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Midnight Spell: Sky Destroyer
Midnight Spell - Sky Destroyer Album Art

Midnight Spell: Sky Destroyer

Traditional Heavy Metal
4.0/5.0

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Iron Oxide Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 06.01.2021 | Released: 08.01.2021

With 2020 behind us (whew!), 2021 introduces us to a new record label and two new metal bands. The label is Iron Oxide Records out of Poland, founded by heavy metal enthusiast and promoter Bart Gabriel. The two new bands are Italy's Konquest and America's Midnight Spell, both offering their debut long-players. In this review we consider Miami's Midnight Spell. You can read the Konquest review at this Dangerdog Music Review location.

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Midnight Spell

From the golden age of heavy metal in the Seventies and early Eighties, South Florida has always had an underground of potent and aspiring keep it true heavy metal bands. Midnight Spell is merely a 21st century incarnation of this unrelenting genre. In the tradition of masters and progenitors like Maiden, Priest, Saxon, and others, Midnight Spell offers metalheads the famous twin guitar attack for rhythmic riffs and ripping solos, plenty of rock gallop and groove from the rhythm section, and assertive, sometimes pitched, yet clean vocals. At times, vocalist Paolo Velazquez reminded me of a twist between Geddy Lee and Bruce Dickinson. I know. That sounds a bit strange, but that's just me.

To contrast with label mates Konquest, I might add that Midnight Spell's metal may lean more towards speed metal as many songs put plenty of haste into the arrangements. Good examples of this arrive with Between The Eyes, Blood For Blood, Sky Destroyer and, especially, the short and speedy Midnight Ride. Alternatively, Midnight Spell can twist an arrangement with a modicum of steady pacing as with Cemetery Queen or the instrumental Mercy. With Lady Of The Moonlight, something of a heavy metal rocker, the band slows things down with a mellow guitar solo breakdown after the half. Yet, the speed kicks in as the solo expands to the songs finish. This is something of a consistent characteristic in a Midnight Spell arrangement: the tempo hastens with the guitar solo.

All things considered, with Sky Destroyer, Florida's Midnight Spell enters the heavy metal genre with a strong and quite entertaining album of keep it true traditional heavy metal. Easily recommended, especially for fans who love the same.




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The Bottom Line

All things considered, with Sky Destroyer, Florida's Midnight Spell enters the heavy metal genre with a strong and quite entertaining album of keep it true traditional heavy metal. Easily recommended, especially for fans who love the same.

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