Paul Allender
Paul Allender |
|---|
Paul Allender (born 17 November 1970) is the guitarist of the British extreme metal band Cradle of Filth.
Early life
Paul Allender was born on 17 November 1970 in Colchester, Essex, UK.
At the age of six years old, his father introduced him to martial arts which led to a total way of life for him and the home which he grew up in.
He received his first guitar at the age of fourteen and played in staggered periods until he was nineteen years old because his martial arts training was always his first priority.[citation needed]
Cradle of Filth
He joined the band as the guitarist in 1992 and stayed until 1996. In 1996, Paul left Cradle of Filth to join The Blood Divine and to spend more time with his son. In 1998 Paul started another band called Primary Slave. In 2000, just before Primary Slave signed for a record deal, Paul rejoined Cradle of Filth after receiving a phone call from Dani asking him to rejoin, along with drummer Adrian Erlandsson and keyboardist Martin Powell on the band's album, Midian.
While performing on stage with Cradle of Filth at Bloodstock Open Air in August 2009, a member of the audience threw a Gobstopper at the stage which hit Paul on his spine in his lower back. Paul was then sent to the hospital which caused the performance to end early.[1]
Playing Style
Paul Allender is widely recognized for his unique right-handed technique. To quote Paul Allender "To tell you the truth... I don’t jam. I’ve always played what actually I see in my head. Therefore, when I play, I don’t use any specific scales or anything in order or that’s musically correct or anything... I’ve always concentrated on mixing lead-oriented riffs, but in like a rhythmic sense. That’s the way I’ve always been because I’ve never really been interested in doing ultra-fast lead work. I’ve always mixed the two up. Just concentrating on the 16th notes and stuff on the right hand, making sure it all sinks in. It’s the guitar and it’s the way we dress onstage, it’s all part of this troupe, this uniformed-like togetherness... It just comes out dark as fuck." [2]
Graphic art
Paul also has an art side project known as "Vomitorium: The Dark Art Of Cindy Frey And Paul Allender". He also produced the artwork for New Project's debut album Ultraviolent Light.