Few names in extreme metal carry the same chilling legacy as Cradle Of Filth.

With over three decades of twisted anthems and gothic theatrics under their belts, the legendary six-piece have recently returned with their thirteenth studio album ‘The Screaming Of The Valkyries’, a record born amidst chaos and written partly on the road.

Still pushing boundaries whilst reflecting on an unbelievable career, as their return to Download Festival also approaches, Rock Sound caught up with frontman Dani Filth to talk about the making of the new album, lessons learned, and the enduring magic of connecting with a new generation of fans…

Rock Sound: It’s been a couple of years, but Cradle Of Filth have a brand-new record out now. In terms of the starting point, are you one of these bands who find it easy to write on the road, or do you need time and space to get into writing ideas? 

Dani Filth: It actually began on the road. We’ve been really prolific over the last three years. We’ve been out on the road pretty continuously, even during the recording of the album. Therefore, it actually took about a year to finalise it all. We’d record the drums, bugger off on tour for a bit, come back and do some more. Originally, I thought that was quite a good way to do it, because you’d always feel fresh. Actually, it was a lot more difficult. Fun, but more difficult. I’m not sure if we’d do that again, but we were playing catch up after the pandemic, and we had some new people in the band as well. Obviously, they’ve got to integrate their magic into the collective. 

We were on a co-headline with DevilDriver, so we utilised some of those Midwest off-dates where you stop [in places where there’s] one Walmart and a hotel. We thought, ‘Fuck it, this is perfect’. A lot of stuff is done on Dropbox, as we’re quite an international band, but you can only go so far building songs [that way]. You need to have some interaction, and we usually do that prior to tours. It did help being on the road, but you always promise yourself so many things when you go out on tour. I’m going to keep a diary, I’m going to be jogging every morning at eight o’clock, and by day three that’s out the window. You’re just playing catch up, so we were lucky when we could afford to do that writing in a hotel.

RS: We’ve just passed 30 years since the debut album. When you’re recording a new record, do you take the time to reflect on things like that?

Dani: I do take stock from time to time, but it’s surprised me as much as anybody else. You look back at these little windows of time that seem to be decreasing as the years go by. What I mean by that is from 1998 until 2004 we released ‘Cruelty Of The Beast’, ‘Midian’, ‘Damnation And A Day’, and ‘Nymphetamine’. That was within six years, but obviously there’s been a longer period of time between the last record and this one. We did release a double live album in that time though, so give us some credit! Suddenly you see this yawning gulf behind you though and go, ‘Fucking hell. How did that happen?’ Obviously, you are a little reflective on that, but we’re far from rolling over and calling the shots right now. We just push onward. We are actually in the midst of getting ideas together in our collective boroughs for new material.

RS: Is there anything you learned about making records in those early days of the band that still applied when you were making this new album?

Dani: The integrity stays the same, and the desire to create art stays the same. The core essence of writing an album is still there, obviously. They always say that the first time [making a record] is the best. You’ve had all the time before that to add a little bit of finesse, and you get your best work onto that album. The second one’s always tricky, because it’s off the back of the first and there are high expectations. You’re probably expected to do that within a year of the first one as well. Essentially though, everything’s still the same. There’s a little bit more demand, there are more deadlines, but over the years it’s become a well-oiled machine and a career. As much as I like to be that creative guy who lives in his own bubble and has a tray of food passed under the door of his laboratory whilst working… You’ve got to adhere to everything else. We have got a lot of good people around the band, great management, great crew, and you’ve got to come up with the goods. 

The pandemic was nice because, fortuitously, we had just started recording our new album when they imposed the first lockdowns. We were only allowed to work five hours a day because there was a curfew, but I had just bought a new car and was loving it. I was driving around everywhere, and it was like driving through a zombie apocalypse. [Creating] the album was fantastically fun because it was hot, and we were in the middle of the countryside. We had no deadlines, no one was telling us what to do, and so we nitpicked, experimented, and got ideas down for the future as well. There was so much spare time.

RS: Speaking on your audience, doing collaborations with the likes of Bring Me The Horizon and Motionless In White must have brought new fans into the fold. When you’re playing shows now, is there a clear mix of those who were there at the beginning and those just discovering the band?

Dani: Yeah, and it’s kind of strange as well. You see how scenes come and go like uroboros. They’re constantly evolving, eating themselves, and then throwing themselves up as a new incarnation. You’ve got those continual fans, but you’re finding new fans too, and the fact that they hark back to different periods of the band is very endearing. It is quite funny to think about how many people were at our gigs originally though. When we had Dissection supporting us in England for the first time, we played a show in Edinburgh to four people!

RS: This summer, you’re going to be back at Download Festival, which is always a prime opportunity to win over new crowds. With the history of that place, the crowd, and the mix of bands within the genre, it must be exciting to have that in the calendar…

Dani: Absolutely. We always do the big ones in Europe, and in England there is Bloodstock and Damnation, but this is the biggie. We’re not a band that would fit the bill on that many of the British festivals… I doubt they’d have us at Reading & Leeds! I’m looking forward to it, but I do hope the weather is good. Last time we played, it was a heatwave, so it could be a little more moderate than that. Anything other than rain, because I do remember Drownload. That was a quagmire. We’ve got a very good placement this year though, headlining the tent stage. Last time I was in there, I was watching The Prodigy.