Ethan Miller, Getty Images What started off as an interview with Guns N’ Roses guitarist Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal offering advice to young musicians turned into an attack on Axl Rose by the time it was retold by British music magazine NME and the musician isn’t happy about it. The guitarist initially spoke with Ryze-Up magazine offering a few tips on how to succeed in the music industry. His official comment stated, “1. Be on time. By ‘on time’ I mean ‘be early.’ Make sure you’re there for when you need to be — wait in your car, communicate, let them know 10 minutes early that you’ll be there in five minutes and walk in five minutes later.” He went on to list items like “be prepared” and ‘be cool,’ but it was the “on time” comment that got twisted. Metal Hammer picked up the story and ran it with their own commentary about Axl Rose’s notorious tardiness, which NME then picked up and attributed to Bumblefoot. The offending line that raised Bumblefoot’s ire read, “Remember kids, only massive goobers make a habit of not being on time.” After reading the NME version of the story, Bumblefoot took to his Facebook page with a response. He stated in his posting: Some ‘info’ sites will twist anything into an attack on Axl [Rose], LOL (only way to get more readers and hike up rates on advertisers, I guess … ) NME is ‘not’ a legit source of music info by any stretch. Not only do they make up quotes that aren’t true (I’ve NEVER used the term ‘massive goobers’ in my life, LOL). I also didn’t speak to Metal Hammer. NME is using a piece of an interview I did with Ryze-Up magazine. If NME is going to point fingers, they should have more integrity and class in what ‘they’ do, yes?” I’m at the venue early, I’ll have dinner with the crew, watch opening acts, get warmed up, I’m at every meet-n-greet, and I’m ready to get on stage at show time. That’s me. My advice was for musicians starting out, hopefully it served its positive purpose ?. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/axl-rose-feud-slash-duff-mckagan-im-surviving-this-war-not-the-one-who-created-it/” title=”Next: Axl Rose Discusses War With Slash + Duff McKagan” align=”center”]
Kevin Mazur, Getty Images We all know how awesome AC/DC ‘s music is, but their classic hard rock anthems appeal to people from all walks of life. Even British engineers rock out to ‘Highway to Hell’ while they’re on the job! They just happen to be using the song to test new laser technology for in-flight drones. You may remember a story that broke earlier this year, when AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ was blasted at immense volume at an Iranian nuclear power plant thanks to a computer hacker . Now, British engineers have chosen AC/DC for military drone testing … sound like a conspiracy, Dave Mustaine ? In fact, the laser technology that was tested using ‘Highway to Hell’ is being developed to make drones lighter and operate longer without having to refuel. EADS Innovation Works in Newport, UK, are working on the laser reflector, which they call ‘Dazzle.’ Since we’re not all that bright when it comes to complex engineering, check out this description of the laser reflector courtesy of Gizmodo : After the laser beam enters the reflector, it passes through a transparent switch, called a light modulator, that adds the digital zeroes and ones of the video data to the beam. The light then hits a mirror and is reflected back to the spot it came from – carrying the video data. The tech will allow a speed boost to 1 gigabit per second – easily allowing faster delivery of HD video, which struggles to top 20 megabits per second with radio frequencies. Scientist Yoann Thueux is that man who chose ‘Highway to Hell’ for the inaugural testing of the laser technology. “It was on my iPod and I thought it would be a good song to go first because I know it completely by heart,” says Thueux. “I’d be the first to tell if the technology was not working properly on playback.” As for the next song to be beamed into a drone, Thueux hopes to use one of his own band’s tracks, although Frank Sinatra’s ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ has also been suggested. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/acdc-back-in-black-album-grammy-hall-of-fame/” title=”AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black’ Album Inducted Into Grammy Hall of Fame” align=”center”]
Roadrunner Joe Duplantier is Gojira ‘s vocalist and rhythm guitarist, and his brother Mario is the band’s drummer. The two briefly switched roles at a recent show, and there’s video footage to prove it (watch below). A couple of weeks ago at the French band’s show at Exeter University’s Lemon Grove Club, the Duplantier brothers surprised their British fans by swapping instruments for part of a song. The video shows Mario playing guitar and delivering extreme metal vocals for about a minute and a half while Joe plays drums. Surprisingly enough, the band didn’t miss a beat. Mario’s guitar playing is decent (although he did break a string) and his guttural vocals are sufficiently evil. Joe seemed right at home behind the drum kit, as well. We know he can also play bass, as he did on Cavalera Conspiracy’s 2008 album ‘Inflikted.’ American fans will have a chance to see if the Duplantier brothers swap instruments again when Gojira kicks off a North American tour with Devin Townsend and the Atlas Moth in January 2013. In a recent interview with Full Metal Jackie about the trek, Joe Duplantier says the bands they have toured with over the years have influenced them. “They’ve had an influence on us – the way we behave onstage, the way we play, they way we approach the whole thing, sometimes it’s purely technical like the way they plug in their gear.” Duplantier continued. “So we always learn something from touring with people that’s why I’m so happy to tour with Devin, he’s such an incredible singer – one of my influences actually and he’ll be opening for us [Laughs] how crazy is that?” Gojira are touring in support of ‘L’Enfant Sauvage,’ which has been named one of Loudwire’s 10 Best Metal Albums of 2012 . Watch Gojira’s Joe and Mario Duplantier Switch Instruments
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire This year 2012 will be remembered as one that was incredibly rich with quality metal albums. With some of extreme music's most consistent bands having issued near-perfect additions to their discographies this year, many of the albums listed here could have easily come in at No. 1 if released in past years. Albums from Between the Buried and Me , Converge , Pig Destroyer and Gojira made 2012 an incredibly competitive year, and certainly one of the best so far in the 21st century. The year also saw stellar new releases from the likes of Down and Lamb of God , among others. For fans who lean more rock than metal, we've got a separate list for you. But here, we present our picks for the 10 Best Metal Albums of 2012: ? 10 'Blood for the Master' Goatwhore ? ? Coming in at No. 10 is Goatwhore 's blackened death metal gem 'Blood for the Master.' Released on Feb. 13, the band unleashed one of their heaviest and greatest career achievements early in the year. With 'Blood for the Master' fueling an ever-increasing fanbase, Goatwhore earned a place on this year's Summer Slaughter tour along with opening shows for High on Fire, Hate Eternal and 3 Inches of Blood, among others, in 2012. Listen to 'Collapse in Eternal Worth' ? ? 9 'Resolution' Lamb of God ? ? Lamb of God continued their streak of creating addictive “pure American metal” with 'Resolution.' The band stays the course with their latest album, with powerful consistency and flawless execution. While there is no mistaking the album's tracks as anyone but Lamb of God, the band experiments with some doom with 'Straight for the Sun' and spoken word parts with 'King Me.' Add pummeling tracks such as 'Desolation' and Ghost Walking,' and you've got a killer album. Listen to 'Ghost Walking' ? ? 8 'Down IV, Part 1 – The Purple EP' Down ? ? Although 'Down IV, Part 1 – The Purple EP' contains only six songs, the tracks within offer a sustaining energy that carries the weight of a full-length. The vocal prowess of Phil Anselmo remains powerful, especially when delving low into his range, while the rest of Down pump out monstrous sludge into the groove-driven 'Levitation' and the anthemic 'Witchtripper.' Listen to 'Witchtripper' ? ? 7 'Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light' Woods of Ypres ? ? The tragic death of Woods of Ypres mastermind David Gold in December 2011 was a massive loss to the metal world, and tragically, Gold did not live to see the release of 'Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light.' Gold harnessed immense depth and introspective thought, using death itself as the album's central theme. 'Woods 5' follows a man who sees death after being struck by lightning and finds neither a God nor an afterlife. Listen to 'Lightning & Snow' ? ? 6 'Book Burner' Pig Destroyer ? ? With an album so good even Larry King contributed to it (kind of), Pig Destroyer ended a five-year wait for new material in 2012 with 'Book Burner.' The addition of Misery Index drummer Adam Jarvis to the lineup delivered a much dirtier and twisted sound to the new record, displayed prominently in 'The Diplomat.' Along with the all-knowing guitarist / producer Scott Hull and tremendous guest vocalists accompanying J.R. Hayes, the grind of Pig Destroyer remains second to none. Listen to 'The Bug' ? ? 5 'L'Enfant Sauvage' Gojira ? ? Although Gojira already possessed mountains of fans and a solid discography, the band is widely considered to be the breakout metal act of 2012. The French metallers unveiled 'L'Enfant Sauvage' to universal acclaim, successfully balancing the band's key components of brutality, beauty and progression with flawless production attached. For songs like 'The Axe,' 'Explosia,' the title track and much more, we say 'merci beaucoup' to Gojira. Listen to 'L'Enfant Sauvage' ? ? 4 'De Vermis Mysteriis' High on Fire ? ? High on Fire gifted fans with the incredible trippy sludge-fest 'De Vermis Mysteriis' in 2012, which explores the story of Jesus Christ's time-traveling stillborn twin brother who drinks a serum to see the past through his ancestors eyes in order to discover how his brother became a religious icon. Still with us? Even if the concept goes over your head, the brilliance of tracks such as 'Fertile Green' and 'King of Days' will bring you to sonic enlightenment. Listen to 'Fertile Green' ? ? 3 'All We Love We Leave Behind' Converge ? ? Converge possess one of extreme music's most impressive discographies, and 'All We Love We Leave Behind' ranks among the band's crowning achievements. The group strides closer to their hardcore roots with 'Trespesses' and 'Sparrow's Fall,' continue the legacy of Kurt Ballou's ingenious shredding with 'Sadness Comes Home' and even create experimental beauty with 'Coral Blue.' Listen to 'Sadness Comes Home' ? ? 2 'Utilitarian' Napalm Death ? ? Many metalheads expected just another grind record with Napalm Death 's 15th studio album, 'Utilitarian.' Those people were wrong. 'Utilitarian' turned out to be not just a phenomenal album, but a monumental achievement for the British legends. Barney Greenway's unmatched voice remains terrifying and demented, while the band's songwriting created an avant-garde niche consisting of scattered saxophone solos and otherworldly clean vocals. Listen to 'The Wolf I Feed' ? ? 1 'The Parallax II: Future Sequence' Between the Buried and Me ? ? 'The Parallax II: Future Sequence' is metal music's greatest conceptual accomplishment of the year. Set in outer space, BTBAM have created the most complex music you'll ever zone out to, performed by the strongest group of pure musicians within the realm of metal. Much like the band's 2007 album, 'Colors,' the record takes unexpected twists and turns while sonic plates spin without the slightest wobble. For that, we crown it the Best Metal Album of 2012. Listen to 'Telos' ? ? What's Your Favorite Metal Album of 2012? Which one of our 10 picks is your favorite? Did we get the order right? Did we miss your favorite metal album of 2012? Tell us our hits and misses in the comments section below: [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-rock-albums-of-2012/” title=”Next: 10 Best Rock Albums of 2012″ align=”center”] ?
Yesterday, Loudwire delivered an exclusive sneak peek at the new video from Soundgarden for their single ‘Been Away Too Long,’ and today the full video has made its formal premiere (watch above). While the lyrics for ‘Been Away Too Long’ sing out a sentiment that calls to mind Soundgarden’s extended absence, the video travels down a different path. It kicks off with a woman shedding a strait jacket and walking through an abandoned old building. As the building seems to come to life around her the video culminates when she meets the piercing glares of two german shepherds who have her in their sights. Check it out above in its entirety to see what happens next and draw your own conclusions. In addition to the new video, the band is building up the excitement for the release of their new disc ‘King Animal’ on Nov. 13 by announcing a 2013 North American tour. The 20-show run kicks off in late January in Washington, D.C., and takes the band across the U.S. and into Canada before wrapping up on Feb. 13 in Los Angeles, Calif., for two shows at The Wiltern. View all the dates below to find out when Soundgarden will be rockin’ out at a venue near you. Soundgarden 2013 Tour Dates: 1/18 Washington, D.C. – DAR Constitution Hall 1/19 Upper Darby, Pa.- Tower Theatre 1/20 Boston, Mass. – Orpheum Theatre 1/22 New York, N.Y. – Hammerstein Ballroom 1/23 New York, N.Y. – Hammerstein Ballroom 1/25 Toronto, Ontario – Sound Academy 1/26 Toronto, Ontario – Sound Academy 1/27 Detroit, Mich. – The Fillmore 1/29 Chicago, Ill. – Riviera Theater 1/30 Chicago, Ill. – Riviera Theater 2/1 Milwaukee, Wis. – Eagles Ballroom 2/2 Minneapolis, Minn. – Orpheum Theatre 2/6 Portland, Ore. – Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall 2/7 Seattle, Wash. – Paramount Theater 2/8 Seattle, Wash. – Paramount Theater 2/10 Vancouver, British Columbia – Queen Elizabeth Theatre 2/12 Oakland, Calif. – Fox Theatre 2/13 Oakland, Calif. – Fox Theatre 2/15 Los Angeles, Calif. – The Wiltern 2/16 Los Angeles, Calif. – The Wiltern [button href=”http://loudwire.com/chris-cornell-hurricane-sandy-benefit-concert-new-york-city/” title=” Chris Cornell to Perform Hurricane Sandy Benefit Concert in New York City” align=”center”]
Universal Steel Panther have just released the raucously riveting ‘British Invasion’ DVD, and they’re teaming with Loudwire to offer you the chance to win the Ultimate Steel Panther British Invasion Gift Pack. This collection of pure awesomeness comes with an autographed custom Kramer guitar, an autographed limited edition ‘British Invasion’ movie poster (only 50 were ever made), an autographed Steel Panther ‘British Invasion’ DVD, and a personal video greeting from the band. The group spent the last two years bringing along 16 HD cameras to film their world tour. The band began with their sold out show at London’s Brixton Academy in 2010 and also shot plenty of backstage and “on the road” material that made up the documentary that is part of the DVD release, as well. All of your favorite Steel Panther songs are on there, from ‘Asian Hooker’ and ‘Community Property’ to ‘The Shocker’ and ‘Stripper Girl.’ Plus, Corey Taylor makes a guest turn on ‘Girl From Oklahoma.’ We recently premiered the video footage of the band’s standout track ‘ Fat Girl ‘ from the ‘British Invasion’ DVD. The group is currently making their way around the globe with a world tour. Remaining dates for the trek can be found here . You can purchase the Steel Panther ‘British Invasion’ DVD here . But you also have the opportunity to win the Ultimate Steel Panther ‘British Invasion’ Gift Pack. All you have to do is enter your details in the contest box below: Ultimate Steel Panther ‘British Invasion’ Prize Pack Enter your e-mail address for a chance to win an autographed custom Kramer guitar, an autographed limited edition ‘British Invasion’ movie poster (only 50 were ever made), an autographed Steel Panther ‘British Invasion’ DVD, and a personal video greeting from the band. Contest ends Dec. 2, 2012. Click here for official rules . By entering this contest, you will receive email newsletters from Loudwire and be added to the Steel Panther mailing list. You may unsubscribe at any time. Email
Photo Credit: James Sharrock Speaking with musicians such as Cradle of Filth vocalist Dani Filth is one of the true pleasures of music journalism. Although kind and soft-spoken, Filth always has some brilliantly deranged stories up his sleeve. Earlier, we posted a story where the vocalist was stalked by a woman who claimed to be the reincarnation of serial killer Elizabeth Bathory, along with Dani being trapped in a car with her estranged boyfriend in an unbelievable case of coincidence. Now, we bring you the full interview with Dani Filth, which is filled with additional gems from the extreme metal mastermind. Along with talking about Cradle of Filth’s newest album, ‘The Manticore and Other Horrors,’ Dani Filth told us about his Halloween plans for this year, an upcoming 2013 North American tour, bizarre gifts from people including a leg bone from a fan’s dead grandmother + much more. Please enjoy our exclusive and in-depth interview with Dani Filth … if you dare. So last time we spoke, we talked a little about Bad Religion and how great that band is, and when I listened to your new record, ‘The Manticore and Other Horrors,’ I felt like it had a bit of a punk edge to it. Is that fair to say? Yeah, it’s certainly got this agro sort of hardcore element to some of the riffs, but I also think, aside from the traditional Cradle of Filth sound, I think there’s a little bit of new wave British heavy metal in there as well; a distinctive British vibe, and I wouldn’t say any of this is contrived. I think the punk element came from the fact that our guitarist Paul [Allender] wanted to revisit some of the ideas or the riffs that we had on stuff like ‘The Principle of Evil Made Flesh’ and more of our earlier works. When you compare the ‘Manticore’ record to your previous works, do you feel like this one is a little more accessible to people who might shy away from the more gothic elements of metal music? I suppose you could say that. The album itself is splattered with a selection of different ingredients, I suppose. They all add up to a slightly different bigger picture and I think the idea sort of moved away from the last record. It was very different, very capsulated, but there was a real emphasis on keeping the songs different from one another, but essentially listenable. It’s obviously a Cradle of Filth record, but I wanted people to hear why I’m singing more. I think we as a band got to that point where we wanted to do something that’s very memorable; heavy, because we are an extreme metal band after all and always have been, but we wanted people to go, “Wow that song’s killer. I can hear it. I can listen to the words, etc.” Was this your drummer Marthus’ first album that he solely did the orchestration on? Yes, yes it was. We kept everything very, very in-house. We recorded the album essentially as a three-piece and we drafted in a different bass player to play on the record because we parted company with our previous bass player, Dave. We used someone who worked at one of the studios; we used two studios simultaneously because we demoed everything. It cut the length of the actual recording down, essentially folding it in half. Recording-wise, there were four of us, but writing-wise, three. Carolyn (backing vocals), our new bass player Daniel, and our other guitarist, [James McIlroy] are involved in other bands and they all have other jobs, so for the band, it just felt it would be more completed, but the nucleus was writing and it was really relaxed because of that. That makes sense, because I was wondering why there was just the three of you in your latest photo shoot. It just made sense, you know? I think when you get to your tenth album, we suddenly realized we’ve been around long enough, we’ve got a big enough fan base to be able to do what we want to do and to other bands it might seem like a radical decision to show three as opposed to six, but it was one of those things where we just thought, “F— it.” I mean, at this point, we’re dragging in people who weren’t involved in the record. It also gave a new perspective on the imagery and what have you. Our new video we just shot for ‘Frost on Her Pillow’ is available on our website and has now gone to various outlets to be played, but that features six musicians on it, so we haven’t totally shied away from it. On the next one we’re about to shoot, which is just prior to going on our forthcoming European tour, I don’t even know if its even going to have the band in it at all. It’s just going to be a bit of a horror fest. It’s two sides of the coin, really. Speaking of the ‘Frost on Her Pillow’ video, it’s very quintessential Cradle of Filth and the imagery is fantastic. Can you tell us a little about the concept of that video? Well, it was just something that was reminiscent of what’s happening in the lyrics. It’s very dark in a sexual way, I suppose, and we couldn’t transcribe it exactly. It’s the director Stuart Birchall’s interpretation of the lyrics. Essentially, it’s about a bride that’s died and her lover, who is a cruel lover and ‘Dracula’-esque, condemns her for leaving him and he haunts her by using voodoo. She’s haunted in such a way that she’s stalked by a succubus. So you know, videos don’t really need to have a story. I think everybody looks at us lyrically-wise and thematic-wise, especially on the cinematic side of things; they always look and ask, “What’s the story this time? What’s happening?” Whereas a lot of bands don’t go so much into the story. Obviously we’ve done quite a few concept records in the past, and people to inspect everything we do, storyboard it, and have it from A to Z, whereas other bands may just say, “Well, that’s just random imagery, that’s a video, that’s what happens.” [Laughs] But we can get lambasted by some people saying, “What do you mean there’s no combination to this imagery?! Why is there not a story?!” I think it’s so with videos, since you have such a short window to project them, you can be a bit liberal and you can leave it to the listener’s discretion as to how they interpret the video. Leave something to the imagination, absolutely. You’re going on a European tour very shortly. Is there going to be a US or North American tour anytime soon? There is, and the dates are now being penciled in by our booking agent. It looks more than likely that we’ll be headlining with Decapitated , the Faceless , and the Agonist as support, which I think is a really strong lineup. We’re headlining a package tour here, which is not too much our tour; it’s something a promoter has put together and we’ve got some very strange dates. We’ve got one date in France, but five in Spain; Eastern countries like Belarus, and then in Finland and all around Scandinavia. It’s a very sort of meandering, topsy-turvy tour, but we have Godseed, which is former members of Gorgoroth and Rotting Christ, and then there’s a couple of bands that kind of flip-flop. They do some dates but not the others but it promises to be a very cool tour, and with the American tour, were penciled in to go down to Mexico first and it’s going to start mid-February around Valentine’s Day-ish. With your particular singing style, you have a tremendous range, and I think a lot of people have debated about how many octaves you can cover. How many octaves is your range? Oh, I’ve got no idea. High’s, low’s and in between; that’s how I see it. The thing is, and it happens a lot amongst our fans as well; especially with this record I think because it’s grounded, it’s heavy, and it’s screamy and rough and that, but it’s very singy as well and I think there’s a few people that say, “Oh, I want him to scream all the time, I want him to do this, I want him to do that,” and they immediately assume you’ve lost your voice when you don’t do it. They don’t seem to sit back and think, “Maybe he just doesn’t want to do it all the time. Perhaps the songs benefit from having this new style.” That’s how it was written, that’s how it was addressed, so you kind of dig your own grave. That terminology makes me think, because you’ve done the very high stuff and done the very low stuff, people start, “Well, I want more of this, I want more of that,” but no, I couldn’t tell you about the octave range. I just say high and low. Well, anyone who listens to the record will know that you’re still hitting those tea kettle-like high notes without any issue. Yeah, with this album, it’s an evidently Cradle of Filth affair. There’s no mistaking that, I just think the songwriting is just a bit stronger and a little bit different. Because we recorded in two studios, it gave us a little but longer. We weren’t curtailed by having a definitive, “You’ve only got two weeks left,” because it sort of folded in on itself, rather than me following the guitars and drums in that extended time period, I was doing it at the same time in a separate studio not very far away from Springvale Studios, the one where we rehearsed and demoed in, and Grindstone Studios, where we finished the mixing after the guitars and drums and everything was done. It just gave us that comfort zone where we knew that we weren’t under loads of pressure, so it made the mix a lot more relaxed and a lot more fun and let us experiment with a few things. We weren’t pressed to the nines. It was one of the first times where we haven’t been. I remember a pretty long time ago seeing a tour of your house on television. I remember very distinctly you having a skeleton in the floor of your kitchen, and I wanted to know if there are any new interesting additions you’ve added throughout the years. [Laughs] Well, we were actually moving at one point, and then the move kind of fell through because the old gentlemen that we were buying the house off of suddenly had second thoughts after about a year of us waiting. I can’t really think of what’s new. I’ve got a Dalek from ‘Doctor Who,’ which I bought from the BBC a few years ago. I don’t know if you’ve ever watched ‘Dr. Who,’ but it’s an enemy of the doctor, it’s like this robot thing, like six foot tall, black, with swiveling guns and everything. It’s pretty cool, and he speaks. He’s got an infrared thing, so you can do it anywhere in the house. It shouts out and screams, “Exterminate!” It’s no secret that you’re a big fan of Halloween. I read online that you were married on Halloween and of course ‘Manticore’ is coming out the day before Halloween. Do you have any special plans for this year? Yeah, me and my wife are staying up in London and we’re going to this thing called the ‘London Bridge Experience.’ It’s called ‘The Crypts’ and it’s like a live horror thing. You’re sort of stranded inside in the dark with lots of actors and things like that. Then we’re going on a London ghost bus. We go around to very famous sights and they tell you the history, and on the way back they have an impromptu seance with special effects and sounds. It’s going to be cool and we’ve got a cool hotel and that, but yeah, like you pointed out, there’s a lot happening around then. There’s a launch party and then we’re shooting a second video before we head out on tour, and that’s going to start late in the afternoon and film all through the night. The final sequence is going to be shot in the dawn; hopefully it doesn’t piss with rain, and then we have rehearsals up to the point when we go on tour. You do have to make an effort for Halloween. Being a father, how has it been being able to share Halloween with your daughter as she’s growing up? Of course it’s been important and she loves it as well. I mean, it’s like all holidays for kids, isn’t it? It’s great. It’s an exciting part of the year, because in England, literally a week afterwards, we have Guy Fawkes Night, so you have Halloween and then you have this week of everybody lighting fireworks off and burning effigies and stuff, and then you have the run-up to Christmas, so the winter is pretty magical period for children. Well, f— children, it’s a magical period for the whole lot of us. It’s been good to enjoy that. You obviously have very dedicated and loving fans. What has been the strangest fan interaction you’ve encountered throughout your career? I always get, which I really like, I always get odd presents. In Texas we got a rattlesnake and another time we got a necklace made out of chicken’s feet; very ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre,’ I know. I’ve actually got them in my office, in front of me. And then a leg bone from someone’s grandma that they dug up. [Laughs] They dug it up and gave it to you? Yeah, it was pretty unique; I’ll put it that way. And then dolls and paintings and stuff like that which is all really cool, I love it. Is it difficult to get a human leg bone through customs? Well, obviously not. [Laughs] But they probably thought it was something else. I bought a bat; a vampire bat I bought in Philadelphia once at ‘Armed & Dangerous.’ It literally went through the [x-ray] scanner, and it was a bat, there was no mistaking it, and they still asked what it was. It was ridiculous; really ridiculous. It was like, “What else could it be?” Cradle of Filth’s newest album, ‘The Manticore and Other Horrors,’ is now available wherever music is sold. To buy a copy of the album, click here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/cradle-of-filth-frost-on-her-pillow-video/” title=”Next: Watch Cradle of Filth’s ‘Frost on Her Pillow’ Music Video” align=”center”]