It’s a bright May morning when Dani Filth, iconic vocalist for the extreme metal outfit, Cradle of Filth, kindly shares his time and conversation with Metal Wani’s Carl Rourke. Filth sits in a bright chamber, enveloped by a backdrop of CDs, DVDs, and blackened figurines he has accrued over the years.
“This is just the best bit of light I could get a 09:00 am in the morning.” Jokes Filth, half seriously. An ardent collector of the hard copy. “I still prefer my physical copies because I believe in supporting the bands. I like to see the visuals. I like to see everything as the band ordained it.”
“It’s a silly example, but I bought the new Metallica album. Hated it when I first listened to it. I was like, what the f***? We were lied to. The first single was the only good thing on there. The more I’ve had it in the car, which has been about three weeks now, the more I’m starting to get into it. If it was on my Spotify account, which I don’t have by the way,” he clarifies, “it would have been long gone. But I’ve grown to appreciate it.”
Twenty long years and one infamous bootleg have passed since the last (official) live Cradle of Filth record came to be. Now, for many, 2023’s ‘Trouble and Their Double Lives’ is in part a summation of the band’s performances and a window into their new lineup and direction. Tracing the course between these records, and particularly the two new studio tracks that feature on the latter, there is little to suggest that Filth feels the upcoming studio record will necessarily follow suit.
“It’s a fair representation of the band at this point in time, 2022, 2023. Not necessarily the exact direction of the new album, but as I’ve said before, it’s not rocket science. It’s not gonna be vastly different.” Filth added that, “I think it’s a fair indication of the style. It puts everybody in the moment as well.”
With Dani, despite being a prolific figure in the musical landscape, the subject of language, literature, and film are never far away. Citing what may or may not inspire him as he goes into the studio this summer, he shares,
“The time of year is always very inspirational. The people you hang out with. The things you want to take from day to day. Inspiration can leap on you from anywhere. And also, in complete reverse to that, in opposite to that, so can writers blocks.” He laughs, landing on a much-revered horror franchise.
“Love the new Evil Dead Rise movie. Although it could have been longer. Gorier. Obviously, there’s a few things you could nitpick with it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.” Filth went on to say. “Culture has dictated the length of that movie as well. Because I found it very, very swift. Almost as if music and movies that are made for today’s culture kind of shy away from getting too intrinsically in-depth. Maybe because of people’s attention span. Although you wouldn’t know it when it comes to James Cameron or anything.”
A subject of much attention brings the conversation toward its end. Currently in the midst of mixing a highly anticipated collaboration with pop sensation Ed Sheeran, Dani speaks candidly about where he stands in relation to those who feel metal and pop should not mix.
“It will get a lot of flack from people in the metal community but I really don’t give a f*** to be honest.” Dani elaborated, “Doing something like this, although it wasn’t planned for this reason, I think it’s a lot more interesting than doing a collaboration with another metal artist.”
“I don’t know if people are really gonna flock in the masses and say, you know, ‘I love metal, I’ve just discovered it’ or whatever. But I think a lot of people will appreciate the song. Like you said, the core of it, the fundamental basis of this is that it’s for two very profound, important charities. Our one, in particular, helping the alternative community.”
Dani expresses thanks for “putting up with my early morning drivel”, confessing that his next move will be to bury his face in morning coffee. Neither party a morning person, Filth proves to remain a gracious host and generous conversationalist.
Check out the full interview and be sure to listen to ‘Trouble and Their Double Lives’ available now via Napalm Records.
