CRADLE OF FILTH Frontman Ties The Knot; Band Continue Work On New Album

CRADLE OF FILTH frontman Dani Filth has offered the following studio update via the band's official web site:

"Dear loyal readership, friends and would-be English metal journalists,
The time has come once again to update your good selves on the activities and nocturnal emissions of the band as we approach our fourth week here at The Chapel studios in the pounding verdant heart of Lincolnshire.

"Well, firstly, before I continue with matters of the band, my girlfriend of fourteen years, Toni, and I were married on Hallowe'en in our hometown of Ipswich with a few close friends and our daughter Luna present. My mother, having left for India that very same day, obviously couldn't be there, so we felt it best that our vastly extended families should be told about it after the fact and in the better interests of sibling harmony. The day itself was supplemented with copious amounts of champagne, a posh lunch and a three-hour limo ride to a pre-planned Hallowe'en party that carried on right through to the next day somewhere in the bonfire-lit depths of Norfolk. Our celebrations will then have to abate until the 28th (which is Toni's birthday and fortuitously also the last date of the studio before the tour) and then until we get to our house in India for the Xmas break (I'd like to see Santa get down that fucking chimney!). So that's that, we're officially Mr and Mrs Filth until death do us prat, sorry, part.

"Right, back onto the bloody album then.

"Thus far the drums have been recorded, along with the bass, for the entirety of the record and are sounding great, although a small problem did arise at one point when Adrian [Erlandsson, drums] noticed that he'd been recording with a cracked cymbal. This was no small problem to correct as it meant having to re-record several tracks again, but record them he did and probably more to his and our satisfaction. Vocals are well underway by a few weeks and are going well despite having to slot them around drum editing, but at least they're underway. Our first mission was to finish our version of SAMHAIN's 'Hallowe'en II' for the forthcoming 'Underworld 2' soundtrack, a song that originally was to feature original vocalist Glenn Danzig way back on the 'Nymphetamine' session but fortunately stayed its ground unfinished. It may surprise a few people to know that this song is probably the first CRADLE song to feature clean vocals from myself, albeit just the chorus parts, but don't expect an emo ballad by any means, this is still a C.O.F. rendition after all!

"Other news is that a local plebian small town journalist looking to further his mundane existence chose to try and pursue a story about our studio being a hotbed of drugs and vice recently, which, despite the odd wife coming up for the weekends, is hardly that, well certainly not outside of the bedroom. Since last time I wrote, matters on the drugs front diminished immediately after it was revealed that the studio owner runs a totally dry ship when it comes to anything other than booze and even makes people stand outside for cigarettes, which as you can imagine doesn't go down too well with certain binge-skagging members at all. But in order to keep things on an even keel, people have kept to the rules albeit with some hardship, especially when Miss Moss popped in to say hello on her way back from working abroad last week, without the plum. Bless her.

"Live-wise the forthcoming tour British tour is being rehearsed for in-between sessions and our replacement keyboardist Rosie is filling in Martin's shoes with aplomb. Most dates are heading for sell-out, the first warm-up show in Colchester having gone at the back end of last week, with London, Manchester and possibly Glasgow going in the very near future. So grab your tickets soon folks, they're going fast and furiously. Honest!

"There definitely is an air of trepidation building in the studio as the tour creeps up on the band, everybody being eager to flip the coin onto the other side in regards to getting out there and fucking things up live (as opposed to fucking things up in the studio and flipping each other the finger!). The sudden, radical change in surroundings should certainly get the adrenaline pumping, especially with a new stage show and set list at hand and playing places that we've never ventured to up until now, like Newcastle, Southampton and Cardiff.

"Of the other two covers, there is news. We have decided to undertake the following tracks.... 'Stay' by SHAKESPEARE'S SISTER, which will be see Liv Kristine again sharing vocal duties and 'Temptation' by Eighties new wavers HEAVEN 17, which will also see Harry (formerly of 'DIRTY HARRY') guest. These songs were chosen mainly for their challenge rather than their gay icon status and the need to tackle other more predictable cover versions... these things breaking up the studio session like a breath of foetid air when they're attacked with a certain flair of creativity. Well, that's the band fucked then!

"As for the rest of the album it is hard to say how songs like 'Libertina Grimm', 'Tonight In Flames' or 'Cemetery And Sundown' will fan out, this being the culmination of the first studio session, with only the bare bones in place at the moment. On our eventual return, with more vocals being addressed and the guitars underway, we should start seeing the light behind the darkness and the songs finally rising into some distinguishable, though rancid life.

"As for other things, the food is still impeccable and the weather freezing, the pub down the road still being our only real vice (we won the pub quiz there last weekend though... ) bar a few visits mid-mornings to local towns for random shopping trips. Rob [Caggiano] the producer is slowly recovering from his illness, i think the parasite has snaked out of his arse and slipped along the corridor to someone else's room much like a scene from the first 'Alien' movie. He still is unable to drink alcohol at the moment though, a sorry state of affairs that finds him clawing at the woodwork like a rabid hamster when the booze is broken out and the moon risen full.

"There have been the usual strange happenings here in true C.O.F. fashion, as in possessions disappearing for days on end and some more freak guitar stuff happening (yes, the bass cab caught on fire once again!) but for the most of it the gremlins have let us be. Engineer Dan Turner (aka 'Hot Lips', 'Nun Trader' and 'Dan Syndrome') has yet to complete his studio challenge this time around, which involves donning a builder's hard hat, tight leather hot pants, shaving his legs, wearing an over-stretched skinny girl's C.O.F. shirt and then proceeding to ask the builders working on studio three whether they have any cracks that desperately need filling. So a shovel through his head then it is for the next DVD!

"Incidentally the current DVD, 'Peace Through Superior Firepower', is now in stores and the track from the live show, 'From The Cradle To Enslave', is hitting the airwaves to coincide in time with its release. A small film crew is coming out on these British dates with us in order to capture the event for a possible forthcoming documentary and there is also the possibility of teaming up with the porn director Michael Ninn and everybody's favourite troublemaker Bam 'The Patron Saint Of Finnish Metal' Magera. A live set from the British tour will also be recorded for one side of a forthcoming double live album entitled 'Trouble And Their Double Lives', which should see the light of day at some point late next year. Be varned!

"So much for a quiet time around the studio then. Hope this keeps you up to date for the time being, another slowgress report should reach you by the Xmas period, if not we're either dead or just sitting around hoping to be..."