Midnight – Satanic Royalty (2011)

Presenting a very interesting mixture of Speed, Heavy and Black Metal with some occult/psychedelic Rock elements, today we have Midnight and their debut full-length release: “Satanic Royalty”. After achieving a great kvlt/underground status for years it is about time that Midnight comes to the spotlight with their super catchy music. Having only released EP’s and singles, the band has perfected their sound over the years, and with “Satanic Royalty” they will storm the scene by surprise with their hard-rocking tunes.

For over 30 minutes and 10 tracks, Midnight brings back that good old sound of bands like Venom and Motorhead, but making it their own with some occult Rock elements. Since the opener “Satanic Rotalty”, the overall hard-rocking feeling is very evident. The ‘harsh’ vocals are more of a powerful scream that can easily be understood and the overall production of this song (and album) is a very effective mixture of old-school with modern cleanliness giving it a very crisp and authentic sound.

Immediately following the strong opener we have “You Can’t Stop Steel”, a very powerful and effective tune that features uber catchy riffing. This track reminds us of some NWOBHM bands from back in the day but with a ‘blackened’ edge. “Lust Filth and Sleaze” is another perfect example of this NWOBHM influence in the music. With a nifty Speed Metal intensity, we have “Violence on Violence” and “Shock Till Blood”, both of these tracks are fast paced and perfect for sing-along sessions or monster headbanging performances.

The ten tracks in this release go flying by and just before you know it they are over and you will find yourself scrambling for the Play button once again. The songs are very well constructed and short enough to transfer energy and not get dull. The band takes advantage of an excellent production to achieve the old school sound and yet keep it clean for snobs (like us). For having only 30 minutes of music, “Satanic Royalty” is an album that will drain your energy due to its octane dynamism.

As you can imagine from our words, Midnight has managed to take things that have been done a million times before and combine them in a very effective and unique way, creating a very interesting song and one of the catchiest albums of 2011. If you are in the market for something catchy, heavy, and powerful with a ‘darker’ Black Metal edge, “Satanic Royalty” is by far the best release your money can purchase. We can only hope this band has more in store for us in the future since we can’t get enough of this release.

Release: November 8th, 2011

Country: USA