Full disclosure: when I first heard ‘Cruelty and the Beast’ as an early teenager, I absolutely hated it. Partly because I did not understand it, but its messy production annoyed the hell out of me and may have planted the seed for generally disliking blastbeats to this day. It took 2019’s so-called “Re-Mistressed” edition for me to revise my opinion. The new mix digging up the guitars and especially the drums from underneath the layers of keyboards and Dani Filth’s vocals made me appreciate the album for what it is: an excellent, adventurous metal album with a fairly unique atmosphere.

Ever since Cradle of Filth rose to prominence, there have been discussions about whether the black metal tag they got is justified. And to be fair, if you disregard the extreme vocals and the occasional blastbeat, it would not be out of order to consider ‘Cruelty and the Beast’ the further evolution of what a band like Mercyful Fate was doing fifteen years prior. Sure, the gothic bombast and Dani Filth’s vocal madness are part of what makes Cradle of Filth, but a lot of the riffs on ‘Cruelty and the Beast’ could potentially appeal to fans of more traditional heavy metal as well. Especially now they can actually be heard.

Speaking of the riffs: one of the reasons why Cradle of Filth was often called a black metal band was probably due to the riffs of Stuart Anstis being far less chordy and more based on single notes than those of his successor (and predecessor) Paul Allender. Anstis is excellent at creating a haunting atmosphere with just a few notes on his guitar. If you were to strip the album back to just guitar, drums and vocals, it would still sound every bit as haunting as it does in its final form, perfectly coloring the album’s story of Elizabeth Báthory’s legend.

With ‘Cruelty and the Beast’ being a concept album, I tend to listen to it front to back and experience it as a whole. There are some stand-out moments, however. ‘Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids’ understandably became the staple for the album, being a highly dynamic track that moves back and forth between dark extreme metal sections and particularly effective thrash riffs. The first half of the eleven-minute ‘Bathory Aria’ in particular contains some of the band’s best work to date, while the riff work in ‘Thirteen Autumns and a Widow’ and ‘Beneath the Howling Stars’ is particularly on point.

Due to its audible drums and crisper-sounding guitars, the remixed and remastered edition of ‘Cruelty and the Beast’ is its definitive version, as far as I’m concerned. However, I probably would appreciate the original release a lot more these days as well. The songwriting on the album is adventurous, yet far less complex than it originally comes across as. While I don’t think it quite stands up to recent works like ‘Hammer of the Witches’, ‘Cruelty of the Beast’ was rightfully revered as one of Cradle of Filth’s best works for the longest time. If you don’t mind a little bombast and have not heard this yet, dive right in.

Recommended tracks: ‘Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids’, ‘Bathory Area’, ‘Beneath the Howling Stars’