Description

Red vinyl with poster and lyric insert

Midnights sophomore album No Mercy for Mayhem sees the band doing the same thing theyve done since their 2003 formation; playing filthy, evil heavy metal that is more fun and catchy than thrashing blackened speed metal should be allowed to be. After a slew of EPs and split albums, Midnight released their debut full length album, Satanic Royalty, in 2011. A mere three year later and Midnight returns with eleven tracks of drunken, blasphemous, first wave worshiping metal that is sure to please both fans of early Venom and Motorhead as well as fans of Abigail, Toxic Holocaust and Speedwolf. While this is a lesson in worshiping the first wave of black metal, i.e. Hellhammer, Venom and Bathory, the production is outstanding. I know many people had problems with a lot of early Midnight releases for exactly that reason; bad production and uber lo-fi scratchiness, but No Mercy for Mayhem retains all of the old school grittiness you can shake a stick at while ringing with a crystal clear concoction of strained shouts and sleazy speed metal riffing. So basically, if you dug Satanic Royalty you are in for a treat here. The guitars are crystalline, but the filthy tone oozes old school vibes. The drums and bass provide a rollicking, if rather simplistic rhythm section which allows the focus to stay on the boozed screams, catchy riffing and speedy soloing. It doesn’t get any sleazier than Midnight, so, really, that’s what this album is all about. Kicking off the attack, after a short intro that is, with the furiously catchy speed metal riffing of Evil Like a Knife. The entire album is full of bad ass riffing, blaring solos and a zero fucks given attitude. The catchy, sing-along-able anthems are screamed by Athenar, whose evil whiskey drenched vocals summon memories of a young Cronos. There are some punk flavoured gang shouted choruses, like on No Mercy for Mayhem and Woman of Flame. The entire album sounds like a blackened and blasphemous speed metal soiree. While Satanic Royalty was truly a milestone of blackened speed metal, No Mercy for Mayhem firmly plants Midnight into the realm of legends. The old school vibes, rangy riffs and nasty attitude make this a must have for any fan of blackened metal. If ever there was a band deserving of being called black rock n roll, it’s Midnight.

Track listing:
1. The Mercy Curse
2. Evil Like a Knife
3. Prowling Leather
4. No Mercy for Mayhem
5. The Final Rape of Night
6. Degradation
7. Woman of Flame
8. Try Suicide
9. Whiplash Disaster
10. Aggressive Crucifixion