The Vestal Masturbation T-shirt was a piece of merchandise released by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth in 1993. The shirt consisted of a picture of a masturbating, semi-nude nun on the front with the words "Vestal Masturbation" below, and on the back the phrase "Jesus is a cunt". The shirt resulted in arrests of multiple people who wore it in public.
The shirt was created in 1993, before Cradle of Filth were to do a tour alongside fellow metal band Emperor. While they had the idea of the nun at the time, it was later decided to add the phrase "Jesus is a cunt" to it, although Cradle of Filth frontman Dani Filth does not remember who it was who suggested the phrase. Dani's wife worked at a T-shirt printing company in Hadleigh, Suffolk, but the company refused to print it. Eventually, they found a printer willing to do but they were paid cash-in-hand, and the printer gave the band the screens used to print the shirt rather than keep them themselves. [1] Over 25,000 copies of the shirt were sold within the first six years of production. [2]
In 1994, 18-year-old Paul Timms, a member of black metal band Necropolis, wore the shirt when the band were on trial for damaging seven churches and a graveyard in Kent at an estimated cost of £100,000, in imitation of similar attacks committed by members of the early Norwegian black metal scene. All four members were given 30 month-prison sentences, although due to his age Timms was sent to HM Prison Rochester, a young offender institution. [3] [4]
In 1996, a 29-year-old fan of Cradle of Filth was arrested and found guilty of profane representation under the Metropolitan Police Act 1839 for wearing the shirt in public. He was fined £150(equivalent to £355.64 in 2023). [2] [5] [6]
Cradle of Filth's drummer Nicholas Barker was arrested for wearing the shirt in May 1997 while the band were waiting to take a ferry from England to perform in the Netherlands. He was released after two hours without charge and was able to make the performance. [2] [5]
In November 1997, a 24-year-old record store clerk in Ocala, Florida was arrested by police for wearing the shirt in a shopping mall. A jury acquitted him of all charges. [2]
In 2001, Alex Mosson, Lord Provost of Glasgow, campaigned for the shirt to be removed from Glasgow's branch of Tower Records. The shop was raided twice by police, but the owners of the shop argued that they were not acting illegally, and later sold all of their stock of the shirt partly due to local media coverage. [7] The shop eventually stopped selling the shirt. [2] [5] [6]
On Halloween 2004, a person in Norwich was arrested for wearing the shirt in public. He pleaded guilty to "religiously aggravated offensive conduct". He was fined £150(equivalent to £290.88 in 2023) and the judge at the trial ordered for the shirt to be destroyed. [2] [5]
In 2005, 19-year-old Adam Shepherd from Weymouth, Dorset was arrested for wearing the shirt under the recently created anti-hate laws which banned the public display of religiously insulting signs. He pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 80 hours community service, and was ordered to pay court costs of £40(equivalent to £75.44 in 2023). Dani Filth publicly criticised the arrest. [2] [5] [8]
In November 2007, Electric Cabaret in Edinburgh was raided by an undercover police officer for selling the shirt, and the owner was charged with selling obscene material aggravated by religious prejudice. He defended himself saying that he only ordered the shirt because teenage customers ordered it. The charges were dropped. [2] [9]
In 2008, a teenager in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia was arrested for wearing the shirt and charged with offensive behaviour. [6] [10] In July 2008, the shirt was officially banned in New Zealand; [5] [6] [11] however, this ban was downgraded in 2020 so the shirt could be sold to people over 18. [12] In 2015, the shirt was part of a display at Canterbury Museum, Christchurch. In protest against the display, a woman attempted to obscure the shirt by spraying it with black paint. The shirt was undamaged as it was behind a perspex barrier, which was later cleaned. [13] [14]
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved originally from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic metal and other metal genres. Their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily influenced by Gothic literature, poetry, mythology and horror films. The band consists of its founding member, vocalist Dani Filth, drummer Martin "Marthus" Škaroupka, bassist Daniel Firth, guitarists Marek "Ashok" Šmerda and Donny Burbage, and keyboardist Zoe Marie Federoff.
Damnation and a Day is the fifth studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 10 March 2003 and is Cradle of Filth's only album on a major label, Sony Records, after which they transferred to Roadrunner. It features the one hundred and one-piece Budapest Film Orchestra including the forty-piece Budapest Film Choir. The album is partly based on John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost.
The Principle of Evil Made Flesh is the debut studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 24 February 1994 through Cacophonous Records, following three demos released between 1991 and 1993. The album's sound is significantly more raw than on subsequent releases, and frontman Dani Filth's vocals differ from his later style and technique. The album is a then-unusual hybrid of gothic metal and black metal. This would be the only album featuring guitarist Paul Ryan and keyboardist Benjamin Ryan; guitarist Paul Allender also left the band at this point, but returned five years later for Midian.
Dusk... and Her Embrace is the second studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 28 August 1996. and is their first release on the label Music for Nations.
Cruelty and the Beast is the third studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth, released on 5 May 1998 by Music for Nations. It is a concept album based on the legend of the Hungarian "blood countess" Elizabeth Báthory and features guest narration by actress Ingrid Pitt in-character as Báthory, a role she first played in the Hammer Horror film Countess Dracula in 1971.
Daniel Lloyd Davey, known professionally as Dani Filth, is an English singer who is the lead vocalist, lyricist and founding member of the extreme metal band Cradle of Filth.
Nymphetamine is the sixth studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. Recorded between February and July 2004, it was released on 28 September by record label Roadrunner. Nymphetamine marks the first recorded appearance of guitarist James McIlroy on a Cradle of Filth album. He would later record guitar for the band's 2010 release Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa. Nymphetamine is also the band's final album to feature keyboardist Martin Powell.
Midian is the fourth studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 30 October 2000 through Music for Nations. The album marks the return of guitarist Paul Allender to the band, as well as the introduction of drummer Adrian Erlandsson and keyboard player Martin Powell. It also features Doug Bradley as the narrator for various songs.
Paul James Allender is an English guitarist, best known for his work with the English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. He was a longtime member with stints in the band from 1992 to 1995 and then again from 1999 to 2014.
Keith Leslie Smith is a former English keyboardist, once in the bands Anathema and Cradle of Filth (1998–2000).
Bitter Suites to Succubi is the third EP by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 22 May 2001, through the band's own Abracadaver label.
Lovecraft & Witch Hearts is a compilation album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth, released on 13 May 2002 by record label Music for Nations.
Thornography is the seventh studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 17 October 2006, by record label Roadrunner. It was produced by former Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano, engineered by Dan Turner and mixed by Andy Sneap, and once again features narration by Doug Bradley. It is Cradle of Filth's second album as a five-piece, as keyboardist Martin Powell left the band in 2005. This would also be the band's final album to feature drummer Adrian Erlandsson, and the only full-length to feature guitarist Charles Hedger.
Cradle of Filth was formed in Suffolk, England, in 1991. The band's original members consisted of vocalist Dani Filth, guitarist Paul Ryan, keyboardist Ben Ryan, bassist John Pritchard and drummer Darren Gardner. With this line-up, Cradle of Filth recorded a demo in 1992, titled Invoking the Unclean. Soon after, they recorded their second demo, Orgiastic Pleasures Foul with new guitarist Robin Eaglestone and new drummer Was Sarginson. Robin left the band shortly afterwards, but following the departure of John Pritchard, Eaglestone returned to take his place as bassist. Guitarist Paul Allender joined the band at the same time. Following these changes, another demo was recorded, titled Total Fucking Darkness. Sarginson left the band soon after, paving the way for the entry of drummer Nick Barker.
Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder is the eighth studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 28 October 2008, through record label Roadrunner. It is the band's fourth concept album, after Cruelty and the Beast (1998), Midian (2000), and Damnation and a Day (2003), dealing with the life of the 15th-century French baron Gilles de Rais.
Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa is the ninth studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 1 November 2010 by record label Peaceville and is a concept album centred on the demon Lilith. It is Cradle of Filth's only album to feature keyboardist Ashley Ellyllon, and is also the band's final album with Dave Pybus as their bass player and James McIlroy as their second guitar player.
Total Fucking Darkness is the third demo by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth, recorded in 1992 and released commercially in remastered form in 2014. The remastered release includes "Spattered in Faeces", the only surviving track from the band's abandoned first album Goetia, along with four tracks recorded at a rehearsal session in October 1992.
Evermore Darkly... is the fourth EP by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth, released in October 2011. A companion piece to the 2010 album Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa, it contains two new tracks in "Transmission from Hell" and "Thank Your Lucky Scars", plus demo versions of some Venus Aversa tracks. An orchestral version of "Summer Dying Fast" is also included as a taster for the subsequent Midnight in the Labyrinth collection. The CD was originally packaged with a DVD containing a documentary, a live show from 25 June 2011's Graspop festival, and the promo video for "Lilith Immaculate".
"Wonderful Life" is a song by British rock band Bring Me the Horizon featuring Cradle of Filth vocalist Dani Filth. Produced by the band's vocalist Oliver Sykes and keyboardist Jordan Fish, it is featured on the group's 2019 sixth studio album Amo. The track was released as the second single from the album on 21 October 2018.