and Midian suck donkey dicks…
This is the story of a good band, Middian, a shitty band, Midian, and a spineless record label, Metal Blade.
Middian, as you may know, is the awesome doom band from Eugene, formed by Mike Scheidt of Yob fame. They released a crushing debut album last year, toured the country, and got rave reviews, and generally kicked ass.
I’m sure you’ve never heard of Midian. No one has (well, maybe their 513 friends on theirMySpace). The reason is they suck. Not just a little, this band is like the crusty shit stain on an otherwise fresh pair of drawers. They have a website that hasn’t been updated in 7 years, and so far as I can tell, they’ve recorded an EP sometime in 1999, played some shows in Milwaukee, and that’s it. The one thing this band did do is trademark the name “Midian.” At least, they say they did. Note the spelling please… Well, this band playing numetal that’s already old must’ve noticed that Middian was garnering some fame.
Metal Blade Records, that consummate arbiter of fairness in the music industry, got a cease and desist letter from “Midian” regarding Metal Blade’s band, “Middian.” They may have been looking for an out of case settlement to get some pay, for all the hard work they put into touring all four venues of Milwaukee. Metal Blade drops “Middian” like a whore drops a flaccid cock and gives up.
Now, the members of Middian have to start over with a new band name. no contract, and one can be sure some kind of feeling of utter disappointment. Metal Blade is free from the stigma of credibility in regards to artist relations. And Midian? Instead of any pay off, they get to keep flogging a differently spelled name to their 513 friends with the blessed knowledge that they fucked over much more capable artists than themselves. Their star surely will never stop rising.
I did the cover for Middian, and now I’d like to offer Midian some artwork, too… Here you go, boys!
The word from Middian’s own page:
So, we had a hell of a time finding a name. When Middian was suggested, we did a search and found nothing out there. So we went ahead and called ourselves Middian. However, in October, we received a cease and desist demand from Midian of Milwaukee, LLC. After checking our options, we have found ourselves with no choice but to comply with the demand. So, Middian no longer exists. We have also been dropped from the Metal Blade roster as a result of this litigation, being unable to sell our album Age Eternal ever again as well. The three of us are still going to be playing music together. It just isn’t going to be Middian anymore. We do not know what it is going to be called at this point. But we are still really into playing music with each other. Lots of folks were really good to us during the course of our existence and we really appreciate it. Please keep an eye out for us. Hopefully, you’ll be hearing from us very soon. We are too overwhelmed with the situation to respond to e-mails regarding this, so don’t take offense if we don’t reply. Trust that we are grateful for people’s love and support and ours is with you. DOOM, Mike, Will, and Scott
