..:: Biography ::..
Without doubt the foremost exponents of British Black Metal and one of the very biggest names of the genre in the international scene. CRADLE OF FILTH have built their reputation on hard gigging and inventive albums all aided by an impressive merchandising campaign with a vast range of deliberately provocative, but still highly creative, T-shirt slogans. One particular design, bearing the title "Jesus is a c**t", would land a whole crop of their fans in jail on blasphemy charges. Musically and lyrically CRADLE OF FILTH operate in majestic, obviously Gothic inspired realms, laced with vampyric ‘Hammer horror’ imagery.
CRADLE OF FILTH was created in Suffolk during 1991 by former PDA and FEAST ON EXCREMENT vocalist Dani Filth (real name Dani Lloyd Davey), guitarist Paul Ryan, bassist Jon Richard and drummer Darren. This inaugural line-up cut the opening demo ‘Invoking The Unclean’ in 1992, shortly after which second guitarist Robin Graves (real name Robin Mark Eaglestone- previously with MALICIOUS INTENT and NIGHTBREED) was added. Further rehearsal recordings were made titled ‘Black Goddess Rises’, including a cover version of MASSACRE's 'Dawn Of Eternity'. Also surfacing that year would be a split cassette entitled 'A Pungent And Sexual Miasma' shared with MALEDICTION. Live work in the UK included supports to visiting Scandinavian acts CADAVER and RED HARVEST.
Another 1992 demo, the seven track ‘Orgiastic Pleasures’, ensued after which Jon Richard departed to create HECATE ENTHRONED, the band manoeuvring Graves to bass to plug the gap and drafting Paul Allender on second guitar and Benjamin Ryan on keyboards. It was to be the act’s third demo, ‘Total Fucking Darkness’ issued in December of 1993, that really set the mould for future works and scored a deal with Cacophonous Records. Former SOLEMN drummer Was Sarginson joined but lasted a handful of gigs.
The debut album, 1994’s ’The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh’, found the band with yet another new face as Nicholas took over the drum stool. For this outing the band credited their roles as Dani Filth "Dark Immortal Screams", Paul Allender "Despondent Night Chords", Benjamin Ryan "Gothic Vampiric Overtures", Robin Graves "Nocturnal Pulse", Paul Ryan "Satanic War Noise" with Nicholas delivering "Winter Evening Storms". European touring in January of 1994 found CRADLE OF FILTH opening for AT THE GATES and ANATHEMA.
The membership ructions did not stop, as Paul Ryan, Benjamin Ryan and Paul Allender all bailed out. This CRADLE OF FILTH triumvirate of refugees formed THE BLOOD DIVINE with ex-ANATHEMA vocalist Darren White in late 1995. Vowing to carry on Dani quickly filled the ranks with guitarists Stuart Anstis and Jared Demeter together with Darren Gregori on keyboards. (rumours abounded that ‘Jared Demeter’ was in actually Stuart Anstis). The first CRADLE OF FILTH CD bootleg arrived that year, simply titled 'Live In Berlin '95'.
The band’s second album ‘Vempire Or Dark Faerytales In Phallustein’ was produced by ex-WITCHFINDER GENERAL, BAJJON and LIONSHEART bassist Zakk Bajjon and, in a trend which continues to this day, found the band utilising two female backing vocalists Sarah Jezebel Deva (Sarah Jane Ferridge) and Danielle Cneajna Cottington. This effort found the band unit billed as Dani Filth "Sepulchral Voice", Stuart Anstis "Flesh Upon The Razor Wire", Damien Gregori "Poenarian Fugue And Choir", Robin Graves "Nocturnal Pulse", Jared Demeter "Funeral Dirge", Lady Jezebel Deva "Dulcet Ghostly Song", Cneajna "Seducer Of Ravens And Angels" and Nicholas "Impaler Troop Movements".
Rishi Mehta was also a guitarist for CRADLE OF FILTH during 1994 but would unite with Benjamin Ryan and Zakk Bajjon to create CROWFOOT then RAINMAKER 888.
Just as media interest peaked on the Black Metal scene CRADLE OF FILTH found themselves embroiled for most of 1995 involved in legal proceedings against their record company. With the release of the 'Vempire' album CRADLE OF FILTH quickly established themselves as the leading contenders in the Death Metal stakes and signed up to a bigger label Music For Nations replacing (?) Demeter with former SOLSTICE and SHIP OF FOOLS man Gian Pyres (real name John Piras) in the process.
The 1996 album ‘Dusk And Her Dark Embrace’, produced by Kit Woolven- better known for his mellower work, propelled the band into the mainstream garnering high sales globally. CD digipack versions added an extra bonus track in a re-recorded 'Nocturnal Supremacy' whilst Music For Nations also released a limited edition coffin shaped variant of the album which added two more exclusive tracks 'Hell Awaits' and 'Carmilla's Masque'. Sarah Jezebel Deva once again featured and would become a staple part of the band’s recording and live line up.
In outside activities Graves created the side band DECEMBER MOON with former CRADLE OF FILTH drummer Was Sarginson for a 1996 album.
The band acquired American ex-BRUTALITY guitarist Brian Hipp for live work in 1996. CRADLE OF FILTH toured Europe in 1997 with dates in Austria supported by Doom merchants JACK FROST. Shortly after the band's appearance at the 1997 Milwaukee Metalfest they announced their new keyboard player as being erstwhile ANATHEMA and SHIP OF FOOLS member Lez Smith. Hipp would later be found as a member of DIABOLIC. The band's status was now such that two bootlegs entered the marketplace in 1997, 'I Raped The Virgin Mary And Hung The Bastard Christ' and 'Sodomizing The Virgin Vamps'. Meantime, London fan Rob Kenyon, aged 29, was found guilty of committing the offense "Profane Representation under the 1839 Act" for wearing the "Jesus is a c**t" T-shirt by Bow Street Magistrates Court. He was fined £150.
1998's 'Cruelty And The Beast' would see CRADLE OF FILTH reaching a peak of public awareness and sales. Limited double CD versions came clad in all new artwork and hosting a bonus five tracks including a cover of VENOM's ubiquitous 'Black Metal'. Another restricted release would be the gravestone edition, again including extra tracks to the regular release as well as portraitures of the band members as subjects of mock killings.
Barker was to depart in early 1999 to another high profile Black Metal outfit DIMMU BORGIR and appearing as part of the highly successful LOCK UP collaboration with HYPOCRISY’s Peter Tägtgren, NAPALM DEATH’s Shane Embury and Jesse Pintado. The ex drummer would also figure on the notorious ‘Mexican’ Death Metal band BRUJERIA’s ‘Brujerizmo’ album.
CRADLE OF FILTH meanwhile set to work on their next album title track, and accompanying first full length video directed by Alex Chandon of ‘Pervirella' fame, with the temporary employment of THE BLOOD DIVINE and DECEMBER MOON sticksman Wes Sargison. An even more temporary drummer was Dave Hirschheimer of INFESTATION.
By the summer of the same year the band fractured once again with both Gian Pyres and Hirschheimer departing, the drum stool now being occupied by former AT THE GATES man Adrian Erlandsson. CRADLE undertook American festival dates with a stand in session guitarist.
Allender was brought back into the ranks in late 1999 from his post THE BLOOD DIVINE act PRIMARY SLAVE as the band line up splintered once more with Pyres returning to the fold. The turbulence was far from complete however with keyboard player Les Smith and guitarist Stuart Anstis both given their marching orders. Anstis would create the electronic act APHELION.
With all this turbulence the ‘From The Cradle To Enslave’ EP emerged featuring new tracks plus covers of THE MISFITS ‘Death Comes Ripping’ and ANATHEMA’s ‘Sleepless’. Former keyboard player Damien Gregori rejoined the band for these sessions. Predictably his tenure was brief, the man’s work only appearing on the American Metal Blade released version of the EP.
CRADLE OF FILTH pulled in former MY DYING BRIDE keyboard player Mark De Sade (real name Mark Newby Robson) but after a handful of gigs his place was taken by another erstwhile MY DYING BRIDE man Martin Powell.
Limited edition’s of 2000’s ‘Midian’ included a cover of SABBAT’s ‘For Those Who Died’ with guest vocal from SABBAT and SKYCLAD vocalist Martin Walkyier. CRADLE OF FILTH toured Europe in late 2000 with guests veterans Gothics CHRISTIAN DEATH. There was a huge degree of fraternisation between the two bands as members of CRADLE OF FILTH including ex-drummer Was Sarginson appeared on CHRISTIAN DEATH’s 2000 album ‘Born Again Anti Christian’. Pyres would also guest on the EXTREME NOISE TERROR album 'Being And Nothing'.
The CRADLE OF FILTH line up for the 'Midian' album stood at Filth, Pyres, Allender, Graves, Powell and Erlandsson. Also involved in the project was actor Doug Bradley, famed for his role as the malevolent 'Pinhead' in the 'Hellraiser' movies, donating narrative parts. Full scale European touring took the band throughout November and December.
In the summer of 2001 the band would offer up their take on New York 80's Glamsters TWISTED SISTER's 'The Fire Still Burns' to the Koch tribute album 'Twisted And Strange'.
CRADLE OF FILTH would assert their independence by creating their own imprint label AbraCadaver for release of the 'Bitter Suites To Succubi' mini album. This interim offering saw new material, including a sequel to 'The Black Goddess Rises', alongside re-workings of vintage cuts 'The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh' and 'Summer Dying Fast'. Also onboard would be two instrumentals and a rendition of the SISTERS OF MERCY track 'No Time To Cry'.
Live work would comprise of British and Japanese shows in April but then Robin 'Graves' Eaglsetone position was relinquished to former DREAMWEAVER and ANATHEMA bassist Dave Pybus during June for the American leg of the tour. Eaglestone was announced as joining the expatriated Chilean Death Metal band CRIMINAL. U.S. shows for CRADLE OF FILTH had rising Death Metal band NILE alongside GOD FORBID as support.
CRADLE OF FILTH, stepping into the breech left by the withdrawal of American acts after the September 11th terrorist attacks, would also appear as last minute substitutes on the massive 'Tattoo The Planet' European tour. Shortly after it would be announced that the band had signed to major label Sony for future product. Meantime Music For Nations weighed in with a lavish retrospective compilation 'Lovecraft & Witch Hearts' comprising archive material, cover versions and remixes. Also released would be a monumental DVD package 'Heavy, Left Handed & Candid' centred upon concert footage from a Nottingham Rock City gig.
The band would appear at the world famous Castle Donington venue as part of the May 2002 OZZY OSBOURNE headlined 'Ozzfest' event. CRADLE OF FILTH put in a low key club gig at the Oxford Zodiac club, supported by Martin Walkyier's RETURN TO THE SABBAT, the night before 'Ozzfest' as a warm up.
Ex-CRADLE OF FILTH guitarist Stuart Anstis unveiled his new act BASTARDSUN, a union with Ross Adams, in July. That same month CRADLE OF FILTH unveiled details of their first official live album 'Live Bait For The Dead' set for September release. The bulk of the material was recorded live at Nottingham Rock City in April 2001. The double CD set also comprised two more live tracks, recorded during soundchecks, alongside studio re-mixes of tracks from 'Bitter Suites To Succubi'. Also featured would be an alternate mix of the SISTERS OF MERCY cover track 'No Time To Cry, a cover of TWISTED SISTER's 'The Fire Still Burns', a previously unavailable remix of 'From The Cradle To Enslave' and a studio demo of 'Scorched Earth Erotica'.
CRADLE OF FILTH entered Parkgate Studios in August to commence recording of the 'Damnation And A Day' album, a 17 track affair utilising full orchestra and choir. However, longstanding member Gian Pyres had made a break from the band before the end of the month, apparently in an amicable split over musical differences. The erstwhile guitarist subsequently joined CHRISTIAN DEATH.
A short run of December UK dates would be cancelled when it was learned Dani Filth was diagnosed with a respiratory condition. The gigs were re-scheduled for April 2003. European touring found veteran US Death Metal act IMMOLATION as openers. The band landed a major coup with their rather uncharacteristic daylight inclusion in the North American summer 'Ozzfest' tour and broke new ground for the genre by being the first Black Metal band to break into the Billboard top 200, 'Damnation And A Day' entering at no. 140. A bout of November co-headlining US shows saw the band partnered with TYPE O NEGATIVE, Portuguese act MOONSPELL and Sweden's SOILWORK. In somewhat of an unexpected diversion Dani Filth made news as he was chosen as the voice of the lead character in the cartoon movie 'Dominator'.
CRADLE OF FILTH's collaboration with Sony ended in December as the band signed to to the major independent, Roadrunner Records, projecting a new studio album dubbed 'Nymphetamine' to be produced by ANTHRAX guitarist Rob Caggiano. Second guitarist James McKillboy would be introduced during these sessions. Recording would still be under way during May of 2004 as final keyboard and vocal parts, including those of Sarah Jezebel Diva once again, were crafted ready for a final mix by Colin Richardson. Featured guest artist on the title track 'Nymphetamine (Overdose)' would be former THEATRE OF TRAGEDY and current LEAVES' EYES singer LIV KRISTINE. The Norwegian singer also graced the Dani Jacobs directed promotional video for this song, filmed in an underground vault near the London dungeons.
Japanese variants of 'Nymphetamine' added a cover version of BATHORY 'Bestial Lust'. Although a new recording, this song had actually been committed to tape just prior to BATHORY menor Quorthon's death. The album would shift 13,818 copies in its first week of US sales to debut at no. 89 on the national Billboard charts.
CRADLE OF FILTH's live campaign was to commence with shows in Greece, Thessaloniki and Athens, upfront of European Summer festival appearances, but with delays on the recording front these gigs were pulled. South American gigs in Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile and Brazil would be unveiled for September. Guitarist Paul Allender suffered a serious hand injury prior to the tour, necessitating the swift recruitment of Dan Turner, actually the band's sound engineer, as temporary replacement.
CRADLE OF FILTH's merchandise gave another fan, Norwich's Dale Wilson, a taste of the law when was arrested by two police officers, suitably on Halloween. Pleading guilty to "religiously aggravated offensive conduct" he would discharged after the presiding judge ordered the garment be destroyed. Wilson paid £150 costs and was advised to "grow up."
A European tour in December in alliance with TYPE O NEGATIVE was announced, and then postponed. Also in the works would be US shows projected as a partnership with MUDVAYNE. However, despite these reports, the band would finally announce their November 'Headbanger's Ball III' US touring partners to be ARCH ENEMY, BLEEDING THROUGH and HIMSA. One interruption came on 8th November when the Cincinnati, Ohio show was cancelled after a man was stabbed during a fight that occurred inside the club before the concert began.
In somewhat of an acho from the past, the band's proposed design for the first T-shirt to promote the single 'Gilded Cunt', set to feature the image of a bare breasted woman bleeding from between the legs on the front and adorned with the words "You Gilded Cunt" on the reverse, soon ran into controversy. This time the garment did not even reach public sale, with reports that workers at the merchandise company Blue Grape "downed tools in disgust".
An expanded version of 'Nymphetamine' arrived in March 2005 boasting a second disc of exclusive tracks. Included would be a remake of committed Christian, Sir CLIFF RICHARD's 1976 UK no. 1 hit 'Devil Woman', with guest vocals by KING DIAMOND. The band also created an animated video for the track based upon the characters in the 'Dominator' animated movie and comic series, which featured Dani Filth. Also included would be renditions of OZZY OSBOURNE's 'Mr. Crowley' and BATHORY's 'Bestial Lust', two brand new original compositions 'Prey' and 'Soft White Throat' and a remix of title track 'Nymphetamine' featuringvocalist Sarah Jezebel Diva, the original version of 'Nymphetamine' with vocals from Liv Kristine Espenaes and a remix of 'Filthy Little Secret' by Rob Caggiano. In December the CRADLE OF FILTH track 'Nymphetamine' would be nominated in the 'Best Metal Performance' category for the 47th annual Grammy Awards.
Leading Portuguese Gothic act MOONSPELL and Swedes THE HAUNTED would act as special guests to CRADLE OF FILTH for an extensive European 2005 tour commencing February through to April. However, longstanding bassist Dave Pybus relinquished his position in January, citing "personal reasons". For touring purposes the band pulled in Charles Hedger as substitute.
In September it was learned that erstwhile CRADLE OF FILTH personnel Martin Powell and James McIlroy had united with ex-HIMSA guitarist Matt Wicklund in a brand new band project called PREY. October found the infamous "Jesus is a c**t" T-shirt back in the news when 19 year old fan Adam Shepherd was convicted under new anti-hatred laws, designed to ban people from displaying religiously insulting signs. He was 80 hours community service and told him to pay £40 costs.
CRADLE OF FILTH announced UK headline dates for December supported by Doomsters CATHEDRAL and Norwegian all female Doom band OCTAVIA SPERATI. To coincide, a DVD entitled 'Peace Through Superior Firepower' emerged, chronicling two sold out gigs in Paris that April, a historical documentary and the group's promotional videos.
Dani Filth donated his vocals to the ROADRUNNER UNITED 25th anniversary album 'The All-Stars Sessions', featuring on the track 'The Dawn Of A Golden Age' composed by Matthew Heafy of TRIVIUM. CRADLE OF FILTH morphed once again with touring bassist Charles Hedger replacing James McIlroy on guitar and Dave Pybus making a return on bass.
Credit/s: Garry Sharpe-Young
Copyright: © 2001-2005 Musicdetector Websites
Location : UK
Website http://www.cradleoffilth.com
Genre(s) :Black , Goth
..:: Discography::..
