New Album, Ed Sheeran + More

On March 21, Cradle of Filth released their 14th studio album, The Screaming of the Valkyries. That same night, legendary frontman Dani Filth joined Loudwire Nights to celebrate the record, reflect on the band’s legacy and share a bit about an unexpected collaboration he’s been teasing for a while.

“It doesn’t matter how many albums you belch out, it’s such a big occasion for your fans,” Filth admitted to host Chuck Armstrong about the release of The Screaming of the Valkyries. Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

“It’s been a few years in the making, from first inception, first ideas of songs right through to delivering the masters to the record company. It’s the real deal and it still gets you pumping.”

When the album was first announced, it was described as ushering in a new era of Cradle of Filth, which Filth seemed to fully agree with.

“Each album is like a monolithic event,” he said.

“Things are going well in the band, so I mean, even that signals the onset of a new age and I think the album’s very modern. It’s got one eye on our past…we’ve got great people around the band, got superb management with Dez Fafara and his wife, great crew, everything and the loads and loads of gigs coming up, most notably starting with the co-headline with Dying Fetus on the Chaos & Carnage tour. So yeah, I’d say it’s a new era, for sure.”

Cradle of Filth + Ed Sheeran’s Upcoming Collaboration

In addition to celebrating Cradle of Filth’s new album, Filth spent some time discussing the yet-to-be-released collaboration with a very unexpected artist: Ed Sheeran.

“The song itself is amazing,” Filth said, quickly.

“It sounds like him and it sounds like us and it’s going to be a blast. It’s great. But it’s not coming out just yet.”

Part of the reason for the delayed release is because Filth wants to make sure The Screaming of the Valkyries gets the attention it deserves and Sheeran also has his own work to focus on right now.

“I know people don’t get it and that’s what I love about it and I love doing weird collaborations.”

There’s a Bit of History Between Cradle of Filth + Ed Sheeran

As Filth talked about the song, he shared a hilarious story about the first time Sheeran almost came into contact with Cradle of Filth.

“Back in the day, he was going to do a work placement for his college,” Filth recalled.

“It was going to be at our studio and the whole premise was that we were recording an album there and that’s why he wanted to do it. But the producer, the guy around the studio, knew that we weren’t. He wanted us to, his ambition was, but secretly he knew we were just rehearsing there and we were going somewhere else to record the album.”

Sheeran was convinced, though, that Cradle of Filth would be recording the album at the studio and so he made sure his internship landed him in the very same place.

“I think he came to the studio and realized the guy was a bit bonkers anyway, so subsequently he was given a job at the local council, which he was like, ‘I don’t want to do this,’ and he actually said, ‘It was at that point I realized that I want to be a musician and I never, never want a job like that again.”

READ MORE: Cradle of Filth’s 5 Favorite H.P. Lovecraft Stories

When Chuck heard this, he told Filth it sounded like Cradle of Filth helped jumpstart Sheeran’s massive career.

With a laugh, Filth concurred.

“There’s a bill in the post to him right now for several, several thousand million dollars.”

What Else Did Cradle of Filth’s Dani Filth Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• Why things feel extra special as he prepared for the release of The Screaming of the Valkyries: “It feels like a new leaf has been turned over. Maybe it’s because we’ve got a new record company as well. Everything feels fresh and there’s opportunities to be grasped. It’s good. Feels cool … In the past, [we’ve always released records] at the back end of the year and the year’s kind of dying out, whereas this is sort of, it’s actually coming to fruition. It feels like change.”
• Why he enjoys reflecting — not dwelling — on his career: “It’s about longevity, evolution, mutation, learning from mistakes. Now being in that position where you’ve made all these errors in the past or you’ve been on so many buses you know how to break into them, you know how to go on tour. You know what works, what doesn’t, what makes you comfortable. You put the due diligence in and reap the rewards…it’s exhilarating.”
• What it was like first making music in the early-’90s: “You have a vision of what you intend the band to be and how many people you’re playing in front of. I dare anybody to say, ‘Oh no, I was just thinking of it being like a one-man black metal project … Everybody dreams of the big time and not everybody obviously gets there. I think we’ve done what we intended to do or what our dreams intended us to do.”

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

Dani Filth joined Loudwire Nights on Friday, March 21; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.