By: Richard Maw
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released:
24/01/2020
Label: Metal Blade Records
“Rebirth
by Blasphemy” CD//DD//LP
track listing:
1).
Fucking Speed & Darkness
2).
Rebirth by Blasphemy
3).
Escape The Grave
4).
Cursed Possessions
5).
Rising Scum
6).
Raw Attack
7).
Devil’s Excrement
8).
Warning from the Reaper
9).
The Sounds of Hell
10).
You Can Drag me Through Fire
The Review:
Midnight, North
America 's Venomous Motorhead acolytes are back with this ten
track panzer of an album. This is their fourth album and all is operating
exactly as you would expect. From the first album proper in 2011, “Satanic
Royalty”, it was obvious where Midnight were coming from, going to and what
they intended to do on the way.
For
those who don't know, this is Motorhead by way of Venom and any other down 'n'
dirty rock 'n' roll acts you can name. I missed “Sweet Death and Ecstasy”
in 2017, but I was in on the ground floor for both “Satanic Royalty” and “No
Mercy For Mayhem”. This is closer to “Satanic Royalty” than “NMFM”.
The rolling grooves are ever present and the Fast Eddie-esque leads of the
title track let you know that the band's modus operandi has not changed one
jot.
Indeed,
the opener of “Fucking Speed and
Darkness” reads like a manifesto. It's simple, really: if you like classic Motorhead
and classic Venom,
you will love this. You can pick any track and it represents the band; “Escape The Grave” is superb and Motorhead-ish,
“Devil's Excrement” is excellent and
Venom-like
as is “Rising Scum”.
As
a one man band in the studio, there is no real sense of any of this being
sterile and over-produced (!) but there is some variety in tempos and riffs. Athenar has done a great job as a lone
wolf musician as it sounds like a band playing in the studio- no mean feat. I
prefer the more Motorhead-esque
material- “Warning From The Reaper”
is perhaps a good example- but there is absolutely nothing to dislike here.
Just
as there are no bad tracks, there are no huge stand outs either- this is just a
consistent and rock solid album. If “Satanic Royalty” had “You Can't Stop Steel” and “Rip This Hell”, while “No
Mercy For Mayhem” had “Prowling
Leather”, this album has ten tracks of uniformly high standard that will
please fans of old and anyone new to the band who gets what they are about. If
pushed, I might go with “The Sounds of
Hell” or “Fucking Speed and Darkness” as the pick of the litter,
but there are good arguments for any song here.
With
a pleasingly 80s drum sound and rough and ready mix, this is simple blackened
rock n roll. The closing “You Can Drag
Me Through The Fire” is a slight departure from the blueprint with its
longer intro, but really it's a case of business as usual once the track gets
going. This is another good album from Midnight and one that will please the already
committed violators or newcomers to the band's satanic rites.
“Rebirth by
Blasphemy”
is available HERE
