Cradle Of Filth - Midian review
| Band: | Cradle Of Filth |
| Album: | Midian |
| Style: | Extreme gothic metal, Symphonic metal |
| Release date: | October 30, 2000 |
| Guest review by: | Slayer666 |
01. At The Gates Of Midian
02. Cthulhu Dawn
03. Saffron's Curse
04. Death Magick For Adepts
05. Lord Abortion
06. Amor E Morte
07. Creatures That Kissed In Cold Mirrors
08. Her Ghost In The Fog
09. Satanic Mantra
10. Tearing The Veil From Grace
11. Tortured Soul Asylum
12. For Those Who Died [Sabbat cover] [Japanese bonus]
This album, released exactly on Halloween of the year 2000, represents the beginning of Cradle of Filth's commercial era. A bitter disappointment for me, great for some other people. Don't get me wrong, I think that this album is anything but bad, but it's simply softer, more Gothic orientated than I would like. OK, let's descend into Midian.
After a symphonic Intro, we have almost an hour of melodic guitarwork, great-sounding keyboards and, of course, Dani's screaming, growling and whatever he can come up with. Guitars have the most important role in this album, and are more melodic than any of Cradle's previous work. They are almost always followed by some spooky background tune played by the keyboards. This creates an atmosphere of a really dark fairytale that you get sucked into by the album.
As for the vocals, Dani really screams his throat off in this one. And now we're getting to some problems. I can't believe I'm going to actually write this, but Dani's.... amazing vocal abilities can really get on your nerves in this album. They sure did get on mine, and that's never happened with ANY of their albums. I guess it's because sometimes he puts too much emphasis on them instead on instrumental parts. We also have loads of female choirs here, which help with the "dark fairytale" atmosphere.
Finally, it's time to give the overall impression. Well, I'm disappointed with the musical direction they are taking. Instead of another "The Principle of Evil Made Flesh" we got a heavier, blackened version of Moonspell. But, is that bad? Heck no, it's just not for everybody. Ever wanted Moonspell to be faster, more aggresive? Well, this album gives you pretty much that only with Dani's vocals. I say, go for it!
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Slayer666 | 17.01.2009
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 12
Visited by: 192 users
| Elio Red Nightmare Posts: 4920  |
Good review indeed, but the vote is a bit high 
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466  |
Written by Elio on 19.01.2009 at 21:40 I'm not going to trash my favourite band, am I?  By the way, thanks for commenting!
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| Abattoir Staff Posts: 3695  |
Nice review. I think that the rating is quite realistic for me...I wouldn't rate it more than 9.0, but somewhere here it is (8.5-9.0). This is also my favourite album by them.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374  |
Written by Slayer666 on 19.01.2009 at 22:20 I'm sorry dude... But you're just not allowed to say such a thing. Reviews are supposed to be objective, I can't be some kind of a review from a fan-boy who says everything is great. But then again, the review is actually good. But the next time you can't just give good things just because it's your favorite band.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 13.04.2009 at 15:56 I gave it a 9 because I was objective. Can you hear a serious flaw in it somewhere? It has great song structures, melodies, it's well preformed.... Nothing is bad. It deserves a 9. If I was to rate it acording to my own tastes, it would have got a 6.5-7. This is the only Cradle's album I have to admit I don't like (besides Thornography).
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Written by Slayer666 on 15.04.2009 at 13:45 I read the whole review yeah, And as far as I remember... I even wrote that the review was actually ok. The thing that bothered me was the sentence I quoted. Not the review.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955  |
Quote: Well.. I'm definetly NOT disappointed. Their new musical direction is perfect. The previous works were just failure attempts. Their new direction showed who this band really is, and how is the best way to play in their style... This album and ''Nymphetamine'' represents the real and good Cradle of Filth.
----  ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| -Soulreaper- Posts: 435  |
To me this a really great album by these guys. Well, and their last up until Godspeed. But this one has my favorite song of theirs too which is Cthulhu Dawn. Just a great track all the way through.
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466 |
Written by Uirapuru on 21.04.2009 at 16:27 This album, Nymphetamine and Thornography represent the rotten, greedy and comercialised Cradle.
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955 |
Written by Slayer666 on 23.04.2009 at 20:23 Coincidentally these are my favorites albuns. All you said is true, it just doesn't matter to me. The commercial appeal revealed a better musicality in their works (just as Dimmu Borgir and many other bands). Of course, it's my opinion only, and i'm pretty isolated with this thought  These albuns are greedy and appelatives? Yes. The music is good? Yes. I will never despise an album based on his popularity among people who are not into the genre. Sure, if in someone else's opinion this commercial appeal damaged their music, they are also right... But to me is good enough, and better than the worshiped two first albuns.
---- ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| Djamel Bloodfan Posts: 2 |
That's a great albums (epic) !!!! and the rate....man it just deserve better !!!! 
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| thewall30 Posts: 349  |
Written by Uirapuru on 24.04.2009 at 00:26 Nicely said, I completely agree with you I will never judge an album by its commercial successes, great album by the way and nicely written review 
---- 
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