Yesterday was a sad day for the black-metal community. The widow of Stuart Anstis, a former guitarist of Cradle of Filth, announced that her husband had passed away on August 21st at the age of 48. While he was only a member of the English black-metal band from 1995 to 1999, Anstis played on several of their most coveted releases (1996's Dusk and Her Embrace and 1998's Cruelty and the Beast) and had an intregral role in shaping the band's sound during that time.
While the news initially made its way into the metal world when another former CoF member, Richard Shaw, shared his condolences on Instagram, CoF frontman Dani Filth has now offered his own touching tribute to his one-time bandmate.
"It is with a deeply saddened heart that I have heard of the passing of my former guitarist Stuart Anstis at 48," Filth wrote on Instagram. "Stuart — despite our eventual differences — was an amazingly talented guitarist who brought a real sense of magic to everything he wrote in Cradle Of Filth.
"For a long time he and I were bestest of friends living in a small village here in Suffolk, and despite that relationship eventually changing, it did nothing to diminish the fan's appreciation of his creative flair and talent right up to the present day.
"Vempire, Dusk and Her Embrace (though written mostly by former members, Stuart played all the guitars on this album), Cruelty And The Beast and From the Cradle to Enslave would have been completely different creatures if it were not for the depth of his astute and deliciously dark musicianship.
"It truly is with a heavy sense of loss that we (and extreme music in general) bid farewell to Stuart. May sombre flights of ravens wing you to your grave mate. Rest In Phallustein."
