CRADLE OF FILTH — Midian (review)

CRADLE OF FILTH — Midian album cover Album · 2000 · Gothic Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2.5/5 ·
Warthur
I've always thought that Clive Barker's Nightbreed - the story of the city of Midian, a secret sanctuary for various warped and demonic monsters, and a man who seeks it out because he's come to believe he is a monster himself - was an absolutely fascinating and genuinely original horror concept let down by repeated failures to realise its possibilities. The original short story (Cabal) was fun but cried out for further development, whilst the movie was a cheesy botch.

I guess Cradle of Filth might have felt the same way, because on Midian they decided to tackle this concept, and the resultant album is perhaps the most successful project ever to tackle the idea... though fundamentally, it's kind of a low bar. On Midian, the band more or less cease to toss in the odd motif from their black metal past, opting instead to play the style of blackened gothic metal the band developed on Dusk and Her Embrace and Cruelty and the Beast. We are now getting well into the realm of diminishing returns. Dani Filth now largely dials back the more intricate and poetic vocal performances he offered on Dusk, instead largely relying on various irritating schticks, and the backing musicians are going through the motions. So here, so for much of the rest of their career: this is the album where Cradle of Filth settled into a rut and decided to never leave.
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