Dani Filth (Cradle Of Filth, Devilment) recently spoke with HMV.com and revealed some of his favourite albums as part of the ongoing My Record Collection feature. An excerpt from the rundown is available below.

The first record I ever bought with my own money was…

Dani: "It was Ultravox's The Collection, which I’ve actually re-bought since I bought it the first time as there was a different track listing in Germany. Even though I was into pop I did have an affinity for the dark side of pop. I was about 12 years old and I got my hands on a vinyl copy. They were poppy, and quite dark and deep, quite meaningful lyrics. You know when you put your iPod on and hit shuffle, well I’ll be washing the car or something and one of these tracks will come on, and I’ll just go – WOW! God this is great! It’s one of those albums that I grew up with, and when you hear it out the blue you just get a wave of reminiscing about those times."

The record I think is the most underrated of all time is…

Dani: "Don't Break the Oath by Mercyful Fate. It’s amazing but every time you see a compilation of Mercyful Fate stuff or when anyone talks about it, it’s always Melissa they talk about – and even Metallica did a medley on Garage Days Revisited and it was all just tracks from Melissa, nothing from Don't Break the Oath. When I was young I actually thought that Mercyful Fate record was made by ghosts, it was that creepy. It’s just such a good record."

The record I can't understand why everybody loves is…

Dani: "The Dark Side Of The Moon, I hate Pink Floyd. I really hate them. I just hate them – that’s the reason and its reason enough. I just find the record really pompous and you know when everybody just bangs on and on about something… like Game Of Thrones – oh Game Of Thrones this, Game Of Thrones that - it turns you off from ever watching it. Well that’s a bit like Dark Side Of The Moon for me, you hear people just wallowing in their love of it, wearing t-shirts and discussing it – and for that reason alone I can’t stand it."

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Witch County nefarious frights Devilment – led by vehement frontman Dani Filth, will released their new album, Devilment II: The Mephisto Waltzes on November 18th via  Nuclear Blast Entertainment. Dani Filth had this to say on the subject of the new record:

“Everybody in Devilment is very excited about the prospect of releasing our latest album, II - The Mephisto Waltzes, which we have worked extremely hard on. The album is definitely a step-up from our debut, featuring a more mature, dissonant presence coupled with a darker edge, yet at the same time utilizing our better musical assets to deliver a unique metal hybrid. I don't even know what to classify it!”

Dani’s crew have meticulously pieced together a second blood-spattered batch of deranged anthems that brings vastly more color, intensity and lyrical versatility to this band’s spectral palate. The second Devilmenet record makes no splintered bones about its nefarious intent, offering a bewildering torrent of disparate and demented ideas and delivering them with refined, ultra-gothic panache and several jolting doses of Dani’s trademark verbal subterfuge. Assisted by long-time collaborators Lauren Francis (keys and vocals), Colin Parks (guitar), Nick Johnson (bass) and new drummer Matt Alston, Dani has arrived at the telling moment where Devilment become a genuine force to be reckoned with.

Regarding the album’s artwork, Dani revealed: “Winner of many international awards, the artist for the new Devilment album is Elena Vizerskayaaka Kassandra, whose photography and photo-manipulation perfectly complements the mysterious and magical world of Devilment. Elena's work is sometimes compared to Dali and Magritte due to the complexity of artistic figures and the perceptible amount of layers, something to be felt and not necessarily understood, exotic dreams filled with reflections and allusion. I have been a fan of Elena's work for a long while now and had originally wanted to utilize it for the Cradle Of Filth album, The Manticore And Other Horrors as far back as 2011, which only fell through when band politics intervened and an in-house label artist was used instead.”

“In conjunction with Elena, the booklet was compiled and further augmented with illustration by Dan Goldsworthy, who has also undertaken album artwork for the likes of Accept, Hell, and Sylosis, amongst others. His contribution to the album has provided it with a minimalist dark uniformity, punctuated by slick and classically macabre imagery, the perfect balance to Elena's gorgeously vibrant photography.”

The album was produced, recorded, mixed and mastered at Grindstone Studios by close friend and long term collaborator Scott Atkins (Cradle Of Filth, Behemoth, Savage Messiah), between March and July of this year.

Dani added: “Scott has worked very closely with the band to share our vision and we are very proud of the finished result, especially the megalithic production values and the hammered-home emphasis on song writing.”

Tracklisting:

“JudasStein”
“Hitchcock Blonde”
“Under The Thunder”
“Full Dark, No Stars”
“Shine On Sophie Moone”
“Life Is What You Keep From The Reaper”
“Dea Della Morte”
“Entangled In Our Pride”
“Hell At My Back”
“The Seductive Poison” (bonus track)
“Father Dali” (bonus track)

“Full Dark, No Stars” lyric video:

"Hitchcock Blonde" video:

“Under The Thunder” lyric video:

Track-by-track videos:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Devilment recently announced an extensive UK tour which will commence this December. The run will kick off on December 6th in Colchester, taking the band through 11 UK cities - before wrapping up at eminent Southampton venue, the Engine Rooms on December 19th.