Artist: Cradle of Filth
Label: Spitfire Records
Release Date: 7/3/01
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Title: Bitter Suites to Succubi Artist: Cradle of Filth Label: Spitfire Records Release Date: 7/3/01 |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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Abyss's Review:
Well, I know I usually hate EPs, but if you can’t put out a new album, I guess this is the type of thing you should put out. Six new tracks, three re-recorded classic tunes, and a cool cover song. All wrapped in the beautiful packaging we’ve come to expect from this band (read: tits, tits, tits).
"Cradle of Filth continue to be the best Bloth/Glack band out there, and I give a big “Fuck You” to all those who think their sellouts. I’m with these guys till the end." Now this band has a ton of detractors, but I’ve been fully on board since I first heard them, and they have yet to disappoint me. Let’s start with the less important tracks, namely the re-recorded ones and the cover. The cover is the Sisters of Mercy song, “No Time to Cry” and it is an interesting and impressive attempt. I normally detest covers, because most are done pointlessly, taking all of the original magic away from the song and adding nothing of their own. But Cradle of Filth seems to have a lot to offer. Their versions of “Black Metal” and “Hallowed Be Thy Name” I thought were awesome, and this Sister song has me on board right away. There is also some value with the spruced up versions of the songs from The Principle of Evil Made Flesh, I didn’t remember how crappy the production was back then (at least compare to what they do now, back then I thought it was great), and this effort truly breathes new life (or should I say death?) into those old classics.
The new material is impressive as well. All of the songs deserve mention and instill in me the belief that this band still has a lot of talent left to display. The new songs sit well next to the material from Principle… reintroducing us to the cool sense of riff they had back then (something often lacking in this blackish genre). My early favorites are “Born in a Burial Gown” and “Scorched Earth Erotica”, but that’s probably just because I’ve spent the most time on them.
Cradle of Filth continue to be the best Bloth/Glack band out there, and I give a big “Fuck You” to all those who think their sellouts. I’m with these guys till the end. One word review: Killer.
Death's Review:
Cool title. Cool band. Seriously. After pretty much resisting the metal charms of these wacky Englishmen for years, I'm finally starting to come around. They do have killer fucking riffs, awesome presentation, top-notch production and may soon have the attention of the mainstream world. If nothing else, Cradle of Filth are interesting. One has to believe that if they hadn't been kicked around in the U.S. like a rent-a-free-agent Major League baseball pitcher (Mike Morgan's played for 13 teams; David Cone was the guy for a while; now it's starting to be David Wells; Deion Sanders was the football equivalent for a number of years), releasing records on Metal Blade, Koch, Spitfire and now (next year) Sony (the first black metal band signed to a major label in the U.S.), Cradle would already be infamous in this country. Heck, I'd rather the future trenchcoat mafia members of America (well, not them - those dudes were fucked up and actually killed people - people like them give us all a bad name - I guess I really mean the "disenfranchised youth") listen to Cradle of Filth than Marilyn Manson or Eminem or whatever is filling that void in the mass popular culture world this week. Cradle brings back the whole "larger than life" thing back to metal, the way Iron Maiden, Dio and Priest had done before them, and Kiss practically invented, in spite of the fact that-but for the hair bands-Metallica almost killed it all dead opening for a ridiculously bloated, glitter and hairspray covered Ozzy on the No More Tears tour. Theater, mystery, intrigue-there are the Cradle of Filth hallamarks. With an intelligent sense of almost "PBS/BBC/NPR" -style humor, and distinctly British "distinguished" demeanor, all the while showing bare-breasted, blood-covered woman-beasts on their album covers and becoming infamous for having shirts about fucking dead women and nuns, Cradle has also managed to deliver progressively more interesting and mature-sounding metal, whether you allow yourself to call the end-product "black" or not.
"They do have killer fucking riffs, awesome presentation, top-notch production and may soon have the attention of the mainstream world." I don't profess to know much about Cradle's history, and such knowledge is probably important to an appreciation of Bittersweets to Suck You By or whatever this cleverly titled little ditty is called. That is because three of its ten tracks are re-recorded from 1994's The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh: "Summer Dying Fast," "The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh," and "The Black Goddess Rises." Still, new tracks like "Born in a Burial Gown" attack from my speakers with an aggression I never expected from Cradle and, in turn, crush all within earshot. I'm not a goth fan, and I never listened much to The Sisters of Mercy, but for better or for worse there is a cover of "No Time to Cry" on here as well.
Why is the Judgment Committee writing about what essentially amounts to a "between-releases," sort of stop-gap, EP? This is just gearing up for the big release on Sony Music in 2002, right? True, but it is primarily quality, new material. More importantly, it is Cradle of Filth. They're that big now. While debating the import of Bitter Suites recently, Famine asked "would it have been Judgment Committee worthy if Iron Maiden put out an EP with six new songs, some re-recorded tracks and a cover back in 1988?" I thought about it for a moment. "It'd be huge," I replied. Cradle of Filth may very well be the larger-than-life voice of the new (not nu) metal generation. Are they my favorite band? Not by a long-shot. Do I like them better, not worse, with each passing year? Absolutely. Tomorrow night (July 19, 2001) the Judgment Committee will witness Cradle of Filth in concert. Will I return an even bigger fan? Or will I be bored inside of twenty minutes? Time will tell. If Bitter Suites is any indication, I'm in for a kick-ass time.
"Cradle of Filth may very well be the larger-than-life voice of the new (not nu) metal generation."
Hel's Review:
Favorite Tracks: "Suicide and Other Comforts" and "No Time to Cry"Just last October, we were here for the release of the new Cradle of Filth album. It's less than a year later, and here we are again. Is it a new album? Kinda. Sort of. Not really. Maybe. There are 6 new tracks, 1 cover tune, and 3 songs that have been previously released. Not a new album, but nothing to scoff at either. If you're a fan, you better be on your way to the record store.
The release is essentially what you would expect. Slickly produced, theatrical, Cradle of Filth-style happy black metal. Every song this band releases is epic in some way, and they have a unique ability to make every song interesting in its own way. Fortunately, the use of warble-y female vocals and funhouse-style keyboards has diminished substantially, and are more palatable as a result.
"If you're a fan, you better be on your way to the record store." The new tracks on this album, in particular, demonstrate the versatility, creativity, and fundamental talent of each of the musicians involved. In each, I found a moment where I had to pause and wonder at the sheer coolness of what I just heard. I liked the recycled tunes the first time around, and it turns out, I still do. The Sisters of Mercy tune is great.
At the end of the day, the true value of Bitter Suites to Succubi will be determined by how you feel about bands releasing "extra" material. Bands like the dreaded "M" routinely release collections of extras in lieu of new material, and have given the practice a bad rap, which lingers like a funky taste in your mouth. But I get the sense (don't ask me from where, cause it's just a feeling) that COF is doing it for all the right reasons - to hook the fans up with some extra material that wouldn't have seen the light of day otherwise, and to hold them over until the new album comes out.
"It just goes to show, you can be a smart businessperson and wear shirts with no nipples too." And it doesn't hurt to have something new on the shelf while your out on tour either. Envision the scenario: you bought the new album last October, you go to see them live the next summer, and you like them so much you wish there was another album out - and, hey, there is - sort of. And you go buy that too. It just goes to show, you can be a smart businessperson and wear shirts with no nipples too. While capitalism is a wonderful thing, for me, at the end of the day it's still not the main event, but an album of "extras". It's cynical and jaded of me, but I'll hang on to the fifth skull for a few months, and see if it's still worth giving away when I hear their next official full endeavor.
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