As previously reported, CRADLE OF FILTH are currently on tour in Europe in support of their new album, Thornography. The latest in an ongoing series of tour updates can be found below:

November 30th - Budapest, Hungary, Petofi Hall

"Today is Hungary and another one of those get-up-late-and-it's-dark days. The weather is bleak and the venue not that much better. I had plans to visit the city today as I did in Croatia and Spain, but time is short and the city a cab ride away and no-one has any Hungarian money. So that plan is instantly scuppered.

Bugger.

The dressing rooms actually smell of cabbage so a shower is forsaken (they don't lock either and this lot are definitely not to be trusted not peaking in on a girl...) so again it's a late afternoon of regaining one's composure, eating at the catering, ringing home to check on the cat and working on the internet. And that basically was the day.

Of course the band have their usual round of interviews and so forth and there are a dozen conversations to be held with the crew and the support band, but, like I said, the day is a bit of a humdinger save for getting fairly stoned with Paul and Dan after the show and then negotiating the crowd that is gathered awaiting autographs outside the bus, much of whom are quite clearly mad and intolerant of having to wait any further.

I am told by the band that this is the venue where former members Adrian and James held a Red Bull drinking contest, with the winner being the one who first made it to the middle of the case some twelve cans later. James subsequently threw up in the sink some eight cans in, whereupon, to gross the onlookers to the spectacle out even further, previous keyboardist Martin proceeded to clean his face with the floating stomach bile. How quaint.

Tonight the show is great, although loud and evidently very exhausting judging by the knackered faces that eventually drag themselves off the stage, the sound swimming about the large hall so much so that a curtain is flown in to deaden the sound about two-thirds of the way to the back of the room. Suffice to say that a great time is had by all and that the new material still seems to be going down well with the sizeable crowd, even 'Temptation' which I thought might be a bit of a sticking point with some of the more die-hard old school fans.

Afterwards I actually brave a shower whilst others are out mincing and convince myself that the cabbage smell is actually is in the water, whereupon I become quite paranoid when talking to members of the opposite sex, which I do a quite a lot, just like the little slag I am."

December 1st - Vienna, Austria, Planet Music

"I'm sorry but I despise this venue. I've actually been here several times before and every time it has to been to the tune of gloom, smoke-filled corridors and cramped backstage conditions. Today however, is different and that is because I head out, again with Sarah and Dan, to the festive lights of the big city.

Vienna is stunningly beautiful at this time of year, especially beneath the lit-up cathedral with it's menagerie of horse-drawn carriages gathered about and a steaming cup of Austrian mulled wine in your hands to usher in that festive Xmas cheer. Dan and Sarah are here to look for presents, I'm here to stand agape at the historic surroundings that tower around us and to get all Christmassy. We only have two hours, having had to wait to drop off our washing with the runner, so time is of the essence, that is until Dan and Sarah both spend their money straight away, so instead of me going off and getting myself hopelessly lost, we all opt for a walk through the glittering city centre and a small meal at a side street eatery, before jumping into a cab and heading back to the venue for soundcheck.

Whilst awaiting yet another late sound check, we entertain ourselves with 'Universal Monsters' pin ball in the foyer and a few sneaked drinks from the bar, as Skinny from the Death Stars entertains us with some eyebrow-raising tales from the road. Then it's the usual rush, but tonight with everyone confined to the small backstage corridors and tiny dressing rooms. On talking to a local, I find that the next time the band comes to Vienna this venue would of been knocked down and replaced with a bigger, better one and I can't help but silently thank the gods for that, for as heartless as it seems, the opportunity to stretch out and relax here would be a welcome addition to one's tour schedule.

Despite the cramped conditions backstage and the security breathing smoke all over our dinner (which is served up in the hallway), the show is another corker. Obviously the stage here is pretty small here but the crowd are as enthusiastic as ever and the band respond with a breathtaking set seemingly played at twice it's normal velocity. 'Dirge Inferno', 'Her Ghost In The Fog' and 'From The Cradle To Enslave' are the highlights tonight and exactly an hour and a half after the cataclysm that is the intro music 'Under Pregnant Skies She Comes Alive Like Miss Leviathan' starts, the band leave the stage to rapturous applause, again drenched in sweat like bedraggled rodents fleeing a docked plague ship (or something along those lines).

The night is capped off with a few drinks from the bar and conversations with gathered fans, some on-the-bus hilarity from a slightly tipsy Dani (walking around with his pants down), the return of our laundry (hoorah!) and the usual buffoonery that comes with this band, with people climbing in and out of each other's bunks, farting in one another's faces and generally behaving like teenagers on their first visit abroad.

But not me, I'm a perfect angel, as you've probably already guessed. Hic!"

December 2nd - Zlin, Czech Rep, Novesta Hall

"Today is the Masters Of Rock festival day that the band are headlining for the third time. Also on the bill (aside from everybody's favourite Swedes, the DeathStars) are an array of heavy metal bands that really should have stayed fighting dragons in the eighties (though they are pretty damn good, if not a tad cheesy), Crystal Viper, Waltari and Paul's adolescent wank-fantasy Doro Pesch from Warlock (remember her and them?) to name but a few. Tonight the band are not on until eleven o'clock, which gives the crew plenty of time to go back to bed, as they have been up since seven thirty loading in and setting up the stage.

We are designated a trophy room in this sports arena to use as a dressing room and thankfully showers are cornered off for the band and crew to wallow in. The weather outside is cold but refreshing and there is plenty of room today to stretch out and chill. Willie G. buys some incredible old metal albums from the onsite metal market, Keith is declared homeless whilst he sleeps on the sofa and a sign hung about his personage asks politely for any spare change and massages are ordered from a visiting physiotherapist for all who require them.

I spend much of the day in a hangover-induced state of lethargy either in the shower, on the internet (Paul gets us connected via his wireless router) or back in bed, only to emerge for dinner and the show like some strange breed of female nocturnal vole.

Apparently there are over three thousand people in the audience here today including Martin's Mum and Dad who have come to whisk him away for lunch and see the show. Indeed, his Mum is dancing throughout the set later on in the evening, as too is Kat from the Death Stars, who pushes his way to the front of the crowd during the encore, fag in mouth as usual and fists raised.

The show is great for everyone except Dan, who experiences some technical difficulties for the first couple of songs but he soon gets over it and rejoins everybody else on the same page. Sarah's microphone collapses as she adjusts it's height, thus rendering her at the mercy of holding the blessed thing in her hands for two songs whilst Willy desperately tries to fix it and the Death Stars look on at the side of the stage laughing their tits off. The whole crowd appears to still in the venue to watch the band despite the lateness of the hour (it finishes closer to one in the end) and appear to be enjoying it immensely too. The front rows are crammed beyond belief (which begs the question of how Kat managed to squeeze in there without burning anyone with his cigarette) and all songs are met with a roar of appreciation.

A bloody good show tonight.

After the encore has rung out, everyone retreats to the dressing room to smoke, change, shower, fight and drink, although not heavily as bus call is little more than an hour away and the usual business of signing stuff is to be attended to. Back on the bus all seven band members and i cram into the upstairs lounge to share thoughts on the day and watch Sarah laugh herself into a crying fit having found a picture in a magazine that she thinks best represents Dave. I think this is the first time everyone has been sat in the same room (apart from stage time!) since the bar in Lisbon and it really shows that the band are getting along with each other perfectly, what with everyone cracking jokes and mocking one another in friendly jest.

And so it is with a light heart that everyone turns in around three-ish, very much looking forward to the forthcoming day off somewhere near Munich and the promise of a hotel, a cosy bar and four channels of high quality masturbation fuel."

To read the previous tour updates go to this location.

Remaining dates on the tour are as follows:

December

7 - Alte Reithalle in Dresden, Germany
8 - Progresje in Warsaw, Poland
10 - Markthalle Klosterwall in Hamburg, Germany
11 - Train in Aarhus, Denmark
12 - Rockefeller in Oslo, Norway
13 - Amager Bio in Copenhagen, Denmark
14 - Karen in Gotheborg, Sweden
16 - Antwerp, Belgium at Hof Ter Lo
17 - Manchester, UK at Academy**
18 - Birmingham, UK at Academy**
19 - London, UK at Astoria**

** with SABBAT