Cradle of Filth

Few extreme metal bands have travelled as far from their starting point as Cradle of Filth. Formed in Suffolk in 1991, the English group began in the abrasive world of black metal before refining their approach into something more polished, a blend of gothic and symphonic metal. Their songs and imagery draw on Gothic literature, poetry, mythology and horror cinema, and the line-up has long been international, with members from Sweden, the Czech Republic and the United States alongside their English founders. Over the years more than thirty musicians have passed through the ranks.

Their demos Invoking the Unclean, Orgiastic Pleasures Foul and Total Fucking Darkness were recorded amid constant line-up changes, and an album made for Tombstone Records was lost when that label folded. The debut, The Principle of Evil Made Flesh, appeared on Cacophonous Records in 1994. Dusk... and Her Embrace, reworked for Music for Nations in 1996, became their breakthrough, and Cruelty and the Beast, narrated by Ingrid Pitt, opened the door to a US debut. Midian followed in 2000, drawing on Clive Barker's Cabal. Their live reach has included main stages at Ozzfest, Download and Sziget.