Paul Allender Officially Out of Cradle of Filth

Neither Axl nor I are the biggest Cradle of Filth fans, so we missed this bit of news when it broke in April. Still, “broke” would be an exaggeration: it seems as if none of the major metal news sites have reported on it yet. So:

Paul Allender is officially out of Cradle of Filth. He confirmed as much via Facebook in response to a fan’s post about his other band White Empress:

Paul and fellow CoF guitarist James McIlroy both had to sit out the band’s European winter tour with Behemoth, but at the time both parties spun it as a temporary situation, with Paul citing “some hugely important family matters” while James was about to go under the knife for neck surgery (which he wisely backed out of at the last moment). Ashok of Root and Inner Fear and Richard Shaw of Emperor Chung and NG26 filled in for the missing guitarists on that tour, but it’s not clear which if any of those two will remain as Allender’s permanent replacement, as the band has yet to make an official announcement on the matter. 

This isn’t the first time Allender has left CoF — he was absent from 1996 through 2000 to spend more time with his son and join two other bands, The Blood Divine and Primary Slave — but this is kind of a big deal, no? Allender was a founding member of the group, their lead guitarist and a major contributor.

Here’s Allender’s new band, White Empress, if you care to give them a listen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_ppF2yK4NM

Thanks: Igor D.