CRADLE OF FILTH — Bitter Suites to Succubi (review)

CRADLE OF FILTH — Bitter Suites to Succubi album cover

EP · 2001 · Gothic Metal

4/5 · 2011-07-15
arcane-beautiful

Now I have the privallage to review stuff from one of my faovurite bands of all time!

Ok, I have always loved these guys. Even when I was younger and they scared the hell out of me, I was still fascinated by them. Theirs no real reason why, except listen to the band and find out!

Ok now these guys have made 3 e.ps, Vempire, From The Cradle To Enslave & this one. Now this one has more in common with Vempire, in that these both contain new songs and re workings of old ones. They also are similar because of their purpose, where they were only really made in order to move away from a record company, with Vempire being a departure from Cacophonus, whilst this album was a move from Peaceville to Sony (ironically they're back in Peaceville now haha).

Now I don't know if this is a bunch of songs left over from Midian or not, but if it is, I ask the question, "why where these songs not put on Midian", because compared to some songs on Midian, these songs beat them hands down. Although, that might not be the case, because they do seem to put a good bit of work even into their eps.

Now this is a very lenthy e.p, being just under 50 minutes, and 10 songs, with 4 new songs, 2 short instrumentals, 3 reworkings of older songs and a cover. But it's still one amazing e.p. Highly enjoyable and really easy to digest.

The 4 new songs are Cradle at their best, and theirs some hidden classics here I feel. The 3 re worked songs are really interesting, cause their all from The Principile Of Evil Made Flesh, and I always felt that the production on that album and Dani's vocals where slightly poor compared to their other releases. This was also a period where Cradle really where on the foot of world domination...shame their genius is being underlooked today.

The sound is a progression from Midian, still keeping that gothic edge and highlighting it. The black metal sound is also nearly lost, although they soon would get in touch with it in their later releases. Dani's vocals seem to be at their peak here, although their is some weakness at times. The lyrics are fantastic as usual and always make you laugh or scare the hell out of you (the album title alone always gives me a giggle, with the hidden sexual innuendo)

1. Sin Deep My Wicked Angel - Great intro, with some eerie strings and discordant atmospheres. One of their best intros I feel. 9/10

2. All Hope In Eclipse - What starts as a quite doomy number, really transforms into a gothic metal chorus. Nice whispery chorus, and the arrangement is killer, especially the middle section with the nice keyboards. 9/10

3. Born In A Burial Gown - This song should have been on Midian. Such an epic song, with an amazing chorus. Dani's voice is like a percussion instrument, with his pentameter keeping the song as interesting as ever. Very evil indeed. The video for the song is pretty cool too, and involves a circus. Yay! Circuses. 10/10

4. Summer Dying Fast - Very interesting to hear how they arranged this. Great punky feeling, and amazing vocals from Dani. 9/10

5. No Time To Cry - An odd cover...but it makes perfect sense. It's arranged amazingly to suit Cradles needs. 9/10

6. The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh - One of these guys most dynamic songs, and this rewoking of it really is amazing. Great twists and turns throughout the punky black metally classic. 10/10

7. Suicide & Other Comforts - This is one of Cradles most interesting songs. What starts off as a quite gothicy song, turns into a fast metal rape. Amazing riffs, and one epic song. 10/10

8. Dinner At Deviant's Palace - This is just creepy. This is a joke obviously, and even getting Paul's daughter to do it, adds to the humour, but also adds to the creepiness. I remember first hearing this song, and I think I urinated myself. 10/10

9. The Black Goddess II - This makes this song more in line with the live version, and its great to hear, cause this is one of their most classic earlier songs. 9/10

10. Scorched Earth Erotica - Would have been an amazing song, without the "dominus" bit. Great gothicy moment, and a nice ending too.

CONCLUSION: I didn't think you would actually need this, but you really do...mainly for the 4 new songs and the re workings.