Label: Inner Wound Recordings
Review by Tony Cannella
In this day-and-age of going to club shows to see your favorite bands, you are bound to get one, two or even three local bands opening the show. For me, I am always interested in seeing some local talent and have nothing but respect for anyone who gets on that stage and plays their own music, whether it’s my cup-of-tea or not. Having said that, sometimes you get that band that has it all working for them, both on a musical and a performance level. Such was the case in October 2014 when I saw Doro in New York City and one of the openers was a band called Midnight Eternal and they were instantly captivating as they rocked the Gramercy Theatre with their brand of melodic, progressive, symphonic metal. Following their set, I purchased their two song EP, loved it; and now the New York based band has a well-deserved, brand-new record deal with Inner Wound and have just released their self-titled debut. After the opener, “‘Till the Bitter End” it is obvious that Midnight Eternal has something substantial to offer. The song is melodic opener with vocalist Raine Hilai demonstrating her strong vocals. This song really sets a positive tone for the record. The next track “Repentance” is an up-tempo progressive/power metal tinged track and one that just races out of the gate. Other highlights include, “Signs of Fire”, “Believe in Forever”, “When Love and Faith Collide” and the awesome 8-minute album closer, “First Time Thrill”. The band is, to put it simply, quite talented and all the pieces fit together nicely on this solid debut. Midnight Eternal has a lot to offer fans who love melodic metal. The songs are very well written, the vocals are killer and the musicianship is first rate. There is really nothing not to like about Midnight Eternal. I hope that this is the beginning of a successful time for Midnight Eternal. They deserve it.
Rating – 85/100
Tracklist
- ‘Till the Bitter End
- Repentance
- Signs of Fire
- Shadow Falls
- The Lantern
- Believe in Forever
- Midnight Eternal
- When Love and Faith Collide
- Like an Eternity
- Silence
- Pilgrim and the Last Voyage
- First Time Thrill
Line Up
- Raine Hilai – Lead Vocals
- Richard Fischer – Guitar & Vocals
- Greg Manning – Bass & Vocals
- Boris Zaks – Keyboards
- Dan Prestup – Drums