CRADLE OF FILTH / The Principle of Evil Made Flesh (1994)

The first CoF album took the Black Metal sound and warped it into something British. They gave it more rhythm, used cheap sounding symphonic keyboards and upped the occult references. They turned it from a nihilistic, cold wind into a theatrical, symphonic hybrid of new and old. People hated it. Black Metal that wasn't from Scandinavia, with marketable lyrics and gothic visuals was frowned upon. It only served to highlight the prejudices of the genre at the time.
The band tapped into the British love of Gothic Romantic writings and applied that to the lyrics, replacing the usual 'Satan Rules, bleh!' stuff. They were laughed at.
In retrospect, The Principle of Evil is the CoF album that I return to most.

Songs of Note: The Black Goddess Rises; The Principle of Evil Made Flesh

4 midnight movie screenings at the cemetery out of 5