Midnight    

Complete And Total Hell

Hells Headbangers 2012

The American blackened speed metallers Midnight are basically now an institution unto themselves.  Taking old school black metal (think Venom meets Bathory) and fusing it with speed and hard rock influences, you can see where early Midnight extrudes their musical contempt from.  Complete And Total Hell sees basically the same material as what appeared on Complete And Total Midnight (minus Death Sentence) and then adds some additional songs to it.  The driving anthemic quality of All Hail Hell is enough to get the blood pumping and hits all the right notes with its Venom-esque main riff and sing-along chorus.  Servant To No One dives a little deeper with a Hellhammer-ish main riff and its barbaric primitivism.  A punk vibe permeates the Hellhammer-isms on Unholy And Rotten.  You can hear each riff echo with that morbid Satanic Rites bestiality.  However, I Am Violater picks up the tempo and the traditional metal influences as it scorches with fiery riffs and demonic soloing.  The vocals are raw and harsh as they belt out hate-filled ramblings and the guitars shudder with satanic delight.  A rock n roll attitude is prominent in Hot Graves.  It strikes hard and fast with blackened rock riffs and strained vocals.  A brutal, determined pounding rumbles along in Long Live Death and brings to mind the simple brutality of early Hellhammer once again.  And we dive head first into satanic rock on Endless Slut.  It's as if Midnight and Venom had a mind meld when this song was composed.  Motorhead influences take center stage on Lord In Chains as this song rocks long into the night and rips your face off.  I am immediately reminded of Venom's Buried Alive when I hear Midnight's song Take You To Hell.  The same slow building atmosphere and focused chorus smashes the point home.  Black Rock N Roll is the pure essence of what Midnight is all about, an unholy fusion of Venom, Hellhammer and Motorhead.  A powerful and forceful song that is anthemic in its purity.  This is a great release to immerse yourself in the true black metal destruction that is Midnight.  Catchy, primitive riffs will own your soul and set your world on fire!