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Cradle of Filth is an English band formed in 1991. The subject of their particular subgenre has engendered much discussion and they have been embraced and disowned with equal fervour by various metal communities (see below). Roughly speaking, their sound has gradually evolved from raw, traditional Black Metal , to a cleaner and more "produced" Symphonic tone, and this increased accessibility has brought them coverage by '' Kerrang! '' and MTV and in turn, a more commercial image. BIOGRAPHY After the band's formation came a period of rapid line-up fluctuation (which has continued ever since) as four demos were recorded. They eventually signed to and the rest of the world. As the band became known for increasingly theatrical stage shows, '' Cruelty And The Beast '' - a concept album based on the legend of the "Blood Countess" Elizabeth Bathory - was released to even greater acclaim, though sales were poor. The following year the band continued primarily to tour, but did put out a video, '' PanDaemonAeon '', and an accompanying EP, '' From The Cradle To Enslave '', featuring the music from the production. The title track of the EP remains one of the band's best-known songs. The band produced their fourth full-length studio album the following year. '' Midian '' was based around the Clive Barker novel '' Cabal '' and its subsequent film adaptation '' Nightbreed '', and was fittingly released on Hallowe'en night 2000 . Their most accessible album to date, it saw Paul Allender joining the lineup on guitars, but was still by no means mainstream, featuring titles such as "Lord Abortion" and another cult favourite, "Her Ghost in the Fog", which found its way onto the soundtrack of the movie '' Ginger Snaps ''. Their sound at this point remained uncompromising but was becoming increasingly melodic, complemented as always by Dani’s verbose lyrics. Following the moderate success of ''Midian'' Cradle released a "transition mini-album" (as lead singer and front man Dani Filth later referred to it) '' Bitter Suites To Succubi '', which included "Born in A Burial Gown". The album was released on the band’s own ‘’Abracadaver’’ label, and was a mixture of four new songs, re-recordings of three songs from ''The Principle of Evil Made Flesh'', two instrumental tracks, and a cover of The Sisters Of Mercy 's "No Time To Cry." Whilst stylistically similar to ''Midian'' the album is regarded as a failure by most critics, though it remains a favourite among fans. In 2003 they signed with Sony Music and produced their fifth full-length studio album, '' Damnation And A Day ''; major label funding finally allowing a real orchestra into the studio (The 80-strong Budapest Film Orchestra and Choir) and thus Cradle's belated gestation into full-blown symphonic metal. Though it disappointed some fans, this concept album - showing the events of the Bible through the eyes of Lucifer and inspired by John Milton ’s epic poem '' Paradise Lost '' - featured the band’s most complex compositions to date, and also produced at least two videos on MTV2 - videos and MTV appearances being a rarity for the band ("From the Cradle to Enslave" had been banned from daytime MTV). Cradle's many detractors claim that they are no longer playing "true" black metal music. The band, however, who left Sony for Roadrunner Records near the beginning of 2004, claim their most recent album '' Nymphetamine '' (released summer 2004) as their return to actual black metal. Dani Filth says that it is stylistically half-way between ''Cruelty and the Beast'' and their previous full length album ''Damnation and a Day''. GENRE CONTROVERSY While many view the subject as an irrelevance, Cradle of Filth’s "true" black metal status has been in hot debate since near the time they became popular. Their format differs somewhat from most Norwegian black metal - which has led to them being deemed Melodic Black Metal - and the Norwegian black metal community generally shuns them along with bands such as Dimmu Borgir , whose pseudo-mainstream success followed in Cradle’s wake. Some critics have labelled them and similar bands "extreme gothic metal" (although the term is not widely accepted) as their music draws inspiration from Gothic Metal , Gothic Rock and Deathrock . 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 their controversial dance remixes ("Twisting Further Nails", "Pervert's Church" etc), although these have fallen by the wayside in recent years. Cradle’s drummer Adrian Erlandsson disagrees with the black metal categorization and describes Cradle of Filth as Extreme Metal , due to the fact they sound nothing like bands such as Darkthrone , Immortal , Bathory , etc. Dani Filth’s position on the band’s genre is that "Cradle of Filth is Cradle of Filth." TRIVIA
LINE-UP Current band members
Former band members
DISCOGRAPHY Albums and EPs
Special editions
DVDs
Movies
Miscellaneous releases
RELATED ARTISTS Bands covered
Tour partners
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