Cleveland extreme metal force Midnight had confirmed the arrival of his sixth full length studio record, Hellacious Expectations, due out March 8th via Metal Blade Records.
The one-man project helmed by the elusive Athenar has been championed among the heavy music underground. Churning out a consistent brand of blackened musical belligerence, Midnight's demos, splits, and EPs over the last two decades remain a testament to Athenar creative prowess and refusal to compromise.
For the latest iteration of metallic intensity, Midnight has unloaded an unapologetic anthem in "F.O.A.L." - an acronym for the defiant, "Fuck Off and Live." The man behind the mask of Midnight, Athenar, summed up the root of the single, "'Fuck Off And Live' is an ode to the people who peacefully want to die to escape the realities of life, while they should really live and suffer."
Athenar also weighed in on the reactionary nature of the full length album, detailing how the entirety of Hellacious Expectations was written in just one weekend following the sessions for his 2022 LP, Let There Be Witchery.
"It's a knuckle dragger with a fat cutoff," explained Athenar, "Pure testosterone meat. Probably the most concise and straight to the point MIDNIGHT album to date, and all written in a weekend. The album was written on pure reaction upon leaving the studio after listening to raw tracks from the previous album Let There Be Witchery. The final mix of that album was good, but at the time of laying it down in the studio, I didn't like what I was hearing and demanded a new leviathan of an album to be written that weekend."
Along with the news of the pending album, Midnight is set to begin a healthy touring slate in 2024. With dates in Australia confirmed in February and an appearance at Texas' Hell's Heroes in March, Midnight will then begin a headlining trek in Europe in April with Cyclone and High Command on as support. A full list of confirmed dates can be found below.
Hellacious Expectations drops March 8th via Metal Blade Records.
Order the album - HERE
2/28/2024 The Brightside - Brisbane, AU
2/29/2024 The Basement - Canberra, AU
3/01/2024 Marrickville Bowlo - Sydney, AU
3/02/2024 Flippin The Bird at Singing Bird Studios - Frankston, AU
3/03/2024 Max Watts - Melbourne, AU
3/16/2024 Fiesta Destructo 2024 @ Hotel Vegas - Austin, TX
3/21/2024 Hell's Heroes - Houston, TX
European Tour 2024 w/ Cyclone, High Command
4/04/2024 Turock - Essen, DE
4/05/2024 Kulturpalast - Hamburg, DE
4/06/2024 Pumpehuset - Copenhagen, DK
4/07/2024 Roxy - Flensburg, DE
4/08/2024 2Progi - Poznań, PL
4/09/2024 Kamienna12 - Kraków, PL
4/11/2024 Goldgrube - Kassel, DE
4/12/2024 Bastard Club - Osnabrück, DE
4/13/2024 Welcome To Hell - Eindhoven, NL
4/14/2024 De Kreun - Kortrijk, BE
4/16/2024 Rebellion - Manchester, UK
4/17/2024 Anarchy Brew Co - Newcastle, UK
4/18/2024 New Cross Inn - London, UK
4/19/2024 Petit Bain - Paris, FR
4/20/2024 No Playback Festival - Remchingen, DE
4/21/2024 Schlachthaus - Dornbirn, AT
4/23/2024 Gaswerk - Winterthur, CH
4/24/2024 Backstage - Munich, DE
4/25/2024 Viper Room - Vienna, AT
4/26/2024 Underdogs - Prague, CZ
4/27/2024 Lido - Berlin, DE
4/28/2024 Chemiefabrik - Dresden, DE
4/30/2024 Temple - Athens, GR *MIDNIGHT only
5/01/2024 Tetapth 1 Maïoy - Thesseloniki, GR *MIDNIGHT only
5/22/2024 Maryland Deathfest Pre-Fest - Baltimore, MD *MIDNIGHT only
