Mixing together the unrelenting worlds of black and thrash metal is far from a novel concept anymore as an incredibly large number of bands have tried it before to plenty of success, but it’s nowadays that we don’t see it as often as we could despite the great potential that’s possible with the style. Possibly at the forefront of the style’s modern landscape with their upcoming album, it’s here that Midnight proves to be a band that anyone interested in the style should keep an eye on.

Speed really is at the core of such a combination like this and it’s not hard to see why whatsoever as both styles in question here are very well known to go to unparalleled speeds at times simply because why not? But bringing them together can be really tricky as you try to balance the two styles such that both have plenty of representation that actually sound good before they come together only for the mold to fall right apart. Putting the thrash at the forefront but keeping the black metal elements still present all throughout, it’s with “Rebirth by Blasphemy” that Midnight delivers one of the better albums of the style that I’ve heard in a hot minute. There are tons of moments across this record where Midnight constantly shows us that they can easily handle speed with harsh vocals that match magnificently, but it’s the fact that “Rebirth by Blasphemy” can easily change trajectory and have any given track take their speed down at the drop of a hat. It shows us that Midnight is not afraid to shake up their sound nor are they afraid to change their pace in order to give an album a sense of fresh air, and it’s in each occasion that this happens that “Rebirth by Blasphemy” excels stupendously. Even outside that, Midnight has created a work that brings together so much of what the realm of black/thrash can really succeed at and takes it to a respectable level such that I’ve no qualms whatsoever about calling this album, like I already said, one of the better works of the style that I’ve heard from some time.

There’s a certain level of expertise that’s needed in order to execute something like this in a half-decent fashion, and it’s at every turn here that Midnight succeeds at doing so pretty damn well. “Rebirth by Blasphemy” is a real tour de force of the style that I do hope to get more of, and I can’t help but feel that Midnight can only go up from here given the performance that’s on display within these tracks.

“Rebirth by Blasphemy” releases on January 24th via Metal Blade Records!

PRE-ORDER “Rebirth by Blasphemy” via multiple sources via Metal Blade here.

LISTEN to an advanced single from “Rebirth by Blasphemy” on Bandcamp here.

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