HE'S one of the most notorious and iconic frontmen in metal and for his latest musical adventure he's joined up with some more local talent.

That's Dani Filth, most famous for heading up extreme metal band Cradle of Filth, which he formed from his Suffolk base back in 1991.

Now he's joined forces with Colchester musicians, Nick Johnson and Lauren Francis as well as Coggeshall's Matt Alston who along with Ipswich's Colin Parks, make-up Devilment.

While Matt is perhaps best known for his time in Essex metal band Sanctorum, Lauren and Nick know each other from playing in pop rock group Vardo and the Boss.

"It was Nick wanting to get back to his metal roots," Lauren smiles. "He's wanted to do it seriously for a long time and so after he saw an advert for a new metal band in Suffolk he went and auditioned for them.

"It was all very secretive but Nick guessed Dani was involved so he was pretty pleased when he got a place in the band.

"I got involved because they needed some vocals for a demo for their first album. I remember telling him 'I can't do vocals for a metal band, I play in a pop band' and he said 'don't worry, you can do this'."

And she did.

In 2013 Lauren became a full time member of the group, providing keyboards as well as singing.

"In the end I thought I'll just get in there, do what I do, and hopefully it will be fine," she adds. "When I started playing with the band it was exactly how Nick said it would be and I really enjoyed it."

Thrown straight in at the deep end within months Lauren and Nick were on a European Tour supporting Italian gothic metal band, Lacuna Coil.

"That was just crazy," she grins. "But so much fun. I have never done anything like that before and the audiences were just incredible."

Unfortunately drummer Matt missed out on the tour, only joining the band at the end of last year.

He says: "I've known Colin and Nick for years through the local metal scene but also from studying with them at the Colchester Institute. I also knew the old drummer quite well so when he left I was asked to audition for the band.

"I remember it was quite a rushed time for the band because they busily trying to get some demos together for the new album so like Lauren with the tour I was pretty much thrown in at the deep end.

"It's very different and challenging to what I've been used to but I love this band, it's a really exciting thing to be involved with."

Especially working with someone as well known as Dani.

Lauren adds: "What's really good about Dani is that he knows the business and how it needs to be promoted. He's done it all before and that experience and knowledge has been incredible for us.

"In terms of the music he's been incredibly supportive too. Everybody's opinion is heard and is taken on board, there's no hierarchy at all. We all get on with making the best music we can and hopefully the fans are going to like it."

Formed 20 years after Cradle, Devilment burst on to the heavy metal scene with their debut demo Grotescapology in 2012.

With Dani's unmistakable, the band swiftly grabbed the attention of legendary music biz mover and shaker Monte Conner and were duly snapped up by his Nuclear Blast Entertainment imprint.

In October 2014, the band unveiled their debut album, The Great And Secret Show, a whirlwind of thrash metal riffing, gothic themes and a mean, mischievous streak a mile wide, it provided a telling introduction to Devilment’s sound.

“The album did really well,” Dani says. “I don’t think anyone knew what to expect, but we ended up with a support slot on the Motionless In White and Lacuna Coil European tour, so that got us out there and spreading the word. We didn’t tour further afield, so there’s groundwork to do there and that starts very soon.

"People have sometimes regarded Devilment as a side-project but it isn’t. It’s another fully-functioning band. It’s on an even keel with Cradle Of Filth, as we’re on the same label, but it’s an entirely different animal.”

Two years on, Devilment, with a slightly new line-up and a renewed sense of momentum, have just released their second record, Devilment II - The Mephisto Waltzes, and once again it appears to have gone down well with the heavy metal cognoscenti who have described it variously as a 'blood-spattered batch of deranged anthems' to an album that 'makes no splintered bones about it’s nefarious intent, offering a bewildering torrent of disparate and demented ideas and delivering them with refined, ultra-gothic panache'.

“If we just do one album and then stop, everyone will think this was a side-project and it didn’t do very well,” he laughs. “A second album is important for every band, but if you get past that it becomes obvious that this is the real thing. You’ve just got to get on with it and not wait for ten years. But this second album is much more experimental and more mature. There’s more emphasis on using a lot of different keyboard ideas and using Lauren more, but it’s a heavier record too because we didn’t want it to go all poppy.”

Fans of Dani’s work in Cradle Of Filth will find plenty to enjoy but he's quick to stress Devilment are a wholly distinctive force.

“Yeah, it’s a totally different lyrical world from Cradle,” Dani explains. “There’s no real theme to this album as such. The title of the first album just encapsulated what we were doing, that madcap, Alfred Hitchcock vibe. This time everything is bigger, bolder and more distinctive. If you view Cradle as 19th century literature then Devilment is more Roald Dahl but with a bit of Sylvia Plath thrown in. There’s a lot of wacky humour too, but it’s pretty dark overall.”

Devilment II - The Mephisto Waltzes is out now via Nuclear Blast.

Touring all over the UK next month, they play a hometown gig at the Colchester Arts Centre on December 6.

Tickets are £10, available from the box office on 01206 500900.