Guitarist Marek “Ashok” Šmerda has confirmed that he will leave CRADLE OF FILTH at the end of the band’s current Latin American tour.
Ashok‘s announcement that he will depart CRADLE OF FILTH comes just days after his wife, Zoë M. Federoff, left the group mid-tour after serving as CRADLE OF FILTH‘s female vocalist and keyboardist for the past three years.
Earlier today (Tuesday, August 26),Šmerda released the following message via his social media: “Dear fans and friends, I ask you to please respect my wife and myself in this transitional period.
“I am indeed leaving CRADLE OF FILTH at the end of this current tour, and the reasons behind this are conclusions my wife and I came together at long before this week. We simply do not feel like CRADLE can provide for our future, and in fact hinders it. Among other reasons it is a lot of work for relatively low pay, the stress is quite high, and we haven’t felt for a while like this band actually prioritizing/caring about members. It has been years of unprofessional behavior from people above us that led to our decision.
“I have also asked all compositions of mine removed from upcoming releases including Ed Sheeran collab. This song feels like foolish clown antics for me at this point anyways — first it was charity single for kids, then for profit single, then on next album, and now who knows and I just do not want to be involved anymore, no disrespect to Ed Sheeran.
“And meanwhile so many ‘brilliant’ Internet brains trying to speculate on personal affairs between me and Zoe — just stop this, please. We are trying to start new chapter.
“And I am going to finish this tour strong! For the fans and for my friends in this band and crew! It is my last ride with CRADLE and I am proud to give it my best.
“I am sad to not share the stage with my wife these last times but I respect why she left and I am happy our friend Kelsey Peters has been given opportunity to shine.
“This is all I have to say for now. Leave my wife alone. NEVER insult her or her choices in my presence… or else”.
When Federoff announced her exit from CRADLE OF FILTH, she explained that she was “unable to continue” touring with the band “for personal reasons”.
In response, CRADLE OF FILTH founding vocalist Dani Filth revealed that the band has indeed already brought on a temporary replacement.
“A strange turn of events have manifested out here on tour for CRADLE OF FILTH in South America,” he said. “Our keyboardist/backing singer Zoe Smerda has chosen to leave the band mid-tour, effective immediately. We, of course, wish her all the best for the future. And we as a band will continue onward and upward as always, with a replacement singer here in Kelsey Peters, one of the very talented CREWDLE members.”
Federoff later returned to social media to offer a “couple clarifying points” regarding her original statement “since so many people decided to speculate in the nastiest possible ways.” She wrote: “Ashok isn’t cheating. While the turmoil of being in the band has taken its toll on us, we remain very much certain that we love each other. Please be kind to my husband. He is a good man.”
She added: “We were already planning to leave the band later this year. Certain events have sped that up for me.”
Marek and Zoë got married on January 9 in her hometown of Tucson, Arizona.
Born in Brno, Czech Republic, Šmerda has been the guitarist for CRADLE OF FILTH since early 2014 when he received the invitation to embark on a European tour with the band. Since then, he’s become a full-time member, having toured all around the world with the group while simultaneously having put his hand and heart to the plough on the CRADLE OF FILTH releases “Hammer Of The Witches”, “Cryptoriana – The Seductiveness Of Decay”, “Existence Is Futile” and “The Screaming Of The Valkyries”. All these albums were critically acclaimed by critics and fans and quickly became milestones.
For the last 20-plus years, Ashok gained a lot of experience both in studio sessions and live performances with various bands (ROOT, EQUIRHODONT, INNER FEAR, TITANIC, among others) and other musical projects which have allowed him to develop his playing style, tone, and songwriting.
Federoff released her first two albums in 2013 and 2017 with gothic/power metal band INSATIA. Feeling restricted by the scope of the project, in 2017 she cofounded international symphonic metal band CATALYST CRIME with XANDRIA drummer Gerit Lamm, with a lineup including Jonah Weingarten of PYRAMAZE, Canadian guitarist Kaelen Sarakinis, American guitarist Chena Roxx, as well as the unexpected addition of her own father, Matt Federoff, on bass.
In addition to her own bands, Zoë has guested as a vocalist for ATROCITY and THE VIVALDI METAL PROJECT. She has also written and edited lyrics for numerous bands, including SERENITY and CONFIDENTIAL.
