Dusk and Her Embrace

Background

A lot of material for the album was written while the band were still under Cacophonous Records' contract. Speaking to Ryan Bird of Kerrang! In 2008, Dani Filth remembered:

This was a bit of a weird one. We actually recorded it as our second release, but we then had to take our label to court which meant that most of it was temporarily lost for legal reasons. The next thing I know the band had split into two-halves, and after releasing the V Empire EP my half was able to re-record and finally release the album. In a way it actually worked in our favour, because after nearly two years of legal battles and non-stop hassle I think the troubles of the times actually came through on the recording. We actually worked with Kit Woolven on that one, who most people knew from working with Thin Lizzy, so it had a very lush edge as well as this distinctive, dark vibe. To this day this is the album that a lot of our fans seem to be really drawn to. And it catapulted us into a whole new world.

According to Dani Filth, a music video was produced for the title track, featuring the instrumental "Carmilla's Masque" as a coda.

The album climaxes with a guest speech from Venom's Cronos on the final track, "Haunted Shores".

Release

Dusk and Her Embrace was released on 19 August 1996 by record label Music for Nations. It charted just outside of the UK top 100, at 107.

The album was reissued in 2012 by record label The End.

Dusk and Her Embrace: The Original Sin

Dani Filth revealed plans for a 20th anniversary release of the original 1995 Cacophonous recordings in 2015, and a release date was officially announced in 2016. Filth told Team Rock:

The original recordings of Dusk – which were literally just sat gathering dust on someone’s shelf – are actually going to see the light of day. It’s going to be a really cool part of Cradle history, and obviously they’ve never been heard before by anyone.

The title for the new release was Dusk... and Her Embrace: The Original Sin. It was released on CD and digital on July 8, 2016, with a vinyl version promised for a later date. The liner notes confirm that the lineup for this version was almost the same as for The Principle of Evil Made Flesh, including Paul Allender and Paul Ryan, but excluding Robin Graves, who was shortly replaced by Jon Kennedy. Both left the band before the 1996 version of Dusk... was recorded.

Critical reception

Critical reception of this album has been generally positive. AllMusic wrote: "Dusk and Her Embrace may be [Cradle of Filth's] finest moment."

Track listing

All lyrics written by Dani Filth; all music composed by Cradle of Filth (Filth, Stuart Anstis, Gian Pyres, Robin Graves, Damien Gregori and Nicholas Barker) except "Hell Awaits" by Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King.

Personnel