There is a lot to be said about a man that can cloak himself in leather in ninety-five degree Florida
weather and not bat a lash of discomfort. That leather-clad-white-faced super hero goes by the
name of Paul Allendar, guitarist and one of the original members of Cradle of Filth. Yes, I said
original. For a band renowned more for their revolving door than vampuric theatrics, being a
core member is a feat unto itself. “I’ve been in the band since we were doing demos. I was here
from the beginning. I left for a short while…what had happened is that I was in the band before
we were even signed, and then I left the band for a bit, in ’96, and then came back in ’99.” The
reason for Paul’s leaving was never discussed or offered.
Ego has always been the rumored contributing factor for dismissal, and Dani Filth, vocalist, has
always been at the black heart of it all. At least that’s the word on the street.
“I can’t stand anyone around me with an ego. I leave the room or they do. As for Dani, he doesn’t
have one. None of us do. We’re mates playing metal music. This is our job. We get kids coming
up to us all the time, shaking and crying. One bloke told me I was his God. Fuck off. I’m not your
God. I’m not your fucking God.”
Though they may not have heads the size of zeppelins, Cradle of Filth is nothing to scoff at.
Having graced the music scene sixteen years ago, this little Suffolk, England band has converted
fans across the shadowed metal spectrum regardless of age, sex, and global region. I truly believe
that their lack of self genre labeling has contributed to their massive fan base, creating a free for
all for all that is oddly welcoming in a world of metal elitism. “It’s pretty weird, the difference
between metal here [US] and metal in Europe. I don’t understand it, and I find it hard to think how
it could be so different. Any band from Europe, or the UK, you can always tell where they’re from
just by listening to it. With American music, you have to categorize yourself…but there is always
this American tone that doesn’t suit the music. American metal is hardcore meets metal. It’s
almost in everything, you can just feel the American tone. And that’s great. We’re accepted over
here really well, despite not having that tone. In England, the English press just runs us down and
loves to ruin us. Fans in all countries are pretty much the same, over here they are a lot more
aggressive. But when you go to Mexico its all-in-all brawling all the time.”
When one thinks of metal visions of black shirts, stringy hair, and mild eyeliner comes to mind.
But deep within the dark recesses of Europe “Goth” is the standard for many a metal band.
Gimmick or not, the appearance of Victorian vampires or instrument wielding corpses seems to
work for America, collecting the young in their emotionally confused state hook, line, and sinker.
Upon arrival to the Viva La Bands tour, to which Cradle was headlining with the likes of GWAR
and CKY, I had to stop and double take at all of the off-the-rack Hot Topic wraiths sulking about.
Having been from Detroit, mecca of Classical Goth and once considered a Darkling in my youth, I
couldn’t help but notice the lack of finesse and the vacancy of individualistic details.
Understandably the Florida hear is enough to broil flesh from bone and to smite hours worth of
artistically crafted make-up in mere seconds, but to smear black grease across an unclean face is
an affront to what the Goth movement once was. “I was there when the whole Goth thing kicked
off, the whole band was. To see kids do it nowadays…I get it, I understand, you want to be apart
of the scene.. Just go and do something defining for fucks sake. I’m glad the whole scene back
from the eighties is coming back around. But now, it’s kids with black make-up and baggy pants.
What’s that about? Pick one or the other, don’t try to mix it up. When I was a teenager, it was the
original Goth. It was, especially with the girls, how immaculate that you could be. You had to be
so fucking clean, so fucking immaculate, so fucking perfect. I knew the women
would spend hours doing their make-up and hair, because the pencils on the face had to be
perfect. I just wish we could be rid of that whole bloody grunge-goth mess. Uck. They
look like they rolled out of bed and smeared black tar on their face. Kids nowadays just try to
imitate these emo bands. They believe they can put make-up on and be old school, but at
the end of the day they can never get there. As far as I’m concerned, you had to be around in that
particular time [the eighties] to really appreciate the goth scene.”
Paul and the boys don’t spend all their time on their make-up. They’re always fast at work
allowing their trade to carry them to new heights, roaming troubadours in constant search for that
defining sound that will sooth the soul or rattle the beast within. “We’ve been called screamo and I
don’t even know what the fuck screamo means. Hardly. We’re a rockin’ out metal band. That’s
all we are. Unfortunately the press now adays have to pitch it one way or the other. They can’t
just say they’re a metal band. Someone always has to ask ‘what type?’ Why have a type?
Screamo, as far as I’m concerned, sounds like a new fade. It sounds like someone trying to
describe metal when they never understood what metal was to begin with. Whats scream? You
might as well call something homo for fucks sake, you know what I mean? Thornography is just a
progression. We didn’t plan to do it like that, we didn’t plan for it to even sound like that. That’s
just what happened. We don’t plan any of the albums to come out as they do. Take the new stuff,
I’m writing new stuff and it’s speed everywhere again. It’s real goth-keyboards-orchestra again.
We don’t plan what albums sound like, that’s just how it comes out. At the end of the day we just
make albums and if people don’t like us, then who cares? Even if the band goes tits up tomorrow
we’re going to still be writing music. We do what we do. The new album is going to be a bit
more like Dusk, but more modern." [Hallena@nyghtscene.com]
weather and not bat a lash of discomfort. That leather-clad-white-faced super hero goes by the
name of Paul Allendar, guitarist and one of the original members of Cradle of Filth. Yes, I said
original. For a band renowned more for their revolving door than vampuric theatrics, being a
core member is a feat unto itself. “I’ve been in the band since we were doing demos. I was here
from the beginning. I left for a short while…what had happened is that I was in the band before
we were even signed, and then I left the band for a bit, in ’96, and then came back in ’99.” The
reason for Paul’s leaving was never discussed or offered.
Ego has always been the rumored contributing factor for dismissal, and Dani Filth, vocalist, has
always been at the black heart of it all. At least that’s the word on the street.
“I can’t stand anyone around me with an ego. I leave the room or they do. As for Dani, he doesn’t
have one. None of us do. We’re mates playing metal music. This is our job. We get kids coming
up to us all the time, shaking and crying. One bloke told me I was his God. Fuck off. I’m not your
God. I’m not your fucking God.”
Though they may not have heads the size of zeppelins, Cradle of Filth is nothing to scoff at.
Having graced the music scene sixteen years ago, this little Suffolk, England band has converted
fans across the shadowed metal spectrum regardless of age, sex, and global region. I truly believe
that their lack of self genre labeling has contributed to their massive fan base, creating a free for
all for all that is oddly welcoming in a world of metal elitism. “It’s pretty weird, the difference
between metal here [US] and metal in Europe. I don’t understand it, and I find it hard to think how
it could be so different. Any band from Europe, or the UK, you can always tell where they’re from
just by listening to it. With American music, you have to categorize yourself…but there is always
this American tone that doesn’t suit the music. American metal is hardcore meets metal. It’s
almost in everything, you can just feel the American tone. And that’s great. We’re accepted over
here really well, despite not having that tone. In England, the English press just runs us down and
loves to ruin us. Fans in all countries are pretty much the same, over here they are a lot more
aggressive. But when you go to Mexico its all-in-all brawling all the time.”
When one thinks of metal visions of black shirts, stringy hair, and mild eyeliner comes to mind.
But deep within the dark recesses of Europe “Goth” is the standard for many a metal band.
Gimmick or not, the appearance of Victorian vampires or instrument wielding corpses seems to
work for America, collecting the young in their emotionally confused state hook, line, and sinker.
Upon arrival to the Viva La Bands tour, to which Cradle was headlining with the likes of GWAR
and CKY, I had to stop and double take at all of the off-the-rack Hot Topic wraiths sulking about.
Having been from Detroit, mecca of Classical Goth and once considered a Darkling in my youth, I
couldn’t help but notice the lack of finesse and the vacancy of individualistic details.
Understandably the Florida hear is enough to broil flesh from bone and to smite hours worth of
artistically crafted make-up in mere seconds, but to smear black grease across an unclean face is
an affront to what the Goth movement once was. “I was there when the whole Goth thing kicked
off, the whole band was. To see kids do it nowadays…I get it, I understand, you want to be apart
of the scene.. Just go and do something defining for fucks sake. I’m glad the whole scene back
from the eighties is coming back around. But now, it’s kids with black make-up and baggy pants.
What’s that about? Pick one or the other, don’t try to mix it up. When I was a teenager, it was the
original Goth. It was, especially with the girls, how immaculate that you could be. You had to be
so fucking clean, so fucking immaculate, so fucking perfect. I knew the women
would spend hours doing their make-up and hair, because the pencils on the face had to be
perfect. I just wish we could be rid of that whole bloody grunge-goth mess. Uck. They
look like they rolled out of bed and smeared black tar on their face. Kids nowadays just try to
imitate these emo bands. They believe they can put make-up on and be old school, but at
the end of the day they can never get there. As far as I’m concerned, you had to be around in that
particular time [the eighties] to really appreciate the goth scene.”
Paul and the boys don’t spend all their time on their make-up. They’re always fast at work
allowing their trade to carry them to new heights, roaming troubadours in constant search for that
defining sound that will sooth the soul or rattle the beast within. “We’ve been called screamo and I
don’t even know what the fuck screamo means. Hardly. We’re a rockin’ out metal band. That’s
all we are. Unfortunately the press now adays have to pitch it one way or the other. They can’t
just say they’re a metal band. Someone always has to ask ‘what type?’ Why have a type?
Screamo, as far as I’m concerned, sounds like a new fade. It sounds like someone trying to
describe metal when they never understood what metal was to begin with. Whats scream? You
might as well call something homo for fucks sake, you know what I mean? Thornography is just a
progression. We didn’t plan to do it like that, we didn’t plan for it to even sound like that. That’s
just what happened. We don’t plan any of the albums to come out as they do. Take the new stuff,
I’m writing new stuff and it’s speed everywhere again. It’s real goth-keyboards-orchestra again.
We don’t plan what albums sound like, that’s just how it comes out. At the end of the day we just
make albums and if people don’t like us, then who cares? Even if the band goes tits up tomorrow
we’re going to still be writing music. We do what we do. The new album is going to be a bit
more like Dusk, but more modern." [Hallena@nyghtscene.com]
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