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Artist Interviews
Q&A: Cradle Of Filth
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 11 November 2009
Formed in 1991, Cradle Of Filth are arguably Britain’s biggest extreme metal band, led by frontman Dani Filth with a fluctuating line-up which has seen more than twenty musicians pass through the ranks. The band have released eight studio albums, the most recent being last year’s ‘Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder’, their third for Roadrunner Records.
To coincide with Halloween this year, the band recently published a new book, ‘The Gospel Of Filth’, via Fab Press. Written by Dani Filth and journalist Gavin Baddeley, the book looks not just at the history of the band, but delves further into the ideas and themes behind the music, creating what Baddeley calls “a definitive Gothic guidebook”. We spoke to Dani to ask our Same Six Questions.
Q1 How did you start out making music?
We started making music having been rejected from succeeding at other forms of employment! No seriously, it was a toss-up between entering an apprenticeship or trying to see how far we could pursue a band within a year out from proper work. We’d all been involved in small college bands prior to Cradle’s inception and this was our first real opportunity to create something heavy and theatrical and distinct. I guess it went all downhill from there…
Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Our last album, ‘Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder’ was inspired by the idea of telling a story that not only reflected the dark cinematic nature of our music, but also one that would provide a novel Gothic backdrop to throw an interesting storyline at. This is hence why we gravitated towards a concept album based around the fifteenth century French nobleman Gilles De Rais, one time compatriot of Joan Of Arc and Grand Marshall of France, who later retreated into the sordid realms of sorcery, blasphemy, abduction, rape and murder, claiming the lives of hundreds of innocent children. His story serves as both a grim reality and a fairytale, a union that best suits a band as hellbound as ourselves.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
We usually formulate ideas at home and then come together to bash our skulls together in the rehearsal room. From here on we demo on Pro-Tools whilst I address the lyrics, finally meeting up to iron out any flaws before taking it to the studio. Then we make ardent living sacrifices to Moloch and dance naked under the stars.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Nineteenth century authors and poets (Le Fanu, Byron, Shelley, Keats, Stoker, Stevenson, Poe, Lovecraft etc), classical and soundtrack composers (Stravinsky, Berlioz, Elfman, Williams,Young, Kilar), painters such as Brueghel, Bosch, Goya, Brom and Giger and film directors like Fritz Lang, Tim Burton, Dario Argento amid a slew of horror actors, metal bands, video games, pin-ups and serial killers.
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Watch out for your sanity. It’s fucked-up cinematic growly Satan music.
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
Well we’ve toured the world in support of the album now, but I’m hoping that the release of our second video (‘The Death Of Love’), festival appearances and the arrival of our occult music book ‘The Gospel Of Filth’, amid the various other little projects we have going on, will all serve to extend the album’s life even further, whilst we concentrate on the humble beginnings of writing a new album aimed at 2010.
MORE>> www.cradleoffilth.com
