The band's dizzying lineup changes continued apace as Paul Allender rejoined the group and Martin Powell (ex-Anathema and My Dying Bride) replaced Smith on keyboards for the full-length Midian, which was appropriately released on Halloween 2000. Two years later the group returned with From the Cradle to Enslave, an EP that featured new drummer Adrian Erlandsson (formerly of Sweden's At the Gates and the Haunted), as Barker had departed to join Dimmu Borgir.
COF's next effort, Cruelty and the Beast, appeared in 1998, amid the group's steadily growing reputation for elaborate Alice Cooper/Marilyn Manson-style concert theatrics. For the full-length Dusk and Her Embrace later that same year, Gian Pyres took Demeter's spot, and afterward, Gregori was replaced by keyboardist Les Smith at any rate, the album substantially expanded the group's growing cult following. The lineup changes continued when the Ryan brothers both departed to form the Blood Divine (and Allender left as well), making room for guitarists Stuart Antsis and Jared Demeter and keyboardist Damien Gregori to debut on the 1996 mini-LP Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein. Following a third demo, Total Fucking Darkness, Cradle of Filth - with new drummer Nicholas Barker - signed with the Cacophonous label, issuing their proper debut, The Principle of Evil Made Flesh, in mid-1994. After recording a demo dubbed Invoking the Unclean a year later, the group recruited guitarist Robin Eaglestone, who quit soon after recording a second demo, Orgiastic Pleasures however, when Richard exited the band a short time later, Eaglestone stepped back in to assume bass duties, opening the door for guitarist Paul Allender. British black metal band Cradle of Filth formed in 1991, originally comprised of vocalist Dani Filth (born Daniel Lloyd Davey), guitarist Paul Ryan, his keyboardist brother Benjamin, bassist John Richard, and drummer Darren.