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MusicRadar
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Jonathan Horsley

“The most psychopathic contract a session musician could ever be handed”: Cradle of Filth guitarist Ashok fired mid-tour, days after keyboardist wife Zoë Marie Federoff quits citing low pay and “toxic” atmosphere

Marek "Ashok" Šmerda wears corpsepaint that makes him look a little like Hellraiser's Pinhead as he performs live with Cradle of Filth.

Cradle Of Filth’s South American tour was all going smoothly until it wasn’t, when two days ago, keyboardist/vocalist Zoë Marie Federoff quit the band, her husband, guitarist Marek ‘Ashok’ Šmerda, announced he was also quitting at the end of the tour, before frontman Dani Filth decided to fire Ashok with immediate effect.

In a statement, Federoff complains of a “threatening and abusive” atmosphere in the band, low pay, and a contract that her lawyer described as “psychopathic”, revealing that she and her husband had planned to leave the band months ago.

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