Catching Up: 2020 Pt. 9

ACCEPT: TOO MEAN TO DIE

I have developed a greater appreciation for Accept over the last several years.  I think they are a highly underrated band that was extremely important not just to the German metal scene, but the metal sound in general.  They should be considered a formative band.  The band is deep in their second life at this point since their return after a 15-year hiatus in 2010.  This is their fifth album since the return, and though Udo Dirkschneider has long since left the band, they still sound just as fresh and vital as they did when they returned.  The formula is mostly the same, but they are still capable of "Balls to the Wall"-style fist-pumping true metal anthems.   

CRYPT DWELLER: THE FORBIDDEN DARK ARTS

I remember being sort of underwhelmed by this release the first couple times I heard it.  This is one I bought because of the album art.  I am not sure what the issue was before because I really got into this when I was listening in preparation for this blurb.  The band this reminds me most of is Acid Witch.  It's death/doom with absolutely disgusting riffs and decayed and rotting vocals.  The horror vibes are loud and clear.  There are samples from various movies that add to the atmosphere.  The songs do tend to sound a little too much the same and it makes it kind of a difficult listen for nearly an hour, but this has grown on me.

CURSE: THE AWAKENING...AND THE OLD

I am a big fan of blackened thrash metal, and so of course I am going to grab something that I come across, especially one from Sweden, the country that brought us Nifelheim.  And that is definitely the starting point for comparison's sake.  This is a fairly short six-song EP.  The band is at its best when they are playing fast, most notably on the title track.  There are a couple of slower tracks which are not nearly as impressive.  I was hoping to hear something more from this band, this is a very promising EP, but they have yet to release anything else.

RUIN LUST: CHOIR OF BABEL

Ruin Lust is the sound of chaos.  The band does an excellent job of building up this atmosphere of complete and utter annihilation.  There is nothing pretty here between the rampaging riffs, thunderous drumming and sepulchral vocals.  These are not songs, they are anthems to violence.  This is not a release for the weak of heart.  It is not a particularly enjoyable listen, but it hits on a primal level.

MIDNIGHT: REBIRTH BY BLASPHEMY

After nearly 20 years toiling in the underground, Midnight managed to achieve attention by Metal Blade Records and Decibel Magazine.  This did not come at the expense of their sound thankfully.  Raised on an unhealthy diet of Venom and Motorhead, Midnight retained their fast as hell, blasphemic style.  And with song titles such as "Fucking Speed and Darkness" and "Devil's Excrement", their rise to the sort-of-big-time hasn't softened their edge either.  Longtime listeners (and I am one) know what to expect from a Midnight album and this absolutely delivers.  

Midnight: No Mercy for Mayhem (2014)

Tons of bands are playing this style of metal.  I am referring to the kind of filthy blackened speed metal influenced by groups like Venom, Motörhead, early Sodom and early Bathory.  Groups like Toxic Holocaust have taken the lead with Witchtrap and others following suit.  Midnight has been playing this retro style since the band's inception as the side project of Boulder's Athenar since the early 2000's.

After almost a decade of producing just demos, EPs and splits, Midnight finally released its first full-length album in 2011.  This was followed up by this album three years later.  This album is filled with the kind of high-octane, whiskey-infused, down and dirty speed metal that Midnight has been cultivating for years.  The album is full of slimy, punk-infused riffs and Athenar's booze-fueled croaking vocals.  The lyrical content runs the gamut between sleazy and evil, and sometimes both.

The highlight of the album is the surprisingly melodic title cut.  It proves that Midnight is not a one-trick pony, and Athenar is just as capable of writing a slow-burning, melodic track as the fast-paced, grimy songs. 

Midnight was a perfect example of a Hells Headbangers band, combining punk with dirty speed metal.  With their recent move to Metal Blade Records, the band appears poised to attract a larger following.  It will be interesting to see the results of that move.  As long as Midnight continues releasing albums like this, it could result in  pushing Toxic Holocaust for the top of the heap of this kind of metal.

FMA Reviews: Midnight: Complete and Total Hell

Originally reviewed here.

Midnight is a band that I have been wanting to check out for quite a long time, but for some reason I never really got around to it. Midnight is pretty much the prototypical Hell's Headbangers band, besides the mighty Nunslaughter of course. They pay tribute to a lot of the early black metal bands while remaining firmly rooted in the NWOBHM and speed metal. 

Midnight basically sounds like a combination of Motörhead and Venom. It is fast and intense, with very short songs, but with raspy vocals and distorted riffing. It is never a pretty sound, but that's to be expected from this record label. Midnight is unabashedly retro, but they sound like they are absolutely having a blast doing it. They are fast and intense, with NWOBHM-inspired riffs and a Lemmy Kilmister-esque vocal style. This is beer-drinking, party music, if the party was to spin out of control and end up with people smashing beer bottles over people's heads and turning into a giant drunken brawl.

This is a compilation of the band's material released prior to their Satanic Royalty debut full-length. Most of this material was hard to find and long out of print. There are 21 tracks here, but they fly by really fast, with only a handful breaking the four minute mark.

As a compilation of demos and splits, the production is a little uneven. Some of the songs sound better than others, but that is all par for the course for this type of release. This compilation offers a look at Midnight's material prior to their full-length.

This is filthy and dirty metal in the vein of Motörhead and Venom. I love it.