Tailgunner are a band who I’ve been aware of since 2022, when they were blowing up my inbox as an independent act, hounding me to check out their initial string of singles. Why I didn’t, I’m not quite sure. Perhaps they caught me at a time where I was simply burnt out on the NWOTHM, which is the scene Tailgunner embodies to a T. With their retro logo, coiffed hairdos, and leather wardrobe straight out of a Defenders of the Faith era Priest video, these guys (and gal) check all the boxes and then some. In the few years since I last heard from them, they’ve since been picked up by Napalm Records and have found themselves on the bill for the esteemed Keep It True festival. With this in mind, I figured it’s about time I see what the hype is all about.
Not only is it about time I give Tailgunner a thorough investigation, but if you’ve been keeping track, this past week has been a GREAT one to be a NWOTHM-head. Both Fili Bibiano’s Fortress and Rave in Fire put out albums that are bound to become highlights of 2026, creating fresh bangers out of Yngwie-tailored neoclassical metal and ’80s Priest arena fare, respectively. And although not “metal” proper, per se, Swedish prog masters Hällas released their latest, Panorama, which is bound to appeal to old school metallers in the same way an ’80s Marillion album would. I was really hoping Tailgunner would keep this hot streak going, but as W. Axl Rose once sang, “Nothing lasts forever, even cold November rain.”
Midnight Blitz is Tailgunner’s second album, and the first I’ve heard from these English headbangers. That being said, if this effort is reflective of past efforts, I don’t think I need to listen to anything else from them. Midnight Blitz follows a very precise formula. Frontman Craig Carns does his best Olof Wikstrand impersonation, high pitched yelps and all, the guitars play the same rehashed Thundersteel riffs you’ve heard a zillion times, and the drums follow the same breakneck, high speed tempo from start to finish. At their most forceful, Tailgunner teeters on the edge of euro power metal (i.e. “Follow Me in Death”, “Barren Lands and Seas of Red”, “Eulogy”), which admittedly does add some variety to what is an otherwise very pedestrian and predictable release.
As if the sameness of the structures, performances, and riffs aren’t bad enough, what drags Midnight Blitz down even further is its plastic production, which might be the most grating I’ve heard in recent memory. Now admittedly, there are quite a few bands on Napalm’s roster notorious for such practices, making one wonder if it’s the bands themselves or a label-hatched conspiracy. Whatever the case may be, Tailgunner are the worst offenders to date, presenting us with an album that sounds as if it was pieced together in a laboratory, each instrument strategically pasted upon each other, mechanized and soulless like a ’00s DragonForce album. And wouldn’t you know it? DragonForce are signed to Napalm too!
Aesthetically speaking, Tailgunner have almost everything a NWOTHM act could ask for, and I could think of a hell of a lot worse to be battered with for 10 songs and 45ish minutes. I’ll take an off-brand Enforcer over an off-brand Pantera or Entombed everyday, but I digress. What Tailgunner lacks, however, is greater than what they have, and for that reason alone, I can’t see myself revisiting them before I spin the beloved metal gods of the ’80s for the two zillionth time. Midnight Blitz? More like Midnight Blunder.
4 out of 10
Label: Napalm Records
Genre: Heavy Metal
For fans of: Enforcer, Skull Fist, Riot
Carrie’s way into this band haha. She brought ’em up the other day. Cool band. Great guitar playing.