Midian

It would be easy to bridle at Midian's relentless bombast and obsession with all things Goth. Many would detest a purposefully pretentious mix of Carl Orff and Obituary that occasionally collapses into early '80s-style prog-metal. And then there's J.K. Potter's laughable artwork, wherein band members look like characters in Clive Barker's miserable Night Breed, the source of the album's name. But there's also a lot here to appreciate. Frontman Dani Filth is becoming ever more convincing in his attempts to offend; some turns of phrase in his blood-spattered romances even manage to recall Keats and Byron. Musically, they seldom fail to entertain and sometimes reach the operatic heights of Laibach and Lacrimosa. More reading and refinement by this lot may produce the first Goth masterpiece since the Sisters of Mercy's First and Last and Always.