In an interview with Detroit radio station WRIF, Lee confirmed that the band planned to work on a new album following the end of their tour in support of Synthesis.

[1][2] In an interview with Sirius XM backstage at Epicenter Festival at Rockingham Speedway in May 2019, Lee again confirmed that a new album was in the works.

In August, the U.S.-based band members returned into the studio to finish writing and recording after taking COVID tests, and German guitarist Jen Majura had to work remotely.

[34] Dannii Leivers of Metal Hammer deemed the album "darkly emotional, empowering and politically charged", which is "nestled between the bold and the familiar" and has "some surprises up its sleeve".

[48] Josh Weiner from Atwood Magazine praised the album's energy, instrumental work, emotional range and uplifting theme of perseverance, concluding that "Evanescence prove that they're still a hugely compelling act" and "all of the band's positive virtues have endured".

"[39] Los Angeles Times's Suzy Exposito said Lee wrote "her fiercest songs to date" and "Evanescence continues to own the space where frosty electronic currents collide with volcanic surges of metal catharsis and coagulate into hard rock candy".

[50] The Bitter Truth is a "beast of many moods" endowed with "stellar" musicianship and vocals, Garry Bushell reviewed in Daily Express.

[51] Danielle Chelosky wrote in Spin that Lee's strength "is clearer than ever, and she's reclaiming even more this time", while the "reckoning and pain" of experiences permeates the album with "vivid imagery", vulnerability and empowerment alongside a "bigger and bolder" sound.

's Nick Ruskell said The Bitter Truth offers "comfort, catharsis and a new perspective", with Lee's contemplations looking outward as much as inward in forward-thinking notion alongside an "ever-expanding musical palette, still rooted in the vaguely gothy metal of old, but now with the heaviness taken further and punctuated with electronics and keyboards".

[41] Thomas Green of The Arts Desk considered the album "a sturdy testament to lead singer and band-boss Amy Lee's continuing surety of vision".

[37] The album was deemed "emotionally charged" by Scott Mervis of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,[54] and "dynamic" by Chicago Sun-Times writer Selena Fragassi.

[55] Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic called it "one of the band's most engaging works, balancing sonic power with Lee's inimitable vocals and songwriting", and carrying listeners "on a journey both familiar and fresh ... pushing Evanescence into the future with a graceful maturity and worldly perspective.

"[35] Revolver called The Bitter Truth a "triumphant statement of perseverance, with Lee seizing her role as alt-metal elder stateswoman for some of the hardest hitting songs of her career.