Ah yes, the covers album: An infamous record company ploy to grift naive fanbases until the inevitable new studio effort drops. Admittedly, it’s more honorable than the hastily thrown together “greatest hits” package, as it involves an act having to actually get in the studio and record new material. That said, these types of affairs seldom, if ever, add to the depth of a band’s overall creative oeuvre, nine times out of ten sounding forced at best or unlistenable at worst. No doubt about it, Athenar, the brains behind black-speed juggernaut Midnight, is aware of all these stereotypes, and I’m sure he took them into consideration when assembling Midnight’s very own covers album, Steel, Rust and Disgust.
As enjoyable as it would be to hear Midnight tackling Motörhead, Venom, and early Bathory, such a release would be counterproductive and cliche to begin with, as Midnight already evokes all of these acts in their original work. Instead, these bringers (or rather “bringer”, singular) of lust, filth, and sleaze have opted to create an album that doubles as a homage to the state that spawned them, Ohio. Steel, Rust and Disgust sees Midnight tackling a wide array of metal, punk, and rock n’ roll acts, all of which had a hand in spawning the masked maniac(s) we know today. And so not to be a total copout of a release, there are two new songs thrown in, so I ought to quit complaining.
The first of these original cuts is “Cleveland Metal”, which is pure Midnight mania if I’ve ever heard it. Raw, anthemic, and daring you to pump your fist in rejoice, “Cleveland Metal” is a riveting black ‘n’ roller that I easily envision taking hold in their live set this year. On the contrary, the title track is heavy, ominous, and lumbering, albeit with a nasty shout-along chorus, tailored in the vein of Venom classics like “7 Gates of Hell” and “Manitou”. Far from haphazard throwaways, both of these songs kick ass and take names with the fire and force of any other Midnight song released this decade.
As for the covers and influences, Athenar leaves no stone unturned. Cult metal curios like Kratos’ “Iron Beast” and Synastryche’s “I’m Insane” serve as tributes to “local legends” from Athenar’s headbanging youth (I’m surprised Destructor didn’t make the cut!). There’s also nods to true trailblazers like Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, whose “Frenzy” receives the blackened speed treatment, and outlaw David Allan Coe, whose “Rock n’ Roll Fever” is as defiant of a song lyrically as any Midnight classic. Most prominent, however, is the blatant display of old school punk rock fury. New York might get all the glory, but with acts like Rocket From the Tombs (“Final Solution”), Rubber City Rebels (“Child Eaters”), and Electric Eels to their name (“Black Leather Rock”, “Agitated”), Ohio absolutely deserves to be thrown into the ’70s punk discussion.
Upon checking out the original versions of these aforementioned punkers, and comparing them to these, uh, Midnightified renditions, it’s incredible how little difference there is in terms of spirit. Sure, Athenar filthies things up in his own way, heavying up the riff and dirtying the vocals. That said, he manages to do so while keeping the soul of the originals intact, which is about the most one could ask for from a covers album. Furthermore, it helps that Midnight are one of the best underground metal acts of this century, largely because they’ve never half-assed anything in their 20+ year career, this here album being no exception. So there you have it, violators! If this is one of those “ploys” I mentioned in the opening paragraph, it’s the best one in recent memory.
8 out of 10
Label: Metal Blade Records
Genre: Black ‘n’ Roll
For fans of: Motörhead, Venom, Dead Boys
Leave a Reply