Cradle Of Filth

Photo by Jack Lue

Existence and Artistry with the Legendary CRADLE OF FILTH

Interview by Ken Morton - Band Photo by James Sharrock Live Photo by Jack Lue

our elongated tour for Cryptoriana . I mean, we literally 2017, 2018, 2019, 3 most packed touring years of our career, I believe.

So, the album title kind of stems from our interaction with other humans during that time. And, I suppose, it’s very nihilistic, the concept, but it has a glimmer of hope because, for example, if existence truly is futile and that there is no purpose or nobody overseeing it and guiding us to a greater goal, then by that assumption, we’re free to do what we want, and so, we should enjoy ourselves while we have this gift of life. So, it’s not all doom and gloom, that’s what I’m trying to say. But, yeah, the new opus is drenched in the theme of philosophy and existentialism, I would say, overall. Fear of the unknown, life in the grip of death, the constant fear of death, uncertainty of faith in the cosmos, search for life’s meaning, and I guess also the meaningless of life, the absurdity of the human condition. And we say it was totally socio-critical, I mean Cradle has never been that band, but we have, I suppose, a little bit of social commentary on the album in the form of Suffer Our Dominion. I could go on all day about the title.

Legendary extreme metal band Cradle Of Filth has returned with an all-out vengeance, unleashing Existence Is Futile - their 13th exhilarating magnum opus via Nuclear Blast Records. Terrorizing the States now on their Lustmord & Tourgasm trek with Once Human and 3Teeth in support, Cradle Of Filth has been performing their classic 1998 concept album Cruelty and the Beast in it’s entirety. Prior to the tour, Highwire Daze interviewed Cradle Of Filth’s iconic mastermind Dani Filth to discuss the upcoming Existence Is Futile endeavor, the current tour, his David Hasselhoff connection, and more..

Let’s talk about the upcoming album, Existence Is Futile. Is there any overall story or concept behind that album title?

Well, some might think it was influenced by the pandemic, that may be true to some extent. But, the album was written before the pandemic even came along. I think it’s a by-product of us seeing the world for what it is and for 3 years, during

Crawling King Chaos is the first single, I believe, and you have a video for that, too. First, let’s talk about the single, then, we’ll talk about the video. What was the inspiration behind Crawling King Chaos?

Crawling King Chaos is almost like this Lovecraftian character, the song namecheck’s Apophis, which is this cataclysmic event that’s supposed to happen, a large meteorite that might strike the Earth in a few hundred years time. But, anyway, it’s about the Advent of Chaos as like a personification. The namecheck’s also The Four Horsemen, Revelations. But, I like the Lovecraftian aspect of it as well, seeing that Lovecraft had a story called The Crawling Chaos. But, having spent, like I said, 3 years on the road, it does feel like the world is in the grip of a chaotic manifestation, and if anything, it’s that beast that’s leading us towards an inevitable cataclysm.

And the video, as well, is testament to that ideology, you have this demonic character that’s overseeing everything. It’s in a hellish sort of landscape or hellscape. That was sort of the angle we were going from.

Your video director, Vicente Cordero, his credits include 3Teeth who, I believe, you’re going to be touring with, Queensrÿche and David Hasselhoff out of all people.

Yeah, don’t mess with the Hoff!

Oh, exactly. You know it. So, what was it like working with him? And, did he have any David Hasselhoff stories he could share with you?

I believe he did, but I can’t remember it. Well, no, I’m sure he did. Working with him was awesome, he had to come over here. He actually shot 2 videos back-to-back. We have one forthcoming, which is for the track Necromantic Fantasies, which is also a very different song to that of Crawling King Chaos, which was put out there first because it’s more like a fist in the face, we’re here to come back with a bit of a bang. And to show the brutality of the new record.

And I think, the contrast between the 2 tracks is cool, as well. And the video kind of shows a complete different color scheme. In fact, I’m going to get to see the first draft of the new video in a couple of days. I’m just seeing stills and the lighting, to make sure it’s in the right direction, but he’s a very talented director. I was very aware of his work with 3Teeth. He also work with DevilDriver as well, and that’s where the association came in. The fact that Dez Fafara’s our manager, he was like his go-to guy. And bless him, he had come to England, he had to self-isolate during the lockdown for ten days. We shot the videos back-to-back in the South of England. And though, and we had all these great props and everything. He also shot some stuff back in LA when he returned. We’re very pleased with it. It looks great.

Cradle of Filth, in general, has a cinematic vibe to it, and I love cinema in general and I think this glorious technicolored, monstrosity he’s created is very cinematic as well. I mean, it looks great. I’m really pleased of it, very much looking forward to seeing Necromantic Fantasies as well.

With the current lineup, first, I want to talk about the newest member and then the one member that’s been with you for the longest so far. Let’s talk about Anabelle first. Tell me about her background, and how she became involved with Cradle of Filth. I know, she’s in Devilment, your other band...

Well, she was in Devilment for a little while. Devilment don’t exist anymore, we’re on a, like, permanent hiatus, just because I’m getting too busy with Cradle of Filth. I’m also dipping my toe back into the waters, with Temple of the Black Moon, with Rob Caggiano and John Tempesta - a band I was working on, before everybody kind of got more famous and there just wasn’t the time for it. So, Devilment, Anabelle I think she only played 1 show with us.

So we parted ways with Lindsay Schoolcraft, and Anabelle put forward as a replacement even before people really knew she was in Devilment, if that makes any sense. And I felt very sorry for her, because she joined the band back in November 2019 after our last show with Lindsay and last show prior to the pandemic in Belgium.

And then she was just synonymous with being anonymous, for a year and a half. Because her identity as a replacement wasn’t revealed until (a) live stream event, which happened in May. So, although she contribute to the record, she joined after we’d written a majority in the material, but her contribution was almost equal, she rewrote parts and we integrated them, moving stuff around and embellishing it, et cetera, et cetera. But, yeah, for the greater part of the year and a half, literally, no credit for anything. And she’s probably sitting there thinking, “Well, nobody knows, I’m even in the band. When will this even end?”, but fortunately, that did end with

the live stream, and now subsequently the new album.

I believe that Marthus is the longest reigning member of the band?

Yeah. See, yeah, he joined the band back in, I’d like to say 2007, actually, on the Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder. So, yeah, a good fourteen years, maybe fifteen.

What do you think makes you and Marthus work so well together that he’s been with you for quite some time now.

Obviously, he’s an incredible drummer, one of the best drummers in the world. He also writes a lot of the keyboards. He’s very good at songwriting. Yeah, he’s just an all-around musician. He’s very much into it. He’s been a big fan of the band long, long before he became a member. I like working with him, in fact, it’s a great working relationship we have as a band at present, anyway, we’re all very good friends. I’ve recently just did the Bloodstock Festival in England, and it was just great, with everybody getting back together, after such a long period because even when we were recording the album, everybody wasn’t in the same place at the same time, because of the lockdown. So, the thing with Marthus, much like the other guys, is that we’re thick as thieves, and very much into what we do and what we’re about.

What are you looking forward to the most about your upcoming tour with Once Human and 3Teeth?

The most important thing is just getting back out and getting on the tour bus. But, I mean, honestly getting back on the tour bus, coming to America, the change in scenery. I always liked touring in America, anyway, meeting the fans, playing the gigs. We’re doing Cruelty and the Beast, but to be fair, we could play in ABBA tunes and I really wouldn’t mind. I know we’re promoting a new album in a way, but because of the pandemic, obviously, America missed out on the Cruelty and the Beast tours. We did it in Asia, and Australia, and Europe, but not America. I could you go on and on about what I’m looking forward to. One thing I’m not looking forward to is customs. US Customs is such a pain. I imagine, it’s probably worse with all the Covid business. But, yeah, I’m very much looking forward to it because essentially, it’s just a step in the right direction. It will feel like life’s kind of reverting back to a semblance of normality. If you can say going on tour with Cradle of Filth is anything like sanity, then, then that will be it.

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