Cradle Of Filth & DevilDriver at Marquee Theatre

A British extreme metal institution, Cradle of Filth emerged in 1991 with a style that leaned heavily toward black metal. As the years progressed, their sound evolved as well, with elements of gothic and symphonic metal taking over, resulting in a more commercial approach that yielded internationally charting efforts like Damnation and a Day (2003), Thornography (2006), Hammer of the Witches (2015), and Existence Is Futile (2021).

Cradle of Filth formed in 1991, originally comprised of vocalist Dani Filth (born Daniel Lloyd Davey), guitarist Paul Ryan, his keyboardist brother Benjamin, bassist John Richard, and drummer Darren. After recording a demo dubbed Invoking the Unclean a year later, the group recruited guitarist Robin Eaglestone, who quit soon after recording a second demo, Orgiastic Pleasures; however, when Richard exited the band a short time later, Eaglestone stepped back in to assume bass duties, opening the door for guitarist Paul Allender. Following a third demo, Total Fucking Darkness, Cradle of Filth — with new drummer Nicholas Barker — signed with the Cacophonous label, issuing their proper debut, The Principle of Evil Made Flesh, in mid-1994.

The lineup changes continued when the Ryan brothers both departed to form the Blood Divine (and Allender left as well), making room for guitarists Stuart Antsis and Jared Demeter and keyboardist Damien Gregori to debut on the 1996 mini-LP Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein. For the full-length Dusk and Her Embrace later that same year, Gian Pyres took Demeter’s spot, and afterward, Gregori was replaced by keyboardist Les Smith; at any rate, the album substantially expanded the group’s growing cult following. COF’s next effort, Cruelty and the Beast, appeared in 1998, amid the band’s steadily growing reputation for elaborate Alice Cooper/Marilyn Manson-style concert theatrics. Two years later, they returned with From the Cradle to Enslave, an EP that featured new drummer Adrian Erlandsson (formerly of Sweden’s At the Gates and the Haunted), as Barker had departed to join Dimmu Borgir.

The band’s dizzying lineup changes continued apace as Paul Allender rejoined the group and Martin Powell (ex-Anathema and My Dying Bride) replaced Smith on keyboards for the full-length Midian, which was appropriately released on Halloween in 2000. Bitter Suites to Succubi was issued on Spitfire in summer 2001. The group added a choir and orchestra to the lineup for 2003’s Damnation and a Day on Red Ink, and moved to Roadrunner for 2004’s Nymphetamine. Thornography followed on Roadrunner in 2006, a year that also saw the release of The Cradle of Filth Box Set. Eleven Burial Masses, a collection of live material, arrived in 2007, followed by the concept album Godspeed on the Devil’s Thunder in 2008, which saw Erlandsson replaced by new drummer Martin “Marthus” Škaroupka.

In 2010, the band left Roadrunner, signing to Peaceville in Europe and Nuclear Blast in the U.S. for the release of their ninth studio LP, Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa, a concept album that focused on the myth of the demon Lilith, the alleged first wife of the biblical Adam. It was the first Cradle record not to contain any instrumental tracks, and also featured the sole appearance with the band of keyboardist Ashley Ellyllon, formerly of Abigail Williams. In 2012, reduced to the trio of Filth, Allender, and Škaroupka, the group released The Manticore and Other Horrors, on which they did a bit of a turnabout, returning female vocals and hardcore punk riffs to the fore. A deluxe remastered and expanded edition of their early demo, Total Fucking Darkness, was released in May 2014; featuring additional, previously unreleased tracks, it proved a stopgap.

Cradle of Filth’s Hammer of the Witches was announced in May 2015, marking the first new music from the group in three years — the longest gap in their career. It featured a new lineup that included guitarists Marek Ashok Šmerda and Richard Shaw (marking a return to twin-guitar harmonies) and new keyboardist/female vocalist Lindsay Schoolcraft. The video for “Right Wing of the Garden Triptych” was released in May, followed by online streams of “Deflowering the Maidenhead, Displeasuring the Goddess,” and “Enshrined in Crematoria” in late June. The album arrived in mid-July.

Cradle of Filth announced their 12th album, Cryptoriana: The Seductiveness of Decay, in June 2017. Produced by longtime collaborator Scott Atkins in Suffolk, the set was inspired by the Victorian obsession with death and the supernatural, and was issued in September while the band were already promoting it on tour. It would be five more years before fans saw another record from the group. Entitled Existence Is Futile and concerned with existential dread, their 13th album was released in October 2021. The preceding year’s COVID-19 lockdown postponed its release, allowing them longer to work on it, rewriting and restructuring their demos to produce the best work possible. Recorded once again with Atkins, it was their first to feature new keyboardist/backing vocalist Anabelle Iratni. Guitarist Stuart Antsis, who played with Cradle of Filth from 1995 to 1999, died on August 21, 2022, at the age of 48.

A punishing groove and melodic death metal unit based out of Santa Barbara, California, DevilDriver originally operated under the moniker Deathride before a copyright issue forced them to adopt a new name. Co-founded by Coal Chamber vocalist Dez Fafara, who remains the group’s lone original member, the band debuted in 2002, but didn’t truly catch fire until the release of 2007’s Last Kind Words, which heralded a string of high-charting albums like Pray for Villains (2009), Winter Kills (2013), Trust No One (2016), and the concept double album Dealing with Demons (2020 and 2021). Despite enduring numerous personnel shifts, the band has maintained a lean, loud, and punitive sonic attack that has established them as one of the more reliable heavy music purveyors of the early 21st century.

Following the dissolution of his Marilyn Manson/Korn-influenced nu-metal band Coal Chamber, vocalist Dez Fafara hooked up with guitarists Evans Pitts and Jeffrey Kendrick, bassist Jon Miller, and drummer John Boecklin to form DevilDriver — a rather more extreme band dedicated to the subsequent hardcore-meets-death-metal trends. Signed to Roadrunner like Fafara’s previous group, DevilDriver released their eponymous debut in 2003, followed a sophomore effort, The Fury of Our Maker’s Hand (where Pitts was replaced by Mike Spreitzer), a couple years later. 2007’s Last Kind Words was the group’s first outing to crack the Billboard 200, but they got their day in the sun when their 2009 album, Pray for Villains, debuted at number 35 and found success in Europe as well. After touring with groups like Behemoth and Slipknot, DevilDriver went back into the studio to begin work on their fifth album. the resulting Beast, produced by Mark Lewis, was released in 2011, and would be their last album to feature longtime bassist Jon Miller. The band would team up with Lewis again for its next album, Winter Kills, their highest-charting LP to date, which arrived in the summer of 2013 via Napalm Records. 2014 saw the departures of drummer John Boecklin and guitarist Jeff Kendrick, which prompted Fafara to put the band on hiatus until 2016. The group did indeed resurface that year, releasing its seventh studio album, Trust No One, which would be the first DevilDriver outing for three new members, ex-Chimaira drummer Austin D’Amond, guitarist Neal Tiemann, and ex-Static-X bassist Diego Ibarra. In 2018, Fafara, a longtime fan of outlaw country, fulfilled his ambition to unite the genre with metal on DevilDriver’s eighth album, Outlaws ’til the End, Vol. 1. A collection of covers of classics of the genre refashioned in the band’s inimitable powerhouse style, it featured guest vocals from several metal and country artists including Randy Blythe, Brock Lindow, Burton C. Bell, John Carter Cash, and Hank Williams III. Prior to that album’s release, Fafara mentioned to the press that the band had written 48 songs that were ready to record. The first fruits of those sessions appeared in 2020 as Dealing with Demons I, the initial part of a double album which included the COVID-19-themed single “Keep Away from Me” and a collaboration with Fafara’s son Simon Blade on “You Give Me a Reason to Drink.” Early 2021 saw the band part ways with guitarist Neal Tiemann, who was replaced by Cody Haglund. The second installment of the concept LP, Dealing with Demons II, arrived later that year.

Black Satellite is a rock duo from NYC comprised of Larissa Vale and Kyle Hawken. Having been writing music together for several years, Black Satellite is the culmination of a deep-rooted partnership contributing to their unified writing style. 
 Shortly after launching their first single Valkyrie from their full-length album Endless, Black Satellite was requested as support for Starset at NYC’s Gramercy Theatre on the strength of their debut. Their follow up single Blind premiered on ibobi Radio and was subsequently featured on Alternative Press via their discover playlist. Black Satellite was also named one of Alternative Press’ “12 Bands You Need To Know” in a print issue of the magazine. 
 Billboard describes the album as “the end point one might arrive at after listening to all of Muse’s catalog and deciding they just weren’t epic enough.” 
 Black Satellite subsequently released two cover songs paying tribute to Type O Negative, which charted on metal radio. 
 The band has recently concluded writing and recording their sophomore record, Aftermath, mixed by veteran producer Ben Grosse (Marilyn Manson, Breaking Benjamin, Filter). Release date to be announced. Their new single “Void” is the first taste of the brand new album. Knotfest commenting on the track: “the first single offers a glimpse into the bold, stylishly dark sound that has made the duo of Larissa Vale and Kyle Hawken such a promising prospect.” 
 Black Satellite is scheduled to tour with Fozzy Fall 2021.