CRADLE OF FILTH Frontman Talks 'Gospel Of Filth'

Vocalist Dani "Filth" Davey of British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH was interviewed by Mark Morton of Examiner.com about "The Gospel of Filth: A Black Metal Bible", the new book written by Dani and renowned music journalist Gavin Baddeley ("Dissecting Marilyn Manson", "Lucifer Rising"). An excerpt from the chat follows below.

Examiner.com: Do you think "The Gospel of Filth" helps to re-place the mysterious veil that CRADLE OF FILTH had abandoned, or do you see this as holding a mirror up to the world, showing everyone that there is a little "Filth" in all of us?

Dani: I don't think we've lost that mysterious veil, I just think that people have more of their own perceptions of us lot now. Everybody has an opinion on this band and some people have been jaded by time and exposure. That said, I also agree with the "mirror" thing. If nothing, this book reveals that there has always been a deep fascination with all things dark, taboo and occult, from the lowliest mind to the heights of Kings and scholars, and that it's man's nature to wander from the path given him, and to sometimes relish its darker corners and delights.

Examiner.com: As well, were you ever bothered by the demystification of the band, or do you now see yourself as a different, more evolved kind of monster?

Dani: We're a much different hand-reared hydra now and more evolved in every way. The only thing that ever bothered me was having to pander to the press, playing their silly games to get the story out there, like always being around for Halloween and posturing in graveyards. I've always wanted to "get there," but not at the cost of my soul.

Examiner.com: Did "The Gospel of Filth" provide you with any conscious (or subconscious) closure on the past 15 years of trials, tribulations, mirth and mayhem of the band’s career?

Dani: I must admit it was a huge relief when the book was finished, because it drifted a good two years over deadline. This was mainly due to sourcing and researching the massive content, and the subsequent months that went into making it work — not only as the most comprehensive overview of the dark-side ever published, but also on a much smaller, more intimate scale, as it seeks to makes connections with the ideologies of our albums, whose themes are spring-boarded forth, from each chapter. For example, "Cruelty... and the Beast"'s main crux is serial killer chic, "The Principle of Evil Made Flesh" — the femme fatale, "Damnation and a Day" — Satanism, and so on and so off.

Examiner.com: Something that really shines through in the book, as well as the band’s lyrics, is a sincere tongue-in-cheek brand of humor (I still chuckle when I misread the title "Gods Peed on the Devil's Thunder"). Does the focus on humor have anything to do with your being a father to a young child, or is it part of the deeply rooted Monty Pythonian history of Britain?

Dani: I think the self-deprecating humor and sarcasm is a British trait all the way, it's in our sticky genes and from these, it has bled into everything, from fatherhood to our best-known comedies. It is strange that Monty Python is widely regarded as our funniest comedy ever, as it so evidently isn’t; it's just become more of a familiar institution than anything. Enjoying yourself in the field of work you do is the whole point of doing it. Sometimes our twisted humor as a band does shine through, but I think this is only because of our love for what we do, and hopefully it never detracts musically. We would never, never, never make a comedy album. Comedy metal sucks big fat ****."

Read the entire interveiw from Examiner.com.