Dani Filth has confirmed that the long-rumoured Cradle Of Filth collaboration with Ed Sheeran will arrive in 2025. 

Speaking in a new interview with YouTuber Pelna Kulturka, Filth promised that the follow up to Cradle Of Filth's last full-length, 2021's Existence Is Futile will drop in 2025 and THAT previously discussed collaboration with Ed Sheeran will definitely be on it. 

"Well, one of the surprises, obviously, but it's not so much a surprise is that we've got a song that we have Ed Sheeran guesting on. It's gonna be on the album. And people have heard it and loved it. But it is what you imagine — it's Cradle Of Filth and it's Ed Sheeran. It sounds like Ed Sheeran, it sounds like Cradle Of Filth. There's a blast beat in it. I think it's gonna surprise a lot of people, the album. But it doesn't necessarily mean the album is commercial."

Commenting on the nature of the delay to the record's release, which he had previously indicated would occur in the European summer of 2024, Filth explains a combination of scheduling difficulties and touring commitments disrupted their original plans.



"We started back in July, but we've been so busy. We've done loads of summer festivals and we had our annual break for holidays for everybody. Then we did a couple of weeks. So we've done all the music. Then I was away for 12 weeks on recording in LA"



As for the overall sound of the record, Filth believes it is heavier than prior Cradle of Filth works. 



"It's a very heavy record. We just upped the game as a band. We moved one step further toward the future from our previous record. We see everything as an evolution, everything as an evolutionary step, everything as a necessary link in the chain. And this album's gonna be an important record for us — our first for Napalm Records, if you discount, obviously, the live record. But, yeah, we're very much looking forward to this year. And there's no rush. We've got plenty of shows. But expect the first single probably about September, October time."

You can watch the full interview below. 

The first word of the collaboration between Sheeran and Cradle of Filth came way back in 2021.  Speaking to Kerrang Radio  Dani revealed that the time appears to be nigh for the two worlds to collide. 

"I’ve been invited up to his place. Well, he said he could come down to mine, but I pointed out to him that I don’t own my own bar or village, and it’d be better if I went there,” said Dani. “He said he’d do anything, quite literally. He said he’s a massive fan. He seems like a genuinely very nice guy actually."

As for how Dani expects Cradle Of Filth fans to react to any potential release between the two distinctly different Suffolk sons, he in typical Dani Filth style couldn't give a fuck, as long as it does some good for the world. 

"I think the Ed Sheeran collaboration would be great fun. I think it’d be great if we did it for charity because at least it would bring a bit of credibility to it. Because obviously to his public, it’d be like ‘Oh my god, he’s got this weird comical guy’, and to my public, it’d be like ‘Oh my god, this is a bit weird, isn’t it?’ But I think that sort of thing, nowadays, works."

Both Sheeran and Dani Filth have mentioned the collaboration many times since, most notably in March of last year, when Filth stated  during a recent interview with Metal Hammer that the track is only bass and vocals away from being finished. He also suggested the track will be released during the UK summer/Australian winter. 

“Ed’s done all his parts,' Filth explained to Metal Hammer. "It’s just bass and vocals for me to do on my return to England after Easter. It’s exactly how you can imagine it’ll sound if you can imagine Ed Sheeran with Cradle Of Filth. He plays acoustic guitar on it, but it’s heavy: it’s got a blast beat in there. The plan is to do it as a charity single. We’re hoping for it to be out by the summer.”

Filth also offered some insight into the collaborative recording process and his genuine friendship with the pop star.

"I’ve spoken to him very regularly over the last two years. Like me, he’s a real Suffolk boy. When he came to the studio that day, he didn’t come down with a cavalcade of reporters: he turned up on his own, guitar on his back, Cradle Of Filth hoodie on, and got on with it. It was fucking great.”

These comments follow Filth's posting of a St.Patrick's day meal he shared with Sheeran at a local pub, with producer Scott Atkins, which predictably sent the metal corner of the internet into a meltdown.

Last year, Filth commented on the progress of the collaboration between superfan Sheeran and Cradle Of Filth in an interview with Knotfest. 

"We still have yet to finish our song with Ed Sheeran. He's done some of it, but then he had a baby, and then he got obviously sidetracked with that and doing whatever Ed does, which is playing massive shows around the globe. He's not at our beck and call. But he is gonna finish it, he assures me. Actually, I spoke to him quite recently. It will be released when it's finished. We don't know when it's coming out."

The stupendously successful singer-songwriter is a noted fan of the heavier end of the musical spectrum, having let slip a love for both Slipknot and Cradle Of Filth and has half-jokingly expressed an interest in making a metal record.



His metal credentials seem to go further too,  having covered Behemoth's Demigod at least once in a live setting and made an appearance on Jimmy Fallon where he played an acoustic-pop version of Limp Bizkit's Break Stuff.   Now it seems Ed is ready to step things up a considerable notch with Cradle Of Filth. 

If all this talk of Ed Sheeran has you in need of some respite, why not find it in this classic video from Cradle Of Filth. 

Then continue your Cradle of Filth binge by listening to their essential tracks now.