Gavin Baddeley and Dani Filth wrote the “The Gospel of Filth: A Bible of Decadence and Darkness”, the definitive book on the themes dominant in heavy metal through an analysis of Cradle of Filth’s discography and career. This is an absolute must read for any Cradle fan as it thoroughly details the history and themes throughout all of their albums. An added bonus is all of the additional comments on the themes through prominent metal artists in various genres ranging from Judas Priest to Slayer to Behemoth.
Even if you are not a Cradle fan, this is a thoroughly enjoyable and highly intelligent near textbook of widely used metal themes and their British and European origins and histories. With in depth analysis of myths such as Countess Bathory, Vampirism, Lycanthropy, as well as the influence of authors such as H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, occult worship by Aleister Crowley and Church of Satan Founder Anton LaVey, the decadent namesakes such as Lord Byron, and the themes of horror, crime and murder, the femme fatale, and Gothic chic, this Bible speaks to the gospel of Heavy Metal in all its glory.
The order of the book follows Cradle’s discography from its beginning until present day and the themes that are the main focus in each album. Many of the themes intertwine with one another and in many cases several albums are revisited numerous times especially as they fall into more than one category. Aside from Cradle’s history, the writings and beliefs of Anton LaVey and Aleister Crowley are featured prominently as well. For Cradle fans, Dani’s provides multiple anecdotes on how certain themes found their way into Cradle’s music, his thoughts and feelings on the content of each chapter and stories from the road and the studio showing the lighter fun loving side of the band. Much of this is supplemented by the thousands of photos and artist depictions relating to the topics discussed above.
At 500 pages, this is quite an undertaking and will take even the most serious reader a significant amount of time to complete. However, serious readers will find plenty of new material to track down and read after completing this book, devout Cradle fans will dive back into their CDs with a newfound love for all things Cradle, and all sorts of metal fans will find a greater understanding and appreciation for many of the genre’s prominent themes.