Band:	Midnight
Album:	Let There Be Witchery
Style:	Black 'N Roll, Thrash metal
Release date:	March 2022

01. Telepathic Nightmare
02. Frothing Foulness
03. In Sinful Secrecy
04. Nocturnal Molestation
05. More Torment
06. Let There Be Sodomy
07. Devil Virgin
08. Snake Obsession
09. Villainy Wretched Villainy
10. Szex Witchery

Don’t blame it on the sunshine, Don’t blame it on the Midnight, don’t blame it on the satanic times, blame it on the witches.

Midnight scratches an itch you didn’t know you had, being one of the leading lights in the latest wave of blackened thrash metal alongside Toxic Holocaust, a guide to follow for a niche of bands like Blackevil who populate a growing sub-genre. Let There Be Witchery reminds you of how the band achieved this key role, by producing another solid album for fans to add to their playlists.

Mixing Venom, Motörhead and crossover into one potent mix, Midnight is a recipe for an adrenaline rush in the same way energy drinks are a recipe to get your heart racing. Let There Be Witchery is the latest slab of fist-pumping, head-banging material that will give fans the fix they need, while providing a good point for new fans to also jump into the fray.

Kicking off proceedings is “Telepathic Nightmares”, a track that starts the album as it means to go on: few frills but plenty of thrills, a good start for those who want a fun, unadulterated dose of straight-up metal. Sole member Athenar rolls through a string of strong tracks such as “In Sinful Secrecy”, “Szex Witchery”, “Snake Obsession” and, perhaps the highlight of the album: “Devil Virgin”, a track that is threaded through with a groove that is addictive in its simplicity, cranking the punk undertones of Midnight’s sound and hitting the sweet spot for much of its run.

For a multi-instrumentalist, Athenar is surprisingly adept at each instrument, with no one part feeling like it has to be compensated for by another. The use of the bass across the album is perhaps the small detail that enhances the songs, adding that extra dimension and bit of power to proceedings while filling out the spaces across each track, even without putting on a virtuoso masterclass. The drums, while good, do not feel very organic, with a snare and bass drum that sound hollow rather than booming and powerful, depriving tracks like “Frothing Foulness” of the hard-hitting sound it requires.

Let There Be Witchery is an album constrained by its inability to deviate too far from the established formula, and funnily enough, when they stuck too religiously to it. The former is an issue in tracks like “More Torment”, which is a bland mid-paced track that does little to stick in the mind beyond being that ‘mid-paced song’ (“Villainy Wretched Villainy” is an example of how to do it much better). “Frothing Foulness” has a good idea for a chorus, but one that doesn’t quite work, sounding clunky rather than hard-hitting. The latter problem of sticking too close to their formula comes once “Nocturnal Molestation” starts playing, a song that is on the wrong side of the inspiration/imitation argument, to the point that you hope that Motörhead get some royalties out of it; you’ll never be write a song like Lemmy kids, you’re best putting a more personal spin on proceedings.

Let There Be Witchery might not be the strongest weapon in Midnight’s arsenal, but it is a solid and entertaining addition to it. With a good amount of highlights to keep listeners relistening, it is an album worth seeking out and a good introduction for those looking to dip their toe in the blackened thrash scene that is swelling healthily in the last decade.