Photos by Wayne Edwards.
© Wayne Edwards
Photo Gallery: Drummers, Part 1
Midnight
Mercyful Fate at The Andrew J. Brady Music Center, November 4, 2022
Mercyful Fate, Kreator, and Midnight took the stage in Cincinnati down by the river at the Andrew J. Brady Music Center last Friday night, and the place might never be the same.
One of my earliest European metal fascinations was Mercyful Fate. I jumped on with the Melissa (1983) album. At the time, you could still get the even earlier self-titled EP, so I did that – wish I still had it. Those two records and the almost-equally engaging Don’t Break The Oath (1984) kept me company in my formative years. Vocalist King Diamond left the band and it split up right afterward. A decade later, Mercyful Fate was at it again. During the nineties, several more albums came, and the sound was a little different. I always thought that King Diamond’s solo albums were more like the original Mercyful Fate than the nineties albums. In any case, there hasn’t been anything from Mercyful Fate since before the new millennium.
For these reasons and many more, I was thrilled to go to Psycho Las Vegas this year and see Mercyful Fate together again. Michael Denner is not with the band now, but Hank Shermann is, and, of course, King Diamond. It is Mercyful Fate.
The night started with the masked trio, Midnight. In the studio, Midnight is the one-man band Jamie Althenar Walters. Live they play a speedy brand of black metal that fits right in with Kreator and Mercyful Fate. I have really liked the last two records from Midnight, so it was great to see him and them live.
The middle slot was held by the German thrash band Kreator. The legend of the band stretches back forty years. Here we have another example of a band I have listened to for decades but somehow never saw live. I have been on their trail for some time and finally caught up with them. Their performance smoked, and I was especially glad to hear the title track from their new album Hate Über Alles.
As I mentioned, I saw Mercyful Fate a couple months ago in Las Vegas and, of course, it was basically the same set and show in Cincinnati. In other words, it was mind-blowingly incredible. If I could, I would be at every stop on the tour because I am a long-time fan, but also because the performance is just so good.
King Diamond, Hank Shermann, Mike Mead, Bjarne T. Holm, and, filling in on bass for the tour, Becky Baldwin, laid down the law for an hour and a half. They played my absolute favorites “A Corpse Without A Soul,” Curse of the Pharaohs,” and “Black Funeral,” and a half a dozen other songs from the early albums that were instantly recognizable. They also performed a new piece, “The Jackal of Salzburg,” reinforcing the word on the street that another album is in the works.
There is still time to catch the tour. There are not very many dates on this leg, but there are (at this writing) still six more chances to see the show. Check out the tour poster below for details and grab your tickets if any remain. There is no knowing whether there will ever be another Mercyful Fate tour so don’t put this one off because once you see it, it will live with you for the rest of your time.
Photos by Wayne Edwards.
Links.
Mercyful Fate, https://mercyfulfatecoven.com/
Kreator, https://www.kreator-terrorzone.de/
Midnight, https://totalmidnight.webs.com/
The Andrew J. Brady Music Center, https://bradymusiccenter.com/
Metal Blade Records, https://www.metalblade.com/us/
Photo Galleries.
Mercyful Fate, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2022/11/08/photo-gallery-mercyful-fate-cincinnati-november-4-2022/
Kreator, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2022/11/08/photo-gallery-kreator-cincinnati-november-4-2022/
Midnight, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2022/11/08/photo-gallery-midnight-cincinnati-november-4-2022/
© Wayne Edwards
Photo Gallery: Midnight, Cincinnati, November 4, 2022
Photos by Wayne Edwards.
Links.
Midnight, https://totalmidnight.webs.com/
Main FFMB article, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2022/11/08/mercyful-fate-at-the-andrew-j-brady-music-center-november-4-2022/
The Andrew J. Brady Music Center, https://bradymusiccenter.com/
© Wayne Edwards
Metal Massacre XV (Metal Blade Records 2021)
The fifteenth installment of Metal Blade Records’ popular Metal Massacre compilation series takes the stage.
It all started in 1982 at the very beginning of the storied label. The first Metal Massacre compilation had some incredible artists contribute to it including Cirith Ungol, Avatar, Bitch, and Metallica. The anthology was an annual event for many years until the end of the 1980s when the new ones started to come out only sporadically. It is nice to see the fires lit again for the first time since 2016.
Here is what is on the new compilation. 01. Midnight, “Masked and Deadly” (exclusive), 02. Poison Ruïn, “Demon Wind,” 03. Fuming Mouth, “Master of Extremity,” 04. Many Suffer, “The Trees Die Standing” (exclusive), 05. Temple of Void, “Leave the Light Behind,” 06. Ripped to Shreds, “撿骨 (Bone Ritual)” (exclusive), 07. Rude, “Omega,” 08. Midnight Dice, “Starblind,” 09. Smoulder, “Warrior Witch of Hel,” and 10. Mother of Graves, “In Somber Dreams.”
As you can tell from the contributor list, there is quite a range of music here from straight up heavy metal to punk to death metal to doom and all points around and in between. It is worth noting that a few of these tracks are exclusive to this release (marked above), at least for now. That’s a good reason to check this album out along with the rest of the solid tunes.
Metal Massacre XV is out on Friday May 21st through the label at the link below. Recommended.
Links.
Metal Blade Records, https://www.metalblade.com/metalmassacre/
Review of “Rebirth By Blasphemy” by Midnight (Metal Blade, 2020)
Rebirth By Blasphemy is the new release from Midnight, out January 24 from Metal Blade Records, and it’s a scorcher.
I have always thought of Midnight’s music as Punk first and Thrash second, probably because the early Eps made a big impression on me, and because of the attitude of the that music. It was very Punk. Maybe labeling really doesn’t matter all that much, but it does you give you some idea of what you’ll hear if you are new to the band, or in this case, the person. The force in Midnight is Athenar, who has been the face (typically shrouded) of the underground band for almost twenty years, writing all the songs and playing on the instruments on the studio recordings. Along with a seemingly endless string of Eps and splits, Midnight has risen out of the shadows in the last decade, propelled by their full-length releases Satanic Royalty (2011), No Mercy for Mayhem (2014) and Sweet Death and Ecstasy (2017) on Hells Headbangers Records. Rebirth By Blasphemy is their fourth long play.
The album starts out howling with “Fucking Speed and Darkness,” a song filled with heavy guitars, rough vocals, and undeniably catchy hooks. The title track is next, and it has an anthem-like twist – everybody will be singing along with this one at the live shows. By the time you get to song #3, “Escape the Grave,” you’re hooked. The musical structure has all the heavy elements fans of the earlier albums will be looking for: speed, growls, short lead breaks, and memorable choruses. Over the years the songs have gotten longer, and have moved away from Punk a little toward the thrashy metal corner of the spectrum. Rebirth By Blasphemy has a lot of old school metal in it, and it works in as an intoxicating blend of intention and execution with a primal sensibility. It is heavy music from front to back and a welcome follow-up to Sweet Death. Recommended.
If you can’t wait for the whole set to drop, head out to the launch party Friday January 10th at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn. It is open to the public and it is going to be a wild evening. Look for Midnight on the road – they are playing several dates here and there including Decibel Magazine’s Metal & Beer Fest in Philadelphia in April and the Northwest Terror Fest in Seattle in May. Their Facebook page (link below) has more information on their live shows.
Links.
http://totalmidnight.webs.com/ (mainly an archive site last update in 2016)
http://midnight-ohio.bandcamp.com/
Flying Fiddlesticks Music Blog 