Cradle Of Filth – Bitter Suites To Succubi (2001)

January 5, 2021

Bitter Suites For Succubi is a strange stop-gap EP / mini album between the release of Midian and the band’s epic Damnation And The Day. I’m not entirely sure of the reasons why they decided to release this as it is, but I expect it was something to keep the fans happy and busy when the band were no doubt in the long negotiating phase of being signed to Sony records.

I loved Bitter Suites… as a teenager. As an adult, I can appreciate the muddled mess that this record truly is. For starters, the production has a strange hollowness to it. An interesting choice, for a band as complex in sound as Cradle. Secondly, there are a slew of re-recorded classics here, which I can only imagine have something to do with Paul Allender’s return to the band. On this note, why is “The Black Goddess Rises” given a new title of “The Black Goddess Rises II: Ebon Nemesis”, when the other old tracks are not given new titles, nor even a sorry “II” for their trouble? They are all complete reworkings of the originals, so this puzzles me.

As for the new tracks on offer here, they seem unsteady and almost unfinished. It’s like listening to a demo. Its not that they are particuraly bad, but instead just rough around the edges. There are some diamonds here, like “Suicide And Other Comforts” or “All Hope In Eclipse”.

All in all, a bit of a Mixed Bag To Succubi, if anything.