Two members of the long-running metal band Cradle of Filth have abruptly left the group amid their current tour, citing “unprofessional behavior” and a “foolish” collaboration with Ed Sheeran.
Singer and keyboardist Zoë M. Federoff first announced her exit from the band earlier this week for “personal reasons”; days later, Cradle of Filth revealed they were “firing” guitarist and Federoff’s husband Marek “Ashok” Šmerda, who had been a member of Cradle of Filth since 2014, while Federoff joined in 2022.
While fans initially speculated that a rift in Federoff and Šmerda’s marriage was to blame for their sudden departures, Federoff clarified on social media, “Ashok isn’t cheating. While the turmoil of being in the band has taken its toll on us, we remain very much certain that we love each other. Please be kind to my husband. He is a good man. We were already planning to leave the band later this year. Certain events have sped that up for me.”
Cradle of Filth frontman Dani Filth issued the band’s statement regarding Šmerda’s firing “effective immediately” after Šmerda initially told fans he would leave the group after their current South American tour.
“We simply do not feel like Cradle can provide for our future, and in fact hinders it. Among other reasons, it is a lot of work for relatively low pay, the stress is quite high, and we haven’t felt for a while like this band actually prioritizing/caring about members. It has been years of unprofessional behavior from people above us that led to our decision,” Šmerda wrote.
“I have also asked all compositions of mine removed from upcoming releases including Ed Sheeran collab. This song feels like foolish clown antics for me at this point anyways — first it was charity single for kids, then for profit single, then on next album, and now who knows and I just do not want to be involved anymore, no disrespect to Ed Sheeran.”
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(Rumors of the Sheeran/Cradle of Filth collaboration first emerged in 2022 after the pop singer revealed, “I was really into death metal as a kid. I listened to Cradle of Filth and Slipknot and all that stuff.” Dani Filth said earlier this year that the band recorded a collaborative track, but it didn’t feature on their new album, The Screaming of the Valkyries.)
The two members’ departure coincided with the band’s South American tour, which continued as scheduled on Tuesday in Montevideo, Uruguay. “Despite all attempts to illegally defame and derail the band, CRADLE OF FILTH WILL NOT cancel any of our South American shows, though fans will have to bear with us being a band with only one guitarist live, that is of course until Ashok’s temporary replacement is flown out to join the tour in a few days time,” Dani Filth said in his statement. A replacement for Federoff was already installed in Cradle of Filth’s ever-changing lineup.
