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1.  Satanic Royalty
2.  You Can't Stop Steel
3.  Rip This Hell
4.  Necromania
5.  Black Damnation
6.  Lust Filth And Sleaze
7.  Violence On Violence
8.  Savage Dominance
9.  Holocaustic Deafening
10.  Shock Til Blood

Total playing time:  30:23

Release Date: November 8, 2011
Label: Hells Headbangers

Midnight - Satanic Royalty

Reviewer: Chris

November 3, 2011

Upon a recommendation from a friend I actively sought out Midnight, a Cleveland band that presents a very tangible quandary within its music, most notably the latest release, Satanic Royalty. You have the single closest thing to classic Black Metal-era Venom you’ll hear and therein lay the trepidation. On one hand you may make a very truthful claim that this is total Venom worship and nothing here is true to form or honest, leaving little to find encompassing. On the other hand, you might be one of those fans that has been clamoring for a release like this since, oh, 1982 when Venom released that classic NWOBHM masterpiece that spawned a million bands under the moniker, but seemed to fall flat with each succeeding record afterwards.

Let’s be honest; Venom’s better period with the original line-up was absolutely contained within the first two full-lengths and a series of singles. At War with Satan saw the band losing steam, but they were still a viable entity, on their way to absolute legendary status. Since the Newcastle trio’s numerous changes in both personnel and musical directive, the output has been mediocre at best. As with any legendary band there will a million clones vying for a similar sound to capitalize on that success, but none have come close to Venom until now.

Midnight worships at the altar of Venom, there’s no denying this. One listen to the bulldozer bass sound Cronos made ‘kvlt’ some 30-years ago apparent in “Necromania” or “”You Can’t Stop Steel” and you’ll know what you’re in for with Satanic Royalty (which any ardent fan of Venom knows is a line from the band’s “Die Hard” single). Even the backward voices in the title track remind me of “In League with Satan” from Venom’s Welcome to Hell record. Athenar, vocalist, bassist and guitarist for the band, could easily be mistaken for Cronos, he’s so amazingly spot-on. I’m not sure if it’s purposeful or not, but whatever it is it’s working well because this band from Ohio could well be the next generation’s dark thrash masters.

After a virtual sea of EP’s, splits, a live album and a couple of compilations this is the band’s first full-length and it’s hard to describe accurately without giving in to total mock comparison, but I’ll give it a try. What we have here is a slightly polished traditional Venom sound that isn’t nearly as muddy, but doesn’t pollute the sound with too much of a good thing. In short, this record accomplishes the wondrousness of the basest sounds from the early 80’s mud sound without benefit of total reverence to said mud. These tracks are much like the sounds of old in that each track catapults itself nicely over expectant boredom and predictability. Midnight has the power chord crunch down to a science, the verse riffs to a measured equation and unmitigated evil in abundance as Satanic Royalty demolishes your notions that the black thrash style is on life support. This album is the real deal and is nothing short of old-school magic.

“Violence on Violence” is a fast-paced truck just rolling over your body with total disregard for your safety, while “Savage Dominance” is the track that Venom should have put out in place of the ill-conceived At War with Satan epic track that is simply not interesting even today for aesthetic value. While I hesitate to keep calling on the obvious Venom influence I simply attempt to pout across that if you seek a band that very well can carry the mantle of the old British lads to a discernable degree, you need look no further than Midnight. “Savage Dominance” is like a modern day “Die Hard” or “Leave Me in Hell” in both style and overall dark vibe surrounding it. It also helps that Athenar sounds so much like Cronos right down to the grunts and yelps. For nothing with bells and whistles obstructing the genuine feel throughout, Midnight designs the classic thrash sound so finely that it’s hard to believe it took the band 

As I said, if you seek the sound that propelled the early pioneers to absolute heights this band is one for you to check out. I can’t recommend them enough, people - it’s a terrific album from start to finish.           

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