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Midnight Exceeds London's Hellish Expectations At The New Cross Inn

When fans first start listening to metal, there are always those bands who fill them with pure excitement. Most then carry on their metal journey, always hoping to discover an act that can make them feel that way again, chasing a heavy metal high as it were. Sometimes they find it and after listening to Midnight's "Hellish Expectations" last year, I was high again, feeling that thrill such as when I first heard Venom. After missing out on their visit to the New Cross Inn shortly afterwards, I couldn't be absent for their next visit and so it was back to London for my first show in two months.

Visitors for the New Cross Inn will know that while it can be very cramped, it's a great place to see live music, especially metal and punk. Speaking of the latter, the evening opened with State Sanctioned Violence, who may have been a little preachy, but one would find it hard to disagree with anything they said (and they were a long way from the constant rhetoric of a Dropdead set.) The quartet unleashed an onslaught of metal tinged punk rock that proved highly enjoyable and got those who attended early in the right mood for the night. It was a relatively short set, but I'd recommend them to anyone who likes their music to be fast and ferocious.

Ominous Moon followed, and were more in line with the denim and leather of old. Their music can be described as on the darker side of thrash, sharing similarities with Mercyful Fate and Sodom as opposed to the more jaunty sounds of many younger thrash acts. It's great to see a young band being influenced by such artists and they put it to good use, avoiding the trap of simply imitating them and really getting the crowd going. They released their debut album, "Waking The Dead" last year and as expected, there were plenty of cuts from the record with "Skeletal Lunarcy" and "Stone Cold Metal" being two of my favourite servings. I hope to see them again and I strongly believe they can craft a good future for themselves.

The final support act of the night came in the form of Wolfbastard, who had traveled down from Manchester (and boy did they let the audience know it.) Wolfbastard were probably the most similar to the headliners in terms of sound, with a catalogue of blackened aggression, albeit with a sense of humour, as evidenced by song titles such as "Buckfast Blasphemies" and "Show Us Where You Piss From." They were here to have a good time and I don't think there were many in the crowd who didn't, as their infectious tunes reached across the room to excite and delight those in attendance. Definitely check them out if they invade your town any time soon and if you want some music which veers on the cheeky side of evil.

Finally it was time for the main event. Fans were still reeling from the death of Ozzy Osbourne and Midnight immediately paid tribute to the icon with the familiar sound of "Suicide Solution" before they got the ball rolling with "Nuclear Savior." As soon as the masked metal fiends tore into the recent favourite, the place erupted with bodies bouncing across the room, drinks being knocked into the air and a big smile across most people's faces. As mentioned, I find their albums very exciting but somehow they increase the intensity tenfold in the live setting, with tunes like "Black Rock 'n Roll" and "F.O.A.L." ripping into the ears of the London crowd.

What's incredible about Midnight's performance is that they just don't stop. From the moment they stepped on stage to the second they left it, they kept the atmosphere alive and the vibe buzzing. They play heavy metal with unbridled passion, doing what so many others have failed to do by grabbing the sounds of the early 80s and throwing into the modern day to make it sound fresh again, as tracks like "All Hail Hell" and "Endless Slut" demonstrated. There are bands that you wait to see for ages and don't live up to expectations, but Midnight far exceeded mine and I can't wait until they come back to treat Britain to more Cleveland metal!