Dom Smith sits down with UK heavy metal icon Dani Filth to talk through Cradle of Filth’s impact on heavy metal culture over the last two decades, what he thinks of the band’s connection to the pop world and collaborations with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Bring Me The Horizon.
Maturity
Dani says that he has matured a lot over the history of Cradle of Filth, as the band is about to release ‘Trouble and Their Double Lives’ on April 28 via Napalm Records, it will be the group’s first live album in over 20 years. “When you first start there’s this urge to splurge out and do everything all at once because you don’t know how long it will last.” Indeed, Cradle of Filth is now some 30 years deep into a career and has long been assured longevity, and a long-lasting legacy.
Dani has a lot of good people around him (including Devildriver’s Dez FaFara, who manages the band) who are supporting as the group enjoys a continued resurgence within the global heavy metal consciousness, and in pop culture as well, with Filth recently collaborating with Bring Me The Horizon, and Ed Sheeran on a forthcoming single. For Dani it feels like CoF is “aging like a fine wine”. He reflects: “I’ve always been a bit of a Peter Pan-type character, I never had a proper job or grown up, so I’m still in that exploratory stage where everything is delighting me.”
Collaborating with Ed Sheeran
“I like strange collaborations,” says Filth reflecting on his past collaborations with the likes of Twizted, and his forthcoming one with pop icon, Ed Sheeran. “I’ve always seen what we do as something bigger, maybe a bit too ambitious. I like ambition.”
On the hotly-anticipated track’s direction, the frontman says that fans of both artists should be excited: “It’s got acoustic guitar on it, it’s got his voice on it, and my voice. We’ve managed to squeeze a blastbeat into the song!
“It’s going to be a charity single, we’ve got great charities that we want to reach out to and support. I think people are going to pleasantly surprised at how it sounds because it is a perfect marriage. It’s a heavy metal song!”
New Album
Cradle of Filth’s new album will see the light of day around this time (April) in 2024, says Dani, who has enjoyed creating the material, with some fresh members joining the band: “We are very excited about the new material, it’s taken a while because the new people [Zoe Marie Federoff and Donny Burbage] have had to get into the feel of it,” he says, commenting on how well both have acclimatised to the group, and really revelled in helping to craft the songs. “It’s gotten to the stage where I feel like the mad scientist who needs his wife to pass him the food under the door because I can’t tear myself away from it, as I’m excited to get it finished!”
Recorded between 2014 and 2019 at different performances in the USA, Europe, Australia, and beyond during their “Cryptoriana World Tour” and dates following, the new album serves as a time-capsule of blisteringly intense live energy, and an astounding testament to Cradle Of Filth’s renowned latest era.
Produced, mixed and mastered by Scott Atkins at Grindstone Studios in Suffolk, England with recording captured by Danny B, the brand new live onslaught not only features a slew of fan favourites encompassing the band’s electrifying discography – such as “Nymphetamine (Fix)”, “Bathory Aria” and “Blackest Magick In Practice” – but also two bonus tracks and two entirely brand new songs, “She Is A Fire” and “Demon Prince Regent”.
Pre-Order Trouble And Their Double Lives here.
Watch the full video below, where Dani discusses touring America, the band’s visual aesthetic, and more:
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