WHITE EMPRESS To Make Live Debut in Minneapolis in Late October

Former Cradle Of Filth guitar Paul Allender has revealed exclusively to Twin Cities Metal that his new band, White Empress, will perform their first-ever concert here in Minneapolis in late October as part of a four-date Midwest mini-tour. I'm holding back the date and venue until everything is confirmed, so check back for complete details. The to-be-announced dates are intended to be small "warm-up" shows lacking full stage production (props, and the like) in preparation for more extensive touring plans that are currently in the works. White Empress canceled previous plans for their live debut on July 12 in Madison, Wisconsin.

I conducted a lengthy in-person interview with Paul last night, and we discussed details of his recent departure from Cradle Of Filth, and had an extensive conversation about the genesis and plans of White Empress. Look for publication of the full interview during the next week. I dare say that this is the most extensive interview Paul has given about both White Empress and his reasons for leaving Cradle Of Filth!

There has been a ton of activity and news regarding White Empress in the last couple of weeks, so here's a quick rundown.

Photo courtesy of the White Empress Facebook page.

There's been a change on guitars, and the complete lineup of the band is now:
Vocals: Mary Zimmer (ex-Luna Mortis)
Guitar: Paul Allender (ex-Cradle Of Filth)
Guitar: Jeremy Kohnmann (The Awakening)
Bass: Chela Harper (ex-Coal Chamber)
Keyboards: Will Graney (Damnation Angels)
Drums: Zac Morris (ex-Silent Civilian, Ugly Kid Joe)

White Empress has signed with Peaceville Records, and the debut album Rise Of The Empress will be released September 29. The official video for the first track released from the album, "Darkness Encroaching", is now available for streaming exclusively in the U.S. at Bloodly Disgusting, and at Metal Hammer for the UK and Germany. I'm not embedding the video to respect the exclusively of the video on these sites through the weekend, but here's a couple screenshots (taken from the White Empress Facebook page). Go to one of these site to watch the video!!

The band has launched a fund-raising campaign at PledgeMusic where you can buy tons of things from a digital download of the album to a signed guitar from Paul Allender. In almost no time, the band has raised 121% of their goal! Here's a video of Paul explaining the PledgeMusic campaign:

Lastly, you can still download the four-song White Empress EP for free from the band's website, or purchase higher-quality files from Amazon or iTunes.