Date: 2020
Total Time: 33:30
Label: Metal Blade
“Dirty”, “rotten”, supersonic, “cowardly”, threatening, furious, violent and stormy bums! Ladies and gentlemen, let’s welcome MIDNIGHT! A Cleveland Metal band, founded in 2003. Originally started as a one-man band with creator Jamie Walters (using the title Athenar), although Bob Zeiger (Count Zigar) has since joined the drums. Since 2012, Shaun Venek has been a guitarist for live performances, but not as an official member. Their sound is a combination of Speed Metal, Punk and Black Metal, while one could say that it is a mixture of MOTORHEAD, VENOM, and DISCARGE together with BATHORY in their early stages. Of course, many categorize the band as Black n ’Roll. I don’t know why, but along with CARACH ANGREN, WATAIN, MGLA and WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, I have them in mind as revivers of the Old School Black Metal and as pillars of the new current of the Black Metal scene.
The opening track “Fucking Speed and Darkness” is a name and a thing full of speed and “darkness” consisting of sharp riffs and upside down games – a song that “kills”! Then they continue with the homotitle, with a refrain full of vocals and guitars in the “blasphemy”. “Escape The Grave” and “Devil’s Excrement” would be the album’s fillers. From “Rising Scum” onwards, however, the original party begins again with “party tracks”, one after the other – worthy of their very strong discography, culminating in the attack on “Raw Attack” with this awesome “his verse”. Shortly before the end, we hear a punk delirium with “The Sounds of Hell” to conclude with an epic NWOBHM ending in “You Can Drag Me Through Fire”.
In conclusion, the album is fun and even with a slightly better production and more mature compositions (with minor differences) from their previous works. The album is loud, positively angry, full of adrenaline and suitable for “running” everyday moments, especially for extreme sport sports! It is a good job, which “squeezes” you for 35 minutes and gives you the opportunity to do “things” faster and “more efficiently” during the day by listening to it. So MIDNIGHT, not because they are hupe, as some may be in a hurry to say, but because they have the ability to “wake you up” and remind you that we listen to music to have a good time and sometimes “carefree”!
Rating: 7,5/10
Editor: Nikos Mathiopoulos
Related Link: MIDNIGHT – Official Page
