When Cliches Go Right

With your beer goggles firmly affixed, Midnight's at its best this time around. The band's honest brand of heavy metal gone black is a complete homage to bands like Venom, Motorhead, Mercyful Fate, and finds itself best amongst friends, clinking beers and waves of hair in constant motion. A cleaner production this time around, Satanic Royalty begins with perfect pacing as the title track eases you into the driving NWOBH influenced "You Can't Stop Steel." Catchy leads, hook driven rhythm guitars, sing-along lyrics and pumping drums pen Midnight as catchy and credible as heavy metal can get.

Highlights include the aforementioned track as well as the following track, "Rip This Hell" which are both similar nods to Lemmy and co and eventually "Violence on Violence" which retains a very early thrash feel.The album stomps along, never moving far from a driving mid-pace rhythm, until the lone dud of the album, "Black Damnation" which sounds like stock 80's jukebox hard-rock with raspy vocals. For a band that does a good job with repeating familiar sounds and tropes, maybe this track does it too well and simply becomes flat.

As only as Hell's Headbanger's can do, Midnight is a retro-act with just enough of a modern distinction to make it an easy pick for parties, car rides, or a venture to physical therapy for whiplash.

Album drops Novemeber 8th.