Mr. Drew of the horror-centric web site BloodyGoodHorror.com recently conducted an interview with vocalist Dani "Filth" Davey of British extreme metallers Cradle Of Filth about "The Gospel of Filth: A Black Metal Bible", the new book written by Dani and music journalist Gavin Baddeley.
"The Gospel of Filth: A Black Metal Bible" serves both as a chronology of the band and their influences, as well as a complete study of the occult and man's obsession with it throughout history.
Each chapter is filled with parallels between the occult and themes found in horror, heavy metal, black metal, comic books, literature, and just about every other facet of popular culture. Many luminaries in each field are showcased or interviewed. I recently had the opportunity to talk to Dani concerning the book, and his career as a whole.
A couple of excerpts from BloodyGoodHorror.com's interview with Dani Filth follow below.
BloodyGoodHorror.com: How did it feel to finally finish "Gospel of Filth" so many years after its inception? Did you feel it was complete?
Dani: It was on the cusp of massive relief even up to a few days ago when it finally managed to claw its way down to the printers! One of the main problems we had to face was the fact that each chapter adopts a Cradle album as its initial springboard (so, for example, the chapter entitled "Cruelty and The Beast" concerns itself with crime and serial killer chic), so the longer the book was taking, the more chapters were being added to accommodate the next Cradle Of Filth excretion. We were writing albums quicker than chapters in the book at one laborious stage! That said though, the book is a literal tome. Serving as a modern day black grimoire, it covers all areas of the dark-side and the occult and infuses this with accounts from real life practitioners, be they musicians, actors, writers, historians, serial killers or real-life vampires, the grisly facts are always expertly corroborated and then fleshed out.
Did Gavin approach you, or did you seek him out to help assemble all the pieces?
You know it's over five years ago now, down the long, winding road of painstaking research and too much absinthe, that, if memory serves me well, Gavin and I actually met at a very fruity Black Mass in Chelsea, London.
You have a clear fascination and understanding of the occult and all the other subjects compiled in the book. But "Gospel of Filth" also had a kind of tongue-in-cheek view of the subject matter. Is occult study a simple curiosity for you, or is it something you regard very seriously?
I used to be very serious about the occult, sitting on the other side of the fence to the one I scratch my arse on now. As I've hit my thirties and now bedecked with family, I find myself exploring everything in life a little more vividly and with so much on one's (often busy and bloodstained) hands, there just isn't the time to indulge fully in the daily labors of magic and mind-play. I see myself as more of a Van Helsing-type character now, an obsessed vampiric good guy with inside information on the dark. Possibly with a cape. Haven't decided.
There is a panoply of impressive accounts and interviews from celebrities, musicians, horror icons, and cultural authorities from all walks of life. Dario Argento, James Hetfield, Nick Holmes, Tom Araya, and countless others. How did these people come to be involved in the project? Did you go to them, did they come to you, or both?
A bit of both. For example, we have excerpts from possibly the last ever interview with Anton La Vey, which is something that Gavin undertook a few years back naturally, and in contrast with that, the Dario Argento interview came into existence due to me having sung the credit song on his recent "Mother Of Tears" movie.
You've mentioned in the past that horror films occasionally serve as inspiration for Cradle Of Filth. What films stick out in your memory, and which are your favorites? Have you seen any recently that pique your interest?
Don't get me started! I don't really have an absolute favourite and there are just so many thousands I like. In fact that's my touring bad habit... buying DVDs, especially in the States on a day-off Best Buy and Wal-Mart run, to while away the lonely nights on the bus. Recent favorites however would have to be films like "Antichrist", "Martyrs", "District 9", "Pandorum", "Dead Snow", "Monsters Versus Aliens", "Coraline", "Dorian Gray", "Meatball Machine" and "Mum And Dad".
You were in the horror film "Cradle of Fear" in 2001, and then were a voice actor in 2003's "Dominator", but haven't appeared since. You've said in prior interviews that you very much enjoyed acting. Have you closed the door on that part of your career, or can horror fans expect to see you again?
I was acting?!!!! We were actually due to undertake a sequel to "Cradle Of Fear", but seeing as the cast and crew all were on deferred payments until the film made money (to keep the outlaying costs low), and now that it's been done like that once it won't happen again and hefty investors have been a tad shy of late. I'd love to do something again, but it'd have to be done right. I've got some great ideas for scripts and the suchlike, however the band and subsequent career have kept me pinned to the wall for the past few years.
Read the entire interview from BloodyGoodHorror.com.
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