During a conversation with Ultimate Guitar's David Slavković, Cradle Of Filth guitarists Richard Shaw and Marek 'Ashok' Šmerda discussed the group's leader Dani Filth, the creative process, and more.

UG: When it comes to the creative process, is Dani always at the helm? Or do you have a lot of creative freedom as well?

Ashok: "Dani is indeed the leader and helmsman but we all in the band have a lot of creative freedom. Dani is very open-minded and welcoming to any kind of new element or individual approach. It still needs to be metal and have proper Cradle of Filth vibe which we all in the band respect being Cradle of Filth fans at first instance."

Richard: "We have a lot of creative freedom. Obviously, Cradle of Filth has a very established sound, but we're very lucky in that we can try all kinds of new things and will always sound like Cradle. I like to think Existence Is Futile is testament to that."

UG: What are your favorite Cradle of Filth songs from before you joined the band?

Ashok: "It is definitely Cruelty And The Beast, the first Cradle record I heard and this gem still has a big impact on me to this day. So a lot of my favorite songs come from this one. I am really glad we did special anniversary shows and tours where we performed this record in its entirety."

Richard: "It's always a great feeling to play the classics like 'Her Ghost in the Fog,' 'Nymphetamine,' and 'Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids'. Every time we perform the latter, I'm transported to being 14 years old again trying to learn how to play it and thinking it was one of the hardest songs I had ever learned. Crazy to think that I get to play those classics night after night."

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Cradle Of Filth released their new album, Existence Is Futile, on October 22nd via Nuclear Blast. The album consists of 12 new tracks with a total playing time of 54 minutes.

Tracklisting:

"The Fate Of The World On Our Shoulders"
"Existential Terror"
"Necromantic Fantasies"
"Crawling King Chaos"
"Here Comes A Candle… (Infernal Lullaby)"
"Black Smoke Curling From The Lips Of War"
"Discourse Between A Man And His Soul"
"The Dying Of The Embers"
"Ashen Mortality"
"How Many Tears To Nurture A Rose?"
"Suffer Our Dominion"
"Us, Dark, Invincible"
"Sisters Of The Mist" (Bonus track)
"Unleash The Hellion" (Bonus track)

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"Crawling King Chaos" video: