There aren’t many good things to come out of the Buckeye State. As a Michigander there are the obvious “sportsball” rivalries, but mainly Ohio’s just something to avoid driving through on your way to get anywhere else. Don’t wanna “get any on ya” or anything. And yet, this is where the nasty blackthrashspeed of founder and sole member Athenar has thriven for nearly two decades now. Thus, I’ve promised myself this review will only take as long to write as a listen through his fifth under the black banner of MIDNIGHT.

Thoughts of some piss-poor “intro” get flushed septic-ward once ‘Telepathic Nightmare’ kicks in, which never takes long. VENOM speed mixes with HELLHAMMER’s greasy evil . MIDNIGHT’s never been the most blindingly original execution of metal, but though there are a thousand other bands at any given time pimping this style, not very many do it with the passion, heart of blood that Athenar does, ‘Frothing Foulness’ slathering and foaming over your tackled soon-to-be carcass like some bukkake hell-dog.

‘In Sinful Secrecy’ rides the winds, impressive melodic solo work recalling early PRIEST before they got so damn pretty about things. Actually to be fair, the love of a quality solo and confidence to let melody creep in from time to time have been there since Athenar was first shat from the banks of the Cuyahoga, something more bands of this ilk could learn from. Yes, TOXIC BORE-ACAUST, MUNICIPAL WASTE (Of Time), I’m looking at you. Returning to the wretched, ‘Nocturnal Molestation’ is right up there with some of the Midwest’s best, NOCTURNAL FEAR and previous split 7” compadres SHITFUCKER.

‘More Torment’ swaggers forward as my pick of Let There Be Witchery, mid-paced and snarling, a chain wallet around the neck, a knee to the back in a bar fight, and the brilliantly-titled ‘Szex Witchery’ pours us out into the street after just over a half-hour, bruised and boozed, but walking right back in.

MIDNIGHT gets it, and with Let There Be Witchery it’s not so much a case of you “letting” there be. Get slimy in the shadows here.
Review By: Lord Randall

MIDNIGHT
Let There Be Witchery
Metal Blade
3 / 6