Cradle Of Filth

Formed in Britain in 1991, the extreme metal stalwarts Cradle of Filth initially drew from black metal traditions. Over subsequent years gothic and symphonic elements gradually assumed greater prominence, guiding the ensemble toward broader commercial appeal and generating worldwide charting albums such as Damnation and a Day in 2003, Thornography in 2006, Hammer of the Witches in 2015, and Existence Is Futile in 2021.

Cradle of Filth came together in 1991 with vocalist Dani Filth (born Daniel Lloyd Davey), guitarist Paul Ryan, his brother Benjamin on keyboards, bassist John Richard, and drummer Darren. After committing the demo Invoking the Unclean to tape the following year, the band enlisted guitarist Robin Eaglestone, who departed shortly after completing a second demo titled Orgiastic Pleasures; however, when Richard soon left as well, Eaglestone returned to handle bass, thereby creating space for guitarist Paul Allender. Following a third demo, Total Fucking Darkness, and with drummer Nicholas Barker newly installed, Cradle of Filth secured a deal with Cacophonous and delivered their debut proper, The Principle of Evil Made Flesh, in the middle of 1994.

Further personnel shifts occurred when the Ryan brothers exited to establish the Blood Divine and Allender likewise stepped away, allowing guitarists Stuart Antsis and Jared Demeter alongside keyboardist Damien Gregori to appear on the 1996 mini-LP Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein. For that year’s full-length Dusk and Her Embrace, Gian Pyres replaced Demeter while Les Smith succeeded Gregori on keyboards; regardless, the record markedly broadened the band’s expanding cult audience. COF issued Cruelty and the Beast in 1998 as their reputation for elaborate Alice Cooper/Marilyn Manson-style stage spectacles continued to rise. Two years later they surfaced with the EP From the Cradle to Enslave, which introduced drummer Adrian Erlandsson (previously of Sweden’s At the Gates and the Haunted) after Barker had joined Dimmu Borgir.

The ensemble’s relentless roster turnover persisted when Paul Allender rejoined and Martin Powell (formerly of Anathema and My Dying Bride) took Smith’s keyboard chair for the album Midian, fittingly released on Halloween 2000. Bitter Suites to Succubi appeared via Spitfire in summer 2001. The group augmented its ranks with choir and orchestra for 2003’s Damnation and a Day on Red Ink before shifting to Roadrunner for 2004’s Nymphetamine. Thornography arrived on Roadrunner in 2006, the same year that also witnessed The Cradle of Filth Box Set. Eleven Burial Masses, a live compilation, surfaced in 2007, followed by the concept album Godspeed on the Devil’s Thunder in 2008 that saw Erlandsson give way to drummer Martin “Marthus” Škaroupka.

During 2010 the band departed Roadrunner, aligning with Peaceville in Europe and Nuclear Blast in the United States for their ninth studio album Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa, a concept record centered on the demon Lilith, reputed first wife of the biblical Adam. It marked the first Cradle release without any instrumental tracks and the sole appearance of keyboardist Ashley Ellyllon, ex-Abigail Williams. In 2012, reduced to the core trio of Filth, Allender, and Škaroupka, the group released The Manticore and Other Horrors, restoring female vocals and hardcore punk riffs to central focus. A deluxe remastered and expanded edition of the early demo Total Fucking Darkness emerged in May 2014, complete with additional previously unreleased tracks, serving as an interim release.

Cradle of Filth revealed Hammer of the Witches in May 2015, their first new material in three years—the longest hiatus of their career. The album introduced guitarists Marek Ashok Šmerda and Richard Shaw, restoring twin-guitar harmonies, together with keyboardist and female vocalist Lindsay Schoolcraft. The video for “Right Wing of the Garden Triptych” appeared in May, followed by online streams of “Deflowering the Maidenhead, Displeasuring the Goddess” and “Enshrined in Crematoria” toward the end of June; the record itself reached stores in mid-July.

Cradle of Filth declared their twelfth album, Cryptoriana: The Seductiveness of Decay, in June 2017. Produced once more by longtime collaborator Scott Atkins in Suffolk and inspired by Victorian fascination with mortality and the supernatural, the set surfaced in September while the band already promoted it on the road. Five further years elapsed before the next release. Titled Existence Is Futile and preoccupied with existential dread, their thirteenth album arrived in October 2021; the preceding year’s COVID-19 lockdown had delayed its issuance, granting additional time to refine demos and restructure material for optimal results. Again recorded with Atkins, it became the first Cradle album to feature new keyboardist and backing vocalist Anabelle Iratni. Guitarist Stuart Antsis, who performed with Cradle of Filth from 1995 to 1999, died on August 21, 2022, at the age of 48.