A decade ago, the black metal scene experienced a period of renaissance and reinvigoration. Emperor had just released the legendary Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, Immortal was riding the wave of Blizzard Beasts, Dimmu Borgir were getting close to completing the blasphemous Spiritual Black Dimensions and the English lads of Cradle of Filth were about to experience a career breakthrough with Cruelty and the Beast. The speedy, ravaging concept record told the nefarious tale of Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian countess in the 16th Century who bathed in the blood of virgin girls to retain her youthful beauty.
Since then, Cradle of Filth have aged, and with the years they’ve matured, experimenting with tonality and tempo, traveling through various avenues of lyrical darkness, straying further and further from their roots, while keeping a taloned toe or two planted in the murky black metal mist from which they surfaced. And now, 10 years from the release of Cruelty, Cradle are about to play a Cruel trick… Actually, it’s more like a treat. The band’s yet-untitled, just completed disc is their fastest, heaviest offering since that milestone offering a decade ago. Like Cruelty, it’s a genuinely vampiric black metal concept record about a legendary serial killer from the 15th Century. This time, Cradle are chronicling the exploits of Gilles De Rais, a French nobleman who fought alongside Joan of Arc and accumulated great wealth before becoming a satanist, sexual deviant and a murderer.
Headbangersblog.com recently talked with Cradle of Filth frontman Dani “Filth” Davey about the sound of the album, why he decided to to tell the story of De Rais, the band’s new drummer Martin Skaroupka, recording in the country with producer Andy Sneap and upcoming tours with Gorgoroth and Satyricon. Davey also filled us in on the song her wrote for Dario Argento’s new horror film “Mother of Tears,” the horror-themed video he wants to do for the new record and the long-awaited history book he wrote with Gavin Baddeley “Gospel of Filth: A Bible of Decadence and Darkness,” which he hopes will be out by Halloween — around the time the new record drops.