Nicholas Barker

Nicholas Barker — born in England in 1973 — was the drummer of Cradle of Filth's classic phase, and later joined Dimmu Borgir. He was in the band from its early years until 1999, recording The Principle of Evil Made Flesh (1994), Dusk... and Her Embrace (1996) and Cruelty and the Beast (1998) — the run of records that established Cradle of Filth as the British name in extreme metal and set its formula: black metal speed beneath orchestration and theatrical vocals. His contribution lies in precision at extreme tempo. The band's repertoire combines continuous blast beats with slow-metre sections and orchestral passages, and the drums have to move between those speeds without losing the pulse — a demand that separates extreme metal drummers able to record in the studio from those who merely sustain velocity. He left Cradle of Filth for Dimmu Borgir, the Norwegian symphonic black metal band, where he stayed for several years. He is one of the few drummers to have held a central position in the two largest bands of European symphonic black metal.