Certain bands in heavy metal have always coerced listeners into making up their minds. At some point, all of us have encountered a band that we couldn’t stay “in the middle” about; we either loved them or hated them — no middle ground. Even today, Cradle of Filth is one such band. Always over the top and tongue-in-cheek, the English outfit have always separated the casual listeners from the diehards. Their 2000 album Midian isn’t their best in their long discography but is an important milestone in their career.

Eschewing the romantic grandeur that made Cruelty and the Beast a classic, along with bringing massive lineup changes, Midian split Cradle of Filth’s fan base even more than the preceding EP From the Cradle to Enslave. Rhythmically focused, less symphonic than their previous two records, and far more campy than the sprawling lyrical concepts of Cruelty, Midian sounds like a band’s growing pains at some points but makes up in the way of blending the band’s knack for traditional twin guitar leads with thrashing rhythms and keyboards that add the right amount of schlocky, horror movie atmosphere.

For all of its self-aware excess, there’s a lot of classic Cradle on Midian: “Her Ghost in the Fog,” whether the kvlt kids want to admit it or not, was one of those songs that opened wide the gates into extreme metal for many people; “Saffron’s Curse” keeps the same songwriting arc as the best cuts from Dusk and Cruelty but squeezes in fantastic riffs and compelling atmosphere in under seven minutes; and “Lord Abortion” may well be the band’s most savage recorded work with its unfiltered currents of old-school death metal and thrash riffs. Finally, “Tortured Soul Asylum” may well be the best album closer in CoF history if not one of the best songs they’ve penned, ever.

Some point to Midian’s lineup as quintessential mid-period CoF, and considering members’ caliber, it’s hard to dispute: Adrian Erlandsson’s drum work exceeds his output with At the Gates, Martin Powell shows remarkable tastefulness in making the keys an essential part of the sound without taking focus off of Paul Allender’s riffs, and Dani’s vocals reach equilibrium between all of the styles used on previous albums. While it’s not perfect, things just click on Midian, and for those new to CoF’s extensive discography, Midian remains the ideal entry point for both its accessibility and being what ushered in the “new era” of the band.

– Dustin

P.S., I should note that while I love the music and the songwriting here, the mixing sucks. The guitars turn into a wall of mush at anything past power chords, and the sound of the snare drum and the hi-hats causes me to see red every time. Seriously, it’s a mess compared even to the horribly anemic, trebly honk of Cruelty and the Beast.