Cradle Of Filth frontman Dani Filth is featured in a new interview with Rock Hard Greece, found below. During the chat with Sakis Fragos, Dani slammed Spotify for their so-called business practices and today's fan misconception that music is free
Dani Filth: "I think 2006 was the year that everything swapped from being comfortable for musicians.... well, not necessarily comfortable; it was never comfortable. But just being a lot harder with the onset of the digital age, the onset of music streaming platforms that don’t pay anybody. Like Spotify are the biggest criminals in the world. I think we had 25, 26 million plays last year, and I think personally I got about 20 pounds, which is less than an hourly work rate.
I think people just have this amazing ability to believe that when you have stuff out there, like physical product, that you’re earning a fortune from it. They don’t realize you have so many people taking pieces of the pie; record company, management, accountants, blah blah blah blah. It doesn’t matter. If you’re not getting any money in the first place, there’s not much money to share around. And nowadays, the reason why people put out limited-edition vinyls and stuff, it’s for collectors. They’re the only people that buy it; other people just stream it for nothing. That’s why you’re finding a lot of bands, since the pandemic, are not touring. Petrol’s gone up, tour bus hire’s gone up, the cost of living’s gone up. Yeah, it’s very hard for bands at the moment, but it doesn’t help when people just have this in-built idea that it’s not a privilege to get music, that music is something that should be given away free. I mean, I don’t walk into someone’s shop and just pick up — I don’t know — a pack of bananas and say, ‘Well, these grow on trees. They should be free. I’m walking out with these.’ I’d be arrested for shoplifting. But it’s fine for people to download…
Even before albums are out, you find fans, like, 'Oh, I’ve got a link to it,' and they put it up and then instantly any sales you’re gonna get from people buying it for a surprise are out the window because they’ve already heard it and then they just move on to the next thing. The music industry is on its knees at the moment. I still enjoy making music — don’t get me wrong; I love it — but, yeah, the musician nowadays is finding a million things against them. It’s a hard time."
As fans anxiously await the studio follow up to Cradle Of Filth’s 2021 full-length album, Existence Is Futile, the extreme metal legends have unleashed a thirst-quencher of epic proportions - their first live album to be released in over 20 years, Trouble And Their Double Lives via Napalm Records.
Recorded between 2014 and 2019 at different performances in the USA, Europe, Australia and beyond during their “Cryptoriana World Tour” and dates following, the album serves as a time-capsule of blisteringly intense live energy, and an astounding testament to Cradle Of Filth’s renowned latest era.
Produced, mixed and mastered by Scott Atkins at Grindstone Studios in Suffolk, England with recording captured by Danny B, the brand new live onslaught not only features a slew of fan favorites encompassing the band’s electrifying discography - such as “Nymphetamine (Fix)”, “Bathory Aria” and “Blackest Magick in Practice” - but also two bonus tracks and two entirely brand new songs, “She is a Fire” and “Demon Prince Regent”.
The two new studio tracks provide a hefty taste of what’s to come on future Cradle Of Filth studio releases! “She Is A Fire” starts the album with a sinister riff, ominous atmosphere and spine-tingling keys. Dani Filth’s renowned vocal delivery cascades in haunting screams and whispers atop hair-raising guitar leads and unrelenting drums. “Demon Prince Regent” slams in with a wall of sound and grim, blackened guitar leads before reaching a headbanging, bouncing chorus. Dramatic, score-like symphonics encapsulate the melancholic anthem before leading into a speeding solo, proving itself as yet another Cradle Of Filth classic to be.
Make sure to grab your copy of this very special addition to the Cradle Of Filth canon while they last.
Dani Filth adds: "I would say a live record was long overdue, judging by the 20-odd year gap between this and our previous offering! It also serves as a great accompaniment to the forthcoming co-headlining ‘Double Trouble Live’ tour(s) with DEVILDRIVER, and strangely enough is also a notable gap-filler whilst we prepare our debut album for Napalm Records, due for mass excretion in 2024."
Trouble And Their Double Lives will be available in the following formats:
- 2 CD Digisleeve
- 2 LP Gatefold Black Vinyl
- 2 LP Gatefold Silver Vinyl (European retail only)
- 2 LP Gatefold MARBLED Orange Transparent Black w/ Slipmat - Napalm Records Store exclusive (limited to 500 copies)
- 2 LP Gatefold GOLD - Napalm Records Store exclusive (limited to 500 copies)
- Deluxe Boxset (incl Wooden Box, 2 - CD Digisleeve, Patch, Pick tin, Keychain, Earplugs) - Napalm Records Store exclusive (limited to 666 units)
- Digital Album
Pre-order here.
Trouble And Their Double Lives tracklisting:
"She Is A Fire" (new studio track)
"Heaven Torn Asunder"
"Blackest Magick In Practice"
"Honey And Sulphur"
"Nymphetamine (Fix)"
"Born In A Burial Gown"
"Desire In Violent Overture"
"Bathory Aria"
"The Death Of Love" (bonus track)
"Demon Prince Regent" (new studio track)
"Heartbreak And Seance"
"Right Wing Of The Garden Triptych"
"The Promise Of Fever"
"Haunted Shores"
"Gilded Cunt"
"Saffron's Curse"
"Lustmord And Wargasm (The Lick Of Carnivorous Winds)"
"You Will Know The Lion By His Claw" (bonus track)
"She Is A Fire" video:
