METAL JUKEBOX

Midnight Force - Gododdin (2019)











Year : 2019
Style : Heavy Metal
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + scans
Size : 96 mb

Bio:

Midnight Force is a Heavy Metal band that sets out to follow in the footsteps of the heroes of old, Judas Priest, Manilla Road and the NWOBHM movement - as well as injecting some fresh blood into the genre we love so much. Both epic and old school Metal is what we love playing and thus it is how we write our music.We are about to release our second album named after the old Welsh poem about the Brithonic peoples of ancient Scotland “Gododdin” which will feature 8 tracks of epic Heavy Metal. The album release is planned for October 2019 via Iron Shield Records.Midnight Force focus on 80s inspired Heavy Metal and our members have years of experience playing live, supporting such bands as Diamond Head, Striker, Blaze Bayley, Holocaust and Jex Thoth. Midnight Force performed alongside Metal Inquisitor, Idle Hands and Ram amongst others and have played the latest edition of Brofest, in Newcastle, as well as supporting High Spirits, Solstice and Ross the Boss in Glasgow or Angel Witch in Germany. Other festivals and notable appearances include Harder Than Steel Festival with Ashbury, Omen and more or Echoes from the Labyrinth in Greece with Sorcerer and Doomocracy as well as tours in Germany, France, Spain, Ireland and the UK.Midnight Force has also been featured, with interviews and reviews, in Deaf Forever magazine and by the end of February 2018 we released our debut full-length DUNSINANE to great critical acclaim.

Album:

A mere fourteen months from their debut album, Dunsinane, Glasgow's Midnight Force returns with their sophomore long player, Gododdin, again with Iron Shield Records. Expect more traditional heavy metal mixed with their tales of fantasy and history, particularly that of Scotland.Musically speaking, nothing much has changed for Midnight Force in little over a year. Actually, and to be quite lazy about it, I could merely repeat what I said about Midnight Force in my review of Dunsinane. Essentially, Midnight Force revisits NWoBHM traditional heavy metal, yet also mixes in some Seventies proto-metal and, sometimes with a plodding pace, as within Walls of Acre, some good old fashioned doom metal. But mostly, the songs have both gallop and groove, and momentary lapses into more modest pacing. Additionally, Ansgar Burke lays down some crisp riffs and plenty of swollen guitar solos throughout. Vocalist John Gunn still sings clean with a slight modicum of Halford-like shrieking. However, at times he seemed a bit muted in the mix. The rest of the band backs him up with gang background vocals. Finally, and also characteristic of any Midnight Force tune is the prominence and strength of the bass line provided by Brenden Crow. As I said, I'm not saying anything new, and perhaps we could have skipped to that old review.Mentioning a few more songs, you'll find some brisk, galloping heavy metal with Eternal Emperor, Pathia, and The Doom Of Kiev. Burke's sharp guitar riffs lead, and with steady drums, propel the more moderate Covenant. But the signature song here is Y Gododdin, essentially an ancient lament. From Wikipedia, Y Gododdin is "a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Brittonic kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia at a place named Catraeth in about AD 600." Midnight Force develops the lament with an acoustic guitar and vocal prelude before beefing things up with galloping heavy metal and a string of guitar solos.All in all, Gododdin is characteristically Midnight Force, offering their interpretation of classic and traditional heavy metal. Is it as good as or better than Dunsinane, or merely more of the same. Fans can decide for themselves.

Line-Up:

John - Vocals - See also: Common Gods, Disaster Area
Ansgar - Guitars
Brenden - Bass - See also: Common Gods, Pyre of the Earth, ex-Skin Teeth
Pete - Drums, Vocals (backing)

Tracklist:

01. Eternal Emperor
02. The Doom of Kiev
03. In Lindisfarne It Lay
04. Walls of Acre
05. Parthia
06. Covenant
07. Over the Phantom Sea
08. Y Gododdin




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

Midnight Force - Severan (2024)











Year : 2024
Style : Heavy Metal
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + front
Size : 107 mb

Bio:

Midnight Force is a Heavy Metal band that sets out to follow in the footsteps of the heroes of old, Judas Priest, Manilla Road and the NWOBHM movement - as well as injecting some fresh blood into the genre we love so much. Both epic and old school Metal is what we love playing and thus it is how we write our music.We are about to release our second album named after the old Welsh poem about the Brithonic peoples of ancient Scotland “Gododdin” which will feature 8 tracks of epic Heavy Metal. The album release is planned for October 2019 via Iron Shield Records.Midnight Force focus on 80s inspired Heavy Metal and our members have years of experience playing live, supporting such bands as Diamond Head, Striker, Blaze Bayley, Holocaust and Jex Thoth. Midnight Force performed alongside Metal Inquisitor, Idle Hands and Ram amongst others and have played the latest edition of Brofest, in Newcastle, as well as supporting High Spirits, Solstice and Ross the Boss in Glasgow or Angel Witch in Germany. Other festivals and notable appearances include Harder Than Steel Festival with Ashbury, Omen and more or Echoes from the Labyrinth in Greece with Sorcerer and Doomocracy as well as tours in Germany, France, Spain, Ireland and the UK.Midnight Force has also been featured, with interviews and reviews, in Deaf Forever magazine and by the end of February 2018 we released our debut full-length DUNSINANE to great critical acclaim.

Album:

Bejeweled with a thousand years worth of conqueror’s overreach and resultant imperial collapse this third full-length album from Scotland and Germany-based epic heavy metal quartet MIDNIGHT FORCE aims to depict the historic rise and downfall of infamous warlords via a set of nine tuneful songs. Having built a compelling enough identity between two notable full-lengths the band now aim to solidify consistent personae by way of memorable, decidedly traditional craft on ‘Severan‘. Still thankfully inhabiting the raw and real spectrum of underground heavy metal their work takes on an increasingly tragedian approach on this album, willing to drill every chorus in mind via hubris and mayhem along the way. For the sub-genre fandom looking for an apropos application of grit and gravitas this’ll be an above-average, engaging traditional heavy metal record with a unique enough approach to stick in mind.Midnight Force formed circa 2016 between folks involved in a variety of bands/projects ranging from grunge freak-outs and psychedelic doom to melodic death metal though their core inspiration for this troupe was a shared love for late 70’s and 80’s heavy metal be it the ‘epic’ side of United States groups a la Manilla Road and Omen or classics-era Wishbone Ash and Judas Priest. You could feel the heat from the forge right away as their first demo ‘Crystal Talon‘ (2016) previewed a couple of tracks from an impending EP (‘Restless Blade‘, 2016) where I’d classify their sound as early NWOBHM-esque in its simple and direct production values, obvious enough heavy rock roots and the EPs overall shift from Maiden-esque bustle toward a couple of more pensive songs that’d capped off the listen. It was the best possible intro to their sound in the sense that you didn’t have to guess what these folks sounded like live, a classic early 80’s heavy metal group with some modest melodic ideas that’d hardly stepped around old traditions. This’d more-or-less carried over into their brilliant debut LP (‘Dunsinane‘, 2019) an independent release that’d been picked up by a few labels as work of their achievements spread. That whole fuss is where most people caught on to their gig, again a decidedly traditional feat but one which arrived upon its knack for storytelling and catchier choruses alike, there’d been no denying a single like “Scarlet Citadel” then or now. Otherwise I’d particularly enjoyed the reprise of their shrill upper-register wailing vocals, slower paced pieces, and the general range trod on that album.While that first LP had obviously caught on with me it was the quick turnaround time of band’s second album (‘Gododdin‘, 2019) that’d caught more ears and set expectations of the future. The recording was voluminous yet still rawed at the edge, shrill in its voice and bounding in pace to the point that it still felt like their work despite the songcraft being boisterous by comparison, though songs like “Covenant” suggested they were continuing to develop a cleverness they could compare to that early pub-level Maiden standard. I wouldn’t say that I’d been falling over myself at the announcement of ‘Severan‘ but I was genuinely curious where they were going with it, not having felt the step from LP1 to LP2 was an outright refinement. Five years, a global pandemic, and some considerable live experience abounding seem to have pushed the band further down the rabbit hole, taking the dramatic tone of the first album and carrying on with a bit more gusto applied to some of the ‘epic’ fixations found on ‘Gododdin‘. In this sense their third album shifts back into the epic heavy metal territory for my own taste, keeping it true while refining their general musicianship and sense for presentation both live and on record.Since they’re primarily a Scottish outfit I’d assume ‘Severan‘ refers to the warlike Severan dynasty in the early second century specifically for their storied expansion of Imperial Rome’s territories into southern Scotland and ongoing attempts to expand into Caledonia. Don’t worry yourself with too much research here as each song has a different focus which may or may not relate direction to the imperium, for example the standout chorus of “Last Raider King” does set us in that general area but on a different timeline with its reference to Harald Hardrada appropriately referred to as the last Northern king in the song. At the very least the common theme is conquest by violence, invasion and such as the topic begins with Alexander the Great on opener “Megas Alexandros” and likewise touches upon similar conquer in China and I believe Korea (re: “Choseon”) as well. Needless to say the history and war nerds abounding in the epic heavy metal sector should appreciate what is essentially a well-built playlist of key events in history where conquerors fell and empires followed, generally speaking.There is an authorship to this record which has me particularly keen on its exposition finding a simple and straight forward heavy metal medium to tell an ‘epic’ story (or, nine of them) and in the process easing on the potential pomp such an effort might typically entail. In that sense the listening experience is closer to Omen, or, even just the greater Greek epic heavy metal scene that’d sparked up in the late 90’s/early 2000’s as Midnight Force further develop their stride yet retain their core defining traits such as the active Harris-esque bass guitar style from Brenden Crow. In passing from “Megas Alexandros” into the vibrancy of “Three Empires Fall” there is an appropriate liveliness which kicks off the album without sidestepping the emphasis on ‘Severan‘ being a production, a bigger show rather than a set of singles or catchy songs. In this way ‘Severan‘ feels like a spirited reading on stage, chorales and all, as much as it is of course a simply effective heavy metal album. This embodies the ‘epic’ heavy metal modus in the most classic sense when production values were modest, understated even, yet the storytelling and the narrative itself were capable of setting the imagination alight rather than providing every frame of cinema possible.While the warm up is a familiar thrill it isn’t until we get into the shout-along worthy rallies near the middle of the full listen that ‘Severan‘ reaches its engaging peak, taking particular note from the militia worthy rouse of “The Fires of Nanyue” and later on the aforementioned “Last Raider King” each of which make good use of repetition for the type of chorus that sticks in mind via a simple melody and a riff or two. Writing a memorable chorus and having the balls to shout it in the listeners ear something like twelve to sixteen times per song isn’t all that common anymore depending what haunts you frequent, of course, but I’d found was an aspect of Midnight Force‘s performances which helped built that 80’s heavy metal authenticity. Otherwise I’d fully understand if the average listener more engaged with the usual NWOTHM fit might find this obnoxious at a glance.For my own taste the only thing missing from this particular listening experience was the slight epic doom metal feeling of their earliest work, as the band now prefer a more boldly shouted, sing-along and stamping base kit for their greater action. This does wonders for the strident goading pressure of the full listen in all of its brazen glory though once they reach that cranked-to-ten chest forth level of delivery they don’t let up. This creates an album I’d loved to leave on repeat and sink into but soon found my limit for its narrative. For my own taste the honest render, entertaining themes, and memorable approach to traditional songcraft with its own rough edge makes for an easily repeated experience. For most folks I’d venture a guess that their work will likely be an acquired or hyper-specific taste for most. A moderately high recommendation.

Line-Up:

John Gunn - Vocals - See also: Common Gods, ex-Disaster Area
Ansgar Burke - Guitars - See also: ex-Disaster Area, ex-Whyte Tiger
Brenden Crow - Bass - See also: Common Gods, Pyre of the Earth, Visceral Noise Department, ex-Skin Teeth
Peter Werninck - Drums, Vocals (backing) - See also: Visceral Noise Department

Production:

artwork by Umbrae Lignorum Pyroart
engineered by Mike Werninck in Shabby Road, Glasgow
produced by Brenden Crow
mixed by Mike and Brenden
mastered by Jeff Black (Black Note Music)

Tracklist:

01. Megas Alexandros
02. Three Empires Fall
03. Bergentrückung
04. The Fires of Nanyue
05. Choseon
06. Last Raider King
07. Sleeping City
08. Row, Massilians, Row
09. Severan




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/