If like me you were bowled over by the hook laden gnarly down to earth abrasive harmonies of last Midnight album Satanic Royalty and wanted to see where the band started out this is the place to come. There were loads of EP’s and splits and all manner of stuff prior to the album and here they are gathered together and put on one monstrous album of over 70 minutes featuring no less than 21 tracks, warts and all.

I mention warts as quality wise this is not always polished and gleaming in fact at times it is far from that and the opening numbers such as ‘All Hail Hell’ have a real DIY aesthetic about them. There’s loads of fuzz laden fret work and rasping gravid vocals not quite getting through the mix in all its glory. But this all adds to the appeal I guess and most of this material was recorded by Jamie ‘Athenar’ Walters at home no doubt on whatever means he had at his disposal. Things are all a mix up of blazing metal, craggy doom and old school punk and sometimes a combination of it all, banging heads and knocking together with an uncouth gobby attitude.

‘Long Live Death’ sees the title being yelled out insistently over a trembling and mouldy cadaverous old school doom laden riff. By comparison next track ‘White Hot Fire’ is speed metal, fast and furious and going for the throat as it rattles away, pillaging all in its path. Guitars scythe away and the recording quality here varies a lot from the low end throb of the last track being sharp and cutting. These two tracks give a perfect indication on the stylistic and sound differences found on the album.

I have to admit and perhaps it is down to such an overwhelming amount of material to sift through but I did not find anything quite as catchy here as I did on the last album. There is nothing that bowls me over like ‘Lust Filth And Sleaze’ but the incessant leg spread of numbers like ‘Endless Slut’ do come close. There’s plenty of weighty stuff to bow down to here and songs are about the normal horned subjects such as blasphemy, Lucifer, chains, graves, fire and errr vomit so all in all it’s perfect \\\metal/// party music.

This compilation of material much of it no longer available has dusted off the cobwebs and although it may not have blown me away it’s certainly left me hungering for the next release.

(6/10 Pete Woods) 

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