Biography

Cradle Of Filth was formed in the summer of 1991 by Dani (vocals), John (bass), Darren (drums), Robin (guitar) and the Ryan brothers Paul (guitar) and Benjamin (keyboards). In January of 1992 they put out a demo, which was not very succesful. Later Robin left the band. Once again they put out another demo, and this one had a good response. Some time later the independent label Tombstone Records showed interest in the band, but due to several problems they didn't. As a consequence of this, John left the band in order to finish his career, and Robin returned to the band, but as bass player, and the second guitar was handled by Paul Alexander. By the end of 1992, they released another demo titled "Total Fucking Darkness."



Later Darren was replaced by Nicholas on drums, and finally they got a deal with the independent Cacophonous Records. In 1994 they released their debut album "The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh." This album was very succesful, and quickly Cradle Of Filth was recognized as one of the best Black Metal bands.



Some time later Cradle Of Filth had a lot of problems with the lineup. The Ryan brothers and Paul Alexander left the band. The rumors of the imminent demise of Cradle Of Filth were very strong. After all these problems they got a new guitar player, Stuart and a new keyboardist, Damien. In 1996 in order to finish the deal with Cacophonous, they released the "Vempire..." EP with Jared of December Moon as guest guitar player.

After finishing the deal with Cacophonus, they signed with Music For Nations, and released a monumental masterpiece titled "Dusk And Her Embrace," of which there are also other three version of this album, including the infamous Coffin Box limited edition. 1997 Cradle Of Filth suffered the departure of keyboardist Damien, and they played at the Dynamo Fest and at the Milwaukee Metal Fest.



In 1998, now with ex-Anathema & Ship Of Fools Les Smith aka "Lecter" on keyboards Cradle Of Filth released their IVth Chapter titled "Cruelty And The Beast." The band also released a limited edition of "Cruelty And The Beast" in shape of a celtic cross, which has been banned in France due to the gore pictures of the band. There are other editions of "Cruelty And The Beast," which contain the covers "Sodomy And Lust" (Sodom), "Black Metal" (Venom) & "Hallowed Be Thy Name" (Iron Maiden, plus a new version of "Lustmord And Wargasm" and a techno remix called "Twisting Further Nails." This year was no exception and Cradle Of Filth had more problems due to their infamous t-shirts, and even they were arrested in the Vatican.


In 1999 Nicholas left the band due to personal differences. The band released an EP titled "From The Cradle To The Enslave," and a homevideo "PanDaemonAeon," which contains the "From The Cradle To The Enslave" video and some live songs. Atfer this there was more lineup changes. Gian, Stuart and Lecter left the band due to musical and personal differences. Not long after this Gian had a change of heart and rejoined his brothers in darkness. Not long after, the band announced that Adrian Erlandson had joined Cradle of Filth to play drums on their newest masterpiece, then untitled. The search for a keyboard player hadn't ended quite yet. It was announced in the April of 2000 that Martin Powell (ex-My Dying Bride & Anathema would join the band to fill the shoes that Lecter left empty. Not long after, it would be announced that Paul (former CoF) would be returning to play guitar for them once more. On Halloween 2000, the band released their fiflth album, Midian, and a slew of new T-shirt designs. Dani's movie, Cradle of Fear was supposed to accompany the album's release but was delayed for various reasons. The band played quite the European tour in front of numorous sell-out audiences and are planning their first real American tour for April/May 2001.



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