The Gospel of Filth
Encyclopedia
The Gospel of Filth: A Bible of Decadence & Darkness (formerly known as "The Gospel of Filth: A Black Metal Bible") is a book by Dani Filth
Dani Filth
Dani Filth is the lyricist, vocalist and founding member of the metal band Cradle of Filth.-Personal life:...

 and Gavin Baddeley
Gavin Baddeley
Gavin Baddeley is an ordained Reverend in the Church of Satan, and an experienced journalist who has worked for The Observer and Metal Hammer. He is the occult authority for the BBC and Channel 4, has addressed Cambridge University, and has been profiled in The Independent and The London Evening...

, documenting the history of the band Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band, formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic black metal, and other extreme metal styles, while their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily...

 and straying further afield to explore their influences and "lay bare the fascinating underworld of contemporary culture".

Biography

According to the advance press release, the book "dissects the Satanic
Satanism
Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...

 sources that have influenced and informed Cradle of Filth, with a roadmap to every significant landmark in the domains of darkness, including the arcane secrets of black magic
Black magic
Black magic is the type of magic that draws on assumed malevolent powers or is used with the intention to kill, steal, injure, cause misfortune or destruction, or for personal gain without regard to harmful consequences. As a term, "black magic" is normally used by those that do not approve of its...

, via the sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...

 rites of vampirism. Artfully combining Hammer horror style schlock, dripping with eroticism
Eroticism
Eroticism is generally understood to refer to a state of sexual arousal or anticipation of such – an insistent sexual impulse, desire, or pattern of thoughts, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality and romantic love...

, backed by authentic black arts info and a wicked sense of humour
Humour
Humour or humor is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement...

, this will dazzle devoted disciples of darkness. Contributors include actor Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...

, Satanist Anton LaVey
Anton LaVey
Anton Szandor LaVey , born Howard Stanton Levey, was the founder of the Church of Satan as well as a writer, occultist, and musician...

, serial killer expert Robert Ressler
Robert Ressler
Robert K. Ressler is a former FBI agent and author. He played a significant role in the psychological profiling of violent offenders in the 1970s and is often credited with coining the English term "serial killer"....

, author Clive Barker, and necrophile Karen Greenlee".

The chapters as revealed so far are: "Esoteric England"; "The Black Arts"; "The Femme Fatale"; "Dark Fairy Tales"; "Gothic Romanticism"; "The Mythology of Murder"; "Horror Film and Fiction"; "Deviance and Desire"; "Demonic Doctrines" and "Oblivion".

Dani Filth: "Each chapter, while loosely based around the band, our ideals and aesthetics, explores the ideas behind an album we've done. It's thoroughly researched and mostly written by Gavin Baddeley, a reverend in the Church of Satan
Church of Satan
The Church of Satan is an organization dedicated to the acceptance of the carnal self, as articulated in The Satanic Bible, written in 1969 by Anton Szandor LaVey.- History :...

. It's morbid but retains a level of tomfoolery; you can read it and chuckle."

Dani Filth
Dani Filth
Dani Filth is the lyricist, vocalist and founding member of the metal band Cradle of Filth.-Personal life:...

 in an interview with BW & BK magazine conducted in November 2007 had this to say about The Gospel of Filth: "It is totally finished, apart from my chapter. The rest of it is with the publisher at the moment. We’re hoping for an Easter release. The Gospel Of Filth has grown in enormous proportion. When I was going through it, making some amendments to some chapters, I couldn’t believe how in-depth it is! Not only is Gavin Baddeley an occult historian (and an ordained Reverend in the Church of Satan), it’s supplemented by a vast number of contributors: musicians, artists, occultists. There’s a slight dark humour in there as well so it doesn’t all disappear up its own ass. Lavish photos throughout; it’s going to be monumental. The special edition, which I’m doing, is going to be leather-bound and hand signed, with the additional chapter about mishaps on the road."

A special edition of 1,150, with an extra 32 pages and 44 exclusive behind-the-scenes photographs (ISBN 978-1-903254-38-7), was released November 21st, 2009 (although could only be purchased until midnight of Halloween, 2009). The standard edition was finally published in February 2010.

External links

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