ALBUM REVIEW: Midnight – Rebirth By Blasphemy

MIDNIGHT are back. Their 4th studio album is here via Metal Blade Records on January 24th and I am certain than this is not just one of my most anticipated releases but also that for many of you in the Heavy Metal cyberspace. Not that I should need to say, but Midnight play Blackened Speed Metal! Let’s do this.

Dropping in with anthemic riffs, punky drums and cutting vocals, the primal edge of Midnight is back with full force though with some melodic atmosphere which follows on from the previous album nicely while going back to the speeding onslaught of catchiness and Heavy Metal purism that was present on all their records. Once more we get a venomously aggressive performance which is passionately conveyed in a minimalist but unwaveringly energetic manner. Plentifully sleazy with a harsh blackened edge, there is no mistaking that Midnight have delivered another ripper of a record, I can tell within the opening tracks. Blistering solos make some fast appearances over the caustic assault of classic Speed Metal riffs, giving the full package of Venom, Motorhead, Exciter and Razor but with some harsher undertones, exactly what one would hope for from a Midnight album. If the savagery of the riffs isn’t catchy enough, the rhythm of the vocals is delivered so perfectly for the music that you cannot help but adore the charmingly gritty nature of the band.

Spewing pure Heavy Metal from start to finish, Midnight continues to grow into interesting new territories while delivering familiarity and reliably excellent tracks with Athenar clearly never running low on ideas for new bangers which seemingly never fall short of magnificence. There seems to be slightly more lead guitar focus in the mix which allows the melodic side of the band to come out a bit more while never lacking in NWOBHM bass lines cutting through the mix. A pounding, upbeat annihilation continues, concocting around half an hour of pure decimation, and at not one moment is disappointing or lacklustre. Ferocious, rabid and ready to destroy, “Rebirth By Blasphemy” is a record that will resonate with most Metalheads for a long time and inevitably end up in most of our collections. Balancing the primal catchiness of “Satanic Royalty” with the tighter musicianship of “No Mercy For Mayhem” and finally the more unique ideas present on “Sweet Death And Ecstasy”, this truly feels like a superb amalgamation of everything the band has achieved, fine tuned into a spearhead of piercing extremity.

While I feel “Satanic Royalty” will probably always be my favourite due to playing it almost daily and it being a practically flawless album, there is no arguing that the musicianship on this album is by far the best we have seen from the Ohio violators. There seems to be something from most Metal subgenera in here, most importantly with it all being tightly bound together into a fierce album that has fluidity between tracks yet never stagnates or becomes repetitive.

It’s fun, it’s evil, it’s fast and it’s about as Metal as things get, what is not to love? This album ends in a massive track that throughout just feels like it is screaming that this isn’t the last we will hear from the maniacally morbid force that is Midnight. Do not less this inferno of ravaging Heavy Metal pass you by. -9/10