review: Midnite Hellion

[review by MMB]

Midnite Hellion

Condemned to Hell

Witches Brew

Release: 15 September 2017

Midnite Hellion is a band with its heart in the right place and their thinking makes sense. I definitely appreciate a band dedicated to making serious heavy metal. It can be such drama and emotional roller coaster trying to find the right people for a band, especially for traditional styles in which skill is important. The people you find also cannot be a bunch of jerks you hate because you have to spend time rehearsing, talking, discussing ideas for songs, recording, gigs and a thousand other details.

On this album the recording quality is good and the instrumentation is good, solid headbanging no-nonsense heavy metal. The one area that needs more improvement is the singing. The singing is not quite there for the music. What is needed? More practice, more training? Maybe. The singing sounds too shy, too restrained, too middle-of-the-road vocals, not quite singing and not extreme metal vocals. For this music, it's necessary to sing like nobody's watching and see how that sounds. Sing like you are alone in the shower singing along to “Painkiller,” “Stand up and Shout,” and “Blackout.” You have to sing like you do not know what embarrassment means. No holding back. Just go for it!

I would love to hear this band with a renewed approach to singing. Once a vocal sound or a singing style is established and decided upon, then things will go better. Right now, it sounds too much like a man that has been forced into the vocals because nobody else wanted to do it. That’s no crime. I get it. Screaming is easy. Singing is hard. Singing well in a heavy metal band is no joke. The standards are high.

Don't change, don't stop. Go for it harder and unleash the beast inside that sings big time. "Fill your heads with heavy metal thunder!"

OFFICIAL: Trenton (NJ) - U.S. Heavy Metal trio MIDNITE HELLION will release new album Condemned to Hell September 15 on Germany's Witches Brew. The album will be available on CD format with a vinyl LP version to follow in the new future. Blending a healthy mixture of Heavy Metal and Thrash Metal, MIDNITE HELLION creates an addictive, crushing sound, a combination as evident as ever on Condemned to Hell. Among the pure metal bliss is a tune called "Teenage Bloodsuckin Bimbos,' which will be the theme song for an upcoming B-movie of the same name. MIDNITE HELLION will play a Record Release show on September 17 at Sayreville, NJ's Starland Ballroom along with EXODUS, OBITUARY, POWER TRIP, and DUST BOLT. As it turns out, the gig comes five years and 10 months to the day of the band's first demo release show, which also featured OBITUARY.

Biography: MIDNITE HELLION is a Heavy Metal trio from Trenton, NJ. Blending a healthy mixture of Heavy Metal and Thrash Metal, MIDNITE HELLION creates an addictive, crushing sound that's ready to take the world by storm. They released their demo, "The Fever," on Thursday, November 17th as a limited hand-numbered edition of 100 copies, which have nearly sold out within two weeks of the release. They releasied their debut EP, "Enter The Unknown," on September 29th, 2012. They toured with the legendary PRIME EVIL on the "Enter The Evilution Northeast Coast 2012 Tour" to support the release. 2013 will see the release of a full-length debut, as well as more touring to support the release.

So far, MIDNITE HELLION has had the honor of sharing the stage with OverKill, Grim Reaper, RIOT, Picture, Anvil, Raven, Artillery, Blood Feast, Whiplash, Morbid Saint, Deceased, October 31, Obituary, Denial Fiend, Deathrash, Warbringer, Lazarus A.D., Diamond Plate, Landmine Marathon, Sacrificial Blood, Condition Critical, Asphyxiating, Anvil Bitch, On Top, A.S.D., Swashbuckle, Corpse, Fiakra, Carcinogen, Power Theory, Regalia, Lethal Strike, Grim Legion, Anticosm, Asphyxiating, Day of the Beast, Revocation, Cannabis Corpse, Ramming Speed, Dimentianon, Sectioned, Coffin, Deathrash, White Goblin, Bröhammer, Vermefüg, Mount Olympus, Heavy Sons, The Fetals, Enemy Eternal, Tortured Existence, Mobile Deathcamp, Gnarly Vomit, Eliminator, Scarred For Life, Eternity’s End, Brain Damage, Thrashole, Centralia, Pitch Black Sleep, Bob Mitchell Band, Undivided, Coffin, Shadows of Dawn, Thanatotic Desire, Ruins of Akora, Helcaraxe, Valacar, Wizard Eye, Saviour, Pitch Black Sleep, Egokill, Tantalus Spine, Forever Her Nightmare, Winter Nights, Seeds of Redemption, Infernal Opera, and Supercrabs. Plenty of more to come!! Keep an eye out for MIDNITE HELLION, as they are an unstoppable force!

witchesbrewthrashes.bandcamp.com/album/condemned-to-hell

facebook.com/midnitehellion1