I really wanted to like this album, at least to begin with.
Ohio's Midnight is a blackened thrash band with huge, filthy punk influences. It is also the product of a single man, Athenar, whom I somehow suspect is not actually called that.
But still. Stop ruining the magic for everyone. Bad Sheep, bad.
"Rebirth By Blasphemy" is the band’s (or the man’s?) second full length album. As song titles like Raw Attack, Devil’s Excrement and Escape the Grave suggest, this is as much Hellhammer as it is Discharge as it is Bathory as it is Motörhead.
As opening track F*cking Speed and Darkness blasts out, hooks the ears and drags them through a field of frenzied riffs, it bodes very well. This is the case too with the title track, which squeals and churns with a confident menace.
When it is on point, then, the album reeks of diesel, spit and hatred. It manages the trick of balancing three genres which might sound superficially alike, but have their own nuances and rules. It sounds confident, like it’s going to take you onward and outwards, with nary a moment to catch your breath...
...But that’s it. The rest of the album doesn’t disgrace itself, yet it neither reaches the heights promised at the start, nor really does much else that’s different.
What’s there is good, but the sad truth is that the album has no real depth, and takes us no further than those first few exhilarating moments, with all their greasy, scummy promise.
SHEEPSCORE: So Close Yet So Far (3.5 out of 5)
Available now on Metal Blade Records, and the official Midnight Bandcamp page.
No comments:
Post a Comment