty. Savage nature. Paganism over Christianity. The title can also represent a sexual attraction to religious iconography as in the case of the 'possessed' Lourdon nuns.

"I like the title because to me it invokes images of a darker, sexier pre-Raphaelite scene wherein Sleeping Beauty's castle is won and she is awoken by a poisonous kiss. A darker adult faerytale."

On the subject of the album's musicial direction, Filth recently told Revolver magazine, "I'm not saying it's 'experimental,' but we're definitely testing the limits of what we can do. This is our sixth or seventh record, so we're trying to spice things up to keep the marriage going!

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Under Pregnant Skies She Comes Alive Like Miss
2. Dirge Inferno
3. Tonight In Flames
4. Libertina Grimm
5. Byronic Man
6. I Am The Thorn
7. Cemetery And Sundown
8. Lovesick For Mina
9. The Foetus Of A New Day Kicking
10. Rise Of The Pentagram
11. Under Huntress Moon
12. Temptation