Review by Vladimir on March 14, 2024.

In the ever-burning flame of black/thrash/speed metal, returns the triumphant cult warrior to spread blasphemy, hell and fire. The crowned jewel of Cleveland Ohio, none other than the band Midnight, has certainly been successfully poisoning the youth with hellish rock ‘n roll for the past couple of decades, and in fact, he comes back with a very strong and clear statement that says “FUCK OFF AND LIVE!”. The release of the band’s sixth full-length album Hellish Expectations on March 8th, 2024 marks the return of Athenar in his reaper hoodie, leather jacket and bullet belt clad adventure that cuts like a hot knife through butter. Have these Hellish Expectations truly turned out to be “hellish” as expected? Fasten your seatbelts, it’s time to kick some ass! 

Without warning and without hesitation, all hell breaks loose from the very get-go as the d-beat and devilish rock ‘n roll driven energy bursts out the wall with fucking speed and darkness. Midnight strikes hard from the very start as the first couple of tracks already show that this means business and that business is good, especially with the badass and hellfire fueled bangers like the third and fourth track, with such simple titles that speak out loud that Athenar’s game is indeed 'Masked And Deadly' and that you are nothing but a 'Slave Of The Blade'. In case you were expecting to get a love song for the International Women’s Day, don’t worry about it because you got it pal! The fifth track 'Dungeon Lust' is exactly what your sweet loving lady has been craving for all day, which will be rewarded with one strong whip strike that will leave you moaning like a bitch. If you thought that Midnight can’t make a slow song sound heavy and loud, then I am sorry to disappoint you because the mid-tempo banger 'Merciless Slaughtor' is here to prove every single one of you non-believers wrong and it serves you right. The last two tracks 'Doom Death Desire' and the pre-released single 'F.O.A.L' are also worthy to get some praise for being two excellent tracks, as well as being great album finishers that leave the listener with one big happy ending. 

The simple but solid songwriting of Athenar on this album has proven to be incredibly effective from start to finish, providing tons of enjoyable moments with a lot of punk rock, heavy metal, rock and roll, black and speed metal that mercilessly sets the stage on fire. All of the songs shine with consistent energy and aggression that wastes no time for any fancy tricks or antics that bands waste their time and effort to please the audience, because Midnight keeps things straight to the point with every song banging left and right. Despite the album being just over 25 minutes long, it is simply impossible not to get immersed into it because there is just way too many fun and enjoyable stuff here that can’t go unnoticed and ignored, especially if you are a one hellish rock and roll soldier that the devil himself enlisted with every right in his army. A perfect example that always visually captures that essence of the music is the album cover done by William Lacey, who has proved countless times before that his blasphemous art will always stick with the music of Midnight, like on the previous five albums. On the final note, the sound production of Hellish Expectations is very strong and perfectly balanced, with an added distortion to the shouting vocals of Athenar that never let you down. 

Once again, Midnight has triumphed and fulfilled everything that we’ve come to expect from the beast that is Hellish Expectations. Straight to the point, blasphemous, fucking speed and darkness, all the way through! There is nothing more that I can say other than the fact that Hellish Expectations is yet another worthy entry in the band’s discography. 

Rating: 8.7 out of 10

Review by Vladimir on February 1, 2024.

Black metal bands who deal with blasphemous themes can create something provocative or unsettling, however they do often just ridicule themselves more than their Christian enemies. It does seem like a very easy subject to deal with, however it seems to more than just meets the eye, but that does not diminish the fact that some bands who manage to come out with something blasphemous and catchy to enjoy. In this case, I am referring to the Serbian black metal band Kolac, who have evolved drastically ever since their early beginnings all the way to today, incorporating more heavy and thrash metal elements in their music, especially since Omadan IX joined the band to add his devilish touch to their second full-length album Zauvek Crni and now they offer more medieval themes dealing with punishment methods in the Dark Ages. It would take at least another 10 years until the band finally lights a new fire to cast away all the non-believers and call upon those forever loyal who pledge their allegiance. With this in mind, Kolac is set to release their self-titled third full-length album on February 3rd via Pest Records. Over the recent years they had built up much groundwork for their new album and now it is met with highest expectations, both from Serbian and worldwide black metal fans. Did they manage to strike hard with their new sharpened stake? Let's find out!

On their third album, Kolac once again goes ahead of their way to provide songs in both Serbian and English language, with a few notable exceptions having titles in other languages such as 'Monsieur De La Nuit' in French and 'Eppur Si Muove' in Italian. Musically it relies on a standard black metal output with traditional use of tremolo picking riffs with some melodies, blast beat drums and harsh vocals, however with more complex songwriting that incorporates heavy or thrash metal oriented ideas. Songs such as 'Krvokolj' provide some of those highly anticipated catchier moments that are simply hard to be left out of any Kolac album, this time giving some marching drums in the song's opening, along with some mid-tempo rhythm sections and a brief instance of d-beat. Throughout their songs, you can hear some traces of bands such as Darkthrone, Dissection, Immortal, Watain, Dawn, Sacramentum, and even a bit of Hellenic black metal influences such as Rotting Christ and Varathron on the sixth track 'Burn'. Perhaps the best example that showcases the traces of Swedish melodic black metal such as Dissection, Sacramentum, Dawn and plenty of others, comes in the form of the eight track 'Silence Of The Ages', and this one might be my personal favorite from the entire tracklist. One relic from the band's past that finally resurfaced and took its final form is the closing track 'Raskršten', which has been around since their demo days and has since then remained a standout song that makes the audience go wild.

The flow of the album is dynamic with all the ideas that were incorporated in the songwriting, leading to a strong curve that shifts the mood from very furious to incredibly catchy. Some songs are indeed standouts thanks to their riffs and choruses, however I think that all tracks possess their own strengths and characteristics which make them a joy to listen to. The only thing on this album that I have a small issue with are the vocals, which aren't bad by any means, but I just wish that they were much more intense on some songs and less dry sounding. This may be just a thing of personal preference, but I think we can all agree that the vocal performance in the end still came out pretty solid. The cover by Entitatem Null Arts has a very good medieval art styled visual representation, which for a band named Kolac (meaning "the stake" in Serbian) at last shows people being tortured and rammed to the stakes. Although I must say that the particular choice of the cream coloured background does come off as a bit unusual, I think that it was actually meant to reference medieval parchment, which in the end is still unique and not a very common thing with black metal albums. The production of this album is pretty good with its nice balance between a clean and moderately raw sound, whilst not being thinned out to the point of feeling and sounding boneless.

Personally, I think that this album is a very good example of traditional black metal done right, with a good and well-thought-out use of provocative subjects that go nicely with the overall musical output. Even though I still have a personal attachment to their previous album Zauvek Crni from 10 years ago, especially since that album has had a strong influence on me, I think that their self-titled album Kolac surpasses their previous works. In just a couple of years, the Serbian scene managed to get some notable works of black metal that are worthy of attention and praise, and the third self-titled album by Kolac is no exception. If you are a fan of Serbian black metal, particularly Kolac, be sure to check this one out.

Rating: 8.8 out of 10