Paul Allender
Encyclopedia
Paul Allender is the lead guitarist of the British extreme metal
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...

 band Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band, formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic black metal, and other extreme metal styles, while their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily...

.

Early life

At the age of six years old, Allender's father introduced him to martial arts, which led to a 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.

Cradle of Filth

He joined the band as the guitarist in 1992, and stayed until 1996. In 1996, he left Cradle of Filth to join The Blood Divine
The Blood Divine
The Blood Divine was a British goth metal band, founded in the summer of 1995 by Paul Allender, brothers Paul and Benjamin Ryan, after the three left Cradle of Filth during the recording of the V Empire EP and ousted Anathema singer Darren White. They recruited drummer William A...

 and to spend more time with his son. In 1998, Allender started another band called Primary Slave. In 2000, just before Primary Slave signed a recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...

, Allender rejoined Cradle of Filth after receiving a call from Dani Filth
Dani Filth
Dani Filth is the lyricist, vocalist and founding member of the metal band Cradle of Filth.-Personal life:...

, along with drummer Adrian Erlandsson
Adrian Erlandsson
Adrian Erlandsson is a prolific Swedish heavy metal drummer, who currently plays in Brujeria, Netherbird, with his wife in Nemhain and in Yorkshire doom metal band Paradise Lost...

 and keyboardist Martin Powell
Martin Powell
Martin Powell is an English musician. In 1991, Powell auditioned for the position of bass-playing in the band My Dying Bride, but was turned down as the band had just filled the position...

 on the band's album, Midian
Midian (album)
Midian is the fourth studio album by Cradle of Filth, released on Halloween 2000. The album marks the return of Paul Allender and Gian Pyres to the band and the introduction of Adrian Erlandsson and Martin Powell...

.

While performing on stage with Cradle of Filth at Bloodstock Open Air
Bloodstock Open Air
Bloodstock Open Air is a heavy metal festival held annually at Catton Hall in Walton-upon-Trent, England, since 2005. Previous line-ups have included bands such as Opeth , Children of Bodom , Nightwish , Cradle of Filth , Testament , Arch Enemy , Europe and Twisted Sister .Originally on one stage...

 in August 2009, a member of the audience used a slingshot to fire a gobstopper
Gobstopper
Gobstoppers, known as jawbreakers in Canada and the United States, are a type of hard confectionery. They are usually round, usually range from about 1 cm across to 3 cm across and are traditionally very hard.The term...

 at the stage which narrowly missed Dani Filth, but hit Allender on his spine in his lower back. He was then sent to the hospital which caused the performance to end early.

Playing style

Allender is recognized for his unique right-handed technique. To quote 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".

Graphic art

Allender 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.

External links

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