One of Ohio’s most notorious acts in extreme metal today, Midnight are a black and speed metal project that’s been around for almost two decades in the existence the band has been formed. Let There Be Witchery is the fifth studio full-length recording prior to 2020’s Rebirth by Blasphemy and while I felt that album was decent at best, Let There Be Witchery is significantly better in terms of structure, style, delivery, sound and formula. This is also the second Midnight album to be released through Metal Blade Records and as I was listening to this record, I noticed there’s some experimentation that was added into the record which not only felt very clean and presented but the instrumentals, production and ambition being poured on to the album was definitely worth the listening experience.
Athenar who is the mastermind behind this project does everything from the vocals, lyrics, bass, drums and many more and truth be told this has got to be his most finest album and achievements to date. His ability to incorporate black and speed metal signatures while also borrowing some rock n roll styled arrangements he really captured the everlasting qualities to not only pay tributes to his musical wonders and brilliancy, but to be a one person wrecking crew doing everything himself is absolutely remarkable. From the rebellious, anthemic and catchy guitar hooks, crunching bass tones, punky esque layers of commanding vocals and a production sounding reminiscing of the mid to late 80’s heavy metal mixing, this is as almost if Bathory, Motorhead, first two Venom records and Nunslaughter were all able to cramp into a studio place to give 100% compassion into making music that is catchy, memorable, groovy, blackened and speedy is so perfectly balanced as I feel the instrumentation really sets the bar very high.
Songs such as Let There Be Sodomy, Villainy Wretched Villainy, Snake Obsession and Telepathic Nightmare have these first wave black metal components that is very sturdy, audible and the detail Athenar decided to go deeper into his artistic nature really did a great job to push the boundaries into making this his most distinctive and flavoring records to date. Let There Be Witchery is a short, entertaining and hard-hitting blackened speed metal record that is gonna be discussed within the next millennium of the current era of extreme music.
Overall Score: 9.0/10
Review by Jake Butler
