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A solid reminder from the way back machine until around the end.-
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| Midnight Priest: Midnight Priest |
Heavy Metal
Stormspell Records
August 3rd, 2011
- Sabado Negro - 6:46
- Feitico do Cabedal - 4:17
- Ferro em Brasa - 4:51
- A Uma Caveira Dourada - 0:58
- Segredo de Familia - 3:15
- No Calor do Inferno - 4:46
- Triuno do Aco - 4:35
- Cidade Fantasma - 4:22
- A Boleia Com o Diablo - 3:41
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| Review Information |
Release length: 37:30
Review posted on June 27th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 8/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
Midnight Priest (2011)
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| EP(s): |
Rainha da Magia Negra (2009)
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| Demo(s): |
The Priest is Back (2009)
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| Review |
Midnight Priest is a classic Heavy Metal band in a modern time that hails from Portugal. The group formed back in 2008, and since then has issued a demo in 2009, and that same year issued their debut EP Rainha da Magia Negra. In the underground Metal scene, the band had achieved plenty of positive press with practically nothing negative really being said about them. This young group began clawing their way out from the catacombs of the underground, and eventually signed with Stormspell Records to issue their first full-length recording, Midnight Priest, but in a strictly limited run of one thousand copies only. But, with the band's focus on darker, often more gothic or romantic music, it's easy to believe that this is an album that will become a cult classic, and for very good reason.
Midnight Priest immediately takes hold of the listener with it's dark, almost gothic sounding atmospheres the second the album kicks in with "Sabado Negro". The music is classic early NWOBHM and will immediately show the appreciation the band has towards the works of Mercyful Fate and King Diamond, but without making a total carbon copy of the two bands. More commanding vocal performances and chugging chords at times give off pleasant memories of early acts like Judas Priest, and give this effort more of a unique touch to it, as well as the lack of trying to emulate the falsetto style in the same manner as Mercyful Fate had done also comes off as a plus towards the recording, though you just can't help but sit there and want that, especially if you're a fan of those two bands. The production quality is spectacular as well, as it manages to capture the atmosphere that early eighties recordings had, but does it well through a modern, clearer production quality. All the instruments are at the proper level and come off highly professional, and even the bass shines through, allowing the music to really present a deeper quality to it. Right away, it becomes clear that Midnight Priest is not looking to be an entry into the many revivals of today, but rather is a band that clearly is just in the wrong time period.
The only thing that is a little bit of a letdown with this album is the lack of English lyrics. This in no way hurts the album, but given how strong the music is and how emotionally driven it can be at times, through the passion and romantic vibes in the music, or just the general haunting atmosphere, it would be nice to know what the lyrics are while listening if you don't understand Portugese. But, in the end this adds to the more unique sound and seperation from some of the aforementioned obviously similar acts. It also helps the band when it comes to some of the more romantic-style music that comes out, such as the less then one minute instrumental "A Uma Caveira Dourada", which is beautiful and captures the spirit of Portugal nicely through the acoustic piece. But, while these songs really throw the band into a different light, it's the darker and often more energetic tracks that really capture the listener's attention.
"Sabado Negro" does set up the album nicely with it's darker sound, but feels slightly restrained though still presenting a commanding vibe. It's clear that atmosphere was a stronger concern, and in that aspect the band did an excellent job, leaving the song to be both a little beautiful, but very haunting. It perfectly sets up the entire album and what to expect, yet doesn't necessarily become a template for repetition through the entire album aside the darker, haunting atmospheres that appear from track to track. "Segredo de Familia" is really the first song on this recording that kicks things into high gear though. While the first three tracks really focus on being a little more toned down and eery, it's this song and some of the others that follow that just come out with a great Heavy Metal attitude in the vocals and music, with "No Calor do Inferno" being a little more commanding and kicking up that same approach "Feitico do Cabedal" has to a much higher level. The only downfall to this track becomes the introduction to it, another more intimate passage similar to "A Uma Caveira Dourada" without the acoustic, but it just hammers into the more energetic and haunting sound, sounding like it skipped through a glitch in the production that didn't line the music up well enough once the guitar's distortion kicked in. But, sometimes the energetic sound doesn't work out in the band's favor all the times.
While the album has a clear Mercyful Fate influence, it usually seemed to straddle between how much influence it really had and the band's own rather unique approach to it. But, all that seems to really go out the window for "Cidade Fantasma". Everything up to this point has been fantastic and an amazing homage to the days of early Heavy Metal, but with enough a decent amount of originality to keep it fresh until this track kicks in with it's slightly altered version of "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden. The drums are eerily similar, the guitars are a blatent rip off except with a few chords removed to try to not come off as blatent plagiarism, and the sad thing is it's energy really kicks in at the same level that the Iron Maiden classic does. But, at the same time it just makes you want to listen to the obvious source material. The rest of the track does goes off into a more original approach, but the energy behind it just drops, and in the end feels like a cheap way for the group to avoid being sued. Even the next song "A Boleia Com o Diablo" violates the haunting atmosphere for an energetic approach, and it does seem to retain that Iron Maiden feel with some touches of Testament thrown in for good measure. "Feitico do Cabedal" does have some King Diamond riffs that are blatently ripped off as well, and the song has a general vibe to ripped them off as well, but the opening is pretty short, and the rest of the song does still have some unique elements to it, especially in the vocals, which does bring it from being plagiarism to loosely inspired by the source material. Also tack on the vocals leading you to want more range like you would find on a Mercyful Fate or early King Diamond album, and you have the only genuine faults of this album.
Sadly, the ending to Midnight Priest clearly is nowhere near as enjoyable as the rest of the release, especially the start. While this band clearly pays homage to some of their inspirations and literally feels like an album that was just lost in time and recently unearthed by someone, the sudden change to ripping off Iron Maiden only to alter a few notes in the source material and try to pass it off as an original song in a manner Vanilla Ice would be proud of (an "Ice Ice Baby" reference) will sink the listener's heart right away and leave him or feeling rather betrayed by such a powerful and potential act. Chances are good that, when you hear it, you may not go back to the start and experience the album all over again right away, but despite that, Midnight Priest does put out a great offering that takes up just about the entire CD. Midnight Priest becomes a haunting, passionate display of vintage Metal that even today's revivalists simply cannot compare to. Each track has enough unique material to make it fresh, and a lack of recycling anything from start to finish is abundant and really keeps the listener attentive from start to finish. If you're a fan of Heavy Metal, then this is simply a must have album for your collection.
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