Midnight Steel

How important is originality in relation to capability? From the small city of Coimbra, Portugal, a band has arrived to test this. This is far from the most original album with much of what's in place here found in scattered classics from over thirty years ago, yet it's also one of the more immediately enjoyable albums I've heard recently.

Speaking of those classics, these guys must have really loved them, as there are homages all over the place. The album begins with a quick spoken-word intro with sounds in the background. “Across the silent streets I hear the thunder roar,” is combined with the noise of stormy weather to attempt an eerie vibe. This idea could have been pulled from Crystal Logic, Abigail, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, or any number of 80's classics. The lyrics to this song and others deal with the typical 80's cliches of the dark, hell, and metal, literally and figuratively. It can be hard to tell what is an intentional nod and what is simply treading in familiar waters, but the opening track's frequent mention of thunder and lightning do bring Thin Lizzy's title track to mind. Another track, When Midnight Comes, sounds lyrically like a combination of Judas Priest's Love Bites and Mercyful Fate's Evil. Haunting the Chapel and Witching Hour are mentioned by name in another, and the last song might as well be a Manowar tribute with the story about barbarian raids and the phrase Kill With Power.

Musically, the nods are just as clear and often. The slower and simpler pieces of When Midnight Comes, and those of most other songs here, could be compared to Ratt in its basic hard rock catchiness. Hellbreaker opens up with something straight from the Killing Machine title track with its catchy, mid-paced grooves. And Then...The Darkness has an opening blitz section and some squeaky clean background screams that sound like something from Melissa. Mistress of the Night feels like a Screaming for Vengeance reject, and the list goes on. It's not bad worship for the most part, this stuff's fun, and there's not a lot I could pick at other than perhaps the vocalist. He really does try to imitate the classic wailers and screamers, and he fails spectacularly for the most part. Sure the aforementioned section in The Darkness works pretty well, but he generally sounds weak and strained and it would be cringe-worthy if it weren't for the fact that as obviously ill-suited as he is for those screams that he loves doing them. This doesn't have the depressed feel of guys having a midlife crisis and trying to relive their youth, this is energetic, and it's clear as day that they're having a good time. The rhythm section is a little ho-hum, but they groove when they need to, and there's nothing here that really demands more. The guitars are what's on display, and they don't disappoint. The riffs are nearly as good as the classics themselves, and the solos are pretty good as well. They may bring out some deja vu at times, but it won't dampen your enjoyment.

If it's not obvious, this band will basically sound like all they've heard is about a dozen albums from the late 70's and 80's. There's a lot of Priest, some Fate, and some dashes from a few other bands. Even their album cover has a distinctly 80's look with the suped-up muscle car, and everyone dressed kinda like bikers. Of the differences, there's at least one that arguably works in their favor. Compared to a lot of the albums that did come out in the 80's, this is missing the hit or miss, usually miss, power ballad and overly poppy dud. The number of actually good songs is fine, so the seemingly short length is rendered a non-issue. In a sense, they understand better than their idols did what their fans want to hear. It's interesting in a broader sense just how good something this derivative is. In the recent retro scenes of the last decade and a half, most of the bands that came out were just so blah as to make one wonder if there wasn't a deeper issue at play. Perhaps good music had to be more original or at least come from the same sources. This is very unoriginal yet good, and a better vocalist would make this as good or better than many of the classics. It seems capability is the bigger factor in quality, and this band is more than capable. If any of the bands I mentioned previously appeal to you then you should hear this. If these bands were part of your introduction to metal then you need to hear and probably own this.