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There is a reason that metalheads still love Venom. In many ways, that band is the ultimate example of what idiots poke fun at metal for—sleazy spandex-clad blasphemy with seemingly no sense of humor about itself. But somewhere in Welcome To Hell and Black Metal is a truly awesome coming together of elements (including the time they were released in metal’s history and the production budget) that make them perfect. Such masterpieces are impressive but rarely imitated well.
Midnight are from Cleveland, Ohio, and man, do they fucking love Venom. And with their debut full-length, Satanic Royalty, the band has crafted a worthy tribute to the original kings of hexploitation that, in fact, is only enhanced by its modern-day production and mindset. If one word was out of place, this band would be hilariously ironic to the point of asshole hipsterism, but as they are deadly serious, their use of nonsense phrasing and deplorable vulgarity only strengthens their message of unholy violence and debauchery.
A good example of this is “Rip This Hell”. What does that even mean, “to rip this Hell”? Doesn’t matter. Sounds cool. Sounds metal. That’s the attitude this album takes on—that of doing what’s awesome without asking why, thus embodying the undeniable radness of metal. The songs are all Lemmy-loving thrashers with fuzzy riffs, grating barks, and a nicely mixed drum sound that doesn’t overwhelm the guitars. The opening title track is decent, but “You Can’t Stop Steel” is really the album’s kick-starter. “Necromania” is reliably chuggy modern black thrash, but “Black Damnation” and “Lust, Filth, and Sleaze” just drip with creepy and indulgent musical grossness, particularly the latter (it’s rare when a band outside of hip-hop so brazenly uses the term “bust” in a song). “Violence On Violence” is an awesome early ’80s-esque thrash tune, and closer “Shock Til Blood” is a satisfyingly melodic rocker with one of the better solo duels that metal has heard in a long time.
Midnight’s music manages to span metal’s entire history without succumbing to any cliché concepts of “retro” or “revival”. There’s plenty of NWOBHM-ish speed metal here, but there’s also quite a lot of Darkthrone and Dismember. Satanic Royalty will never sound dated, because it sounds immortally cool.
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Midnight – “You Can’t Stop Steel”
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Midnight – “Satanic Royalty”
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BUY SATANIC ROYALTY
Hell’s Headbangers (LP, CD, tape)
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Awesome review for an awesome album. Besides that, these dudes put on one of the best shows in LA this year. Satanic cheers and bang your heads motherfuckers.
If you’re talking about the show at the Roxy, I was there as well, and indeed it fucking ruled! Unholy and Rotten is officially on my list of greatest closing songs ever. My buddy Adam shot tour photos for their West Coast run, and from what he tells me, they came pretty close to destroying their instruments every single night.
Wash, I’m still kicking myself for missing that show. And, it was FREE!
Lightning Swords didn’t exactly thrive on that stage, but Saviours actually kicked some serious ass before Midnight tore the crowd a new one. Killer show!
You going to Bestial Legion this weekend?
Yeah, I’m the guy with the CF patch on a jean jacket.
Yep, that Roxy gig was unbelievable. They destroyed the place in almost 20 minutes flat. I didn’t care for Saviours (kind of bored me) and yea, Lightning Swords acted like they just woke up with a massive hangover. But even with that Midnight made one hell of an impression.
Won’t make Bestial, money’s too tight (and I already saw the two headliners at MDF 2010), but I’ve already got tickets for the WITTR & Ghost gigs.
I’ll be the typical not-quite-hipster dude with short hair and a scruffy beard. And maybe an Atriarch army jacket.
Fantastic album indeed, but I definitely disagree with your claim that both Venom and Midnight are “deadly serious” with “seemingly no sense of humor.” I understand what you’re getting at, but I think what’s really going on is that both acts manage to be just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek without tipping into archly self-aware territory.
Agreed. Both bands pretty clearly have FUN. Seeing a live show is enough proof.
Nice to see this album available on Spotify. Finally a band and indie label that is in touch with reality.
WHATS UP WITH ALL THE SATANIC SHIT
Enjoy Spotify while you can. The hammer falls on unlimited streaming all too soon…
http://www.spinner.com/2012/01/10/spotify-subcritpion-accounts/
This album was introduced to us right around the end of 2011 – but better late than never, cause this album rips!
Sweet review and great album; glad to see some love for Midnight. I saw it was 53 on the year end list and decided to check it out. It is all I have been listening to since and would have been in my top 10 if I had heard it before!
To put it simple: this album seriously rules and is a must-have.
I bought this on Itunes the day it came out, and it is awesome. They’ve injected a bit more NWOBHM melodicism since the earlier material, but the new style fits like a leather condom caked in blood — shit is tight.
I got a copy of the CD/DVD version of this for Xmas (thanks Adam!)… can’t wait to see the video portion. Excellent band all around.
TURN UP THE HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go see MIDNIGHT live….the records are killer but the live show is where it’s at.
Cleveland is THE City!