CRADLE OF FILTH (part 3)

The band's most recent album, ''Thornography'', was released in October 2006. According to Dani Filth, the title "represents mankind's obsession with sin and self... An addiction to self-punishment or something equally poisonous... A mania." On the subject of the album's musical direction, Filth told ''Revolver'' magazine, "I'm not saying it's 'experimental', but we're definitely testing the limits of what we can do... A lot of the songs are really rhythmical - thrash metal, almost - but they're all also really catchy." A flurry of pre-release controversy saw Samuel Araya's original cover artwork scrapped and replaced in May 2006, although numerous CD booklets had already been printed with the original image. ''Thornography'' received a similar reception to ''Nymphetamine'', garnering generally positive reviews, but raising a few eyebrows with the inclusion of a cover of Heaven 17's "Temptation". (featuring guest vocals from Dirty Harry), which was released as a digital single and accompanying video shortly before the album.

Long-term drummer Adrian Erlandsson departed the band in November 2006. According to an official Roadrunner press release, Erlandsson left with the intention of devoting his energies to his two side projects Needleye and Nemhain: "I have enjoyed my time with Cradle but it is now time to move on. I feel I am going out on a high as ''Thornography'' is definitely our best album to date". On July 1st, 2007, the German band Samsas Traum stated that Erlandsson would be playing drums on the new album, ''Heiliges Herz—Das Schwert der Sonne'', and its subsequent tour.

The band's official message boards recently revealed parts of an interview with Paul Allender, conducted by MédiaMatinQuébec: "We already have four new songs ready and I have to say that they are... much faster than the songs on ''Thornography''. They sound like old Cradle of Filth..."

Cradle of Filth's first three demos bore a death metal feel, with occasional symphonic elements. However, when they released their fourth demo, ''Total Fucking Darkness'', their genre became more akin to black metal. Their "true" black metal status however, has been in debate since near the time they became popular. Dani, in a 1998 interview for BBC Radio 5 for example, said "I use the term heavy metal, rather than black metal, because I think that's a bit of a fad now. Call it what you like: death metal, black metal, any kind of metal...", while Gavin Baddeley's 2006 ''Terrorizer'' interview states that "few folk, the band included, call Cradle black metal these days."

Their format differs from most black metal, and they have thus, at one time or another, been labeled symphonic black metal; extreme gothic metal; melodic black metal; satanic metal; vampyric metal; speed metal; death metal; brutal death metal; melodic death metal; horror metal; and dark metal, some of which are regarded by critics and fans alike as entirely apocryphal categories.



However, the band's evolving sound has allowed them to continue resisting definitive categorisation. They are audibly influenced by Iron Maiden, have collaborated on projects like Christian Death's ''Born Again Anti-Christian'' album (on the track "Peek-A-Boo"), and have even dabbled outside of metal music with dance remixes ("Twisting Further Nails", "Pervert's Church" etc), although these have fallen by the wayside in recent years. In a 2006 interview with ''Terrorizer'' magazine, current guitarist Paul Allender said "We were never a black metal band. The only thing that catered to that was the corpse paint. Even when ''The Principle of Evil Made Flesh'' came out — you look at Emperor and Burzum and all that stuff — we didn't sound anything like that. The way that I see it is that we were, and still are now, an extreme metal band."

Appearing on the BBC music quiz ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' on April 9 2001, Dani jokingly claimed Cradle's sound as "heavy funk", and in an October 2006 interview stated "We'd rather be known as solely 'Cradle of Filth', I think, rather than be hampered by stupid genre barriers."

The band has issued the following update:

"The world tour for the 'Thornography' album, which last saw COF in Russia, Ukraine, UK, Romania, Slovakia and North America with GWAR is now complete. The band has now returned home to start writing for a new record over the dark months in the rehearsal room. The new album, which is not yet titled, will be released some time in 2008 via Roadrunner Records."