Hellfire - Black Midi: Review
Black Midi
are a London post-punk band who introduced themselves quickly a few years ago with a massively acclaimed debut in 2019. Hellfire is the band's third album in just four years and shows a continued journey into the sounds of progressive rock.
Review by Lav:
A lot of my reviews start with the phrase, "It's no secret that I like *band or artist* a lot". Well, it's no secret that I like Black Midi a lot. I dished out glowing reviews and high placements on my year-end lists to both of their first two albums. Even with all that context in my back pocket the band managed to get me even more excited for this record with a trio of absolutely excellent singles. While I do have one main complaint about the record, one I never thought I'd have with this band, it is still easily one of the best albums I've heard this year so far and anybody with any interest in experimental rock should do themselves a favor and check this out.
After a short but very exciting intro track we get into the records three singles which are an absolutely excellent bunch. Sugar/Tzu is a fan favorite live cut that worked great as a single and still thrives here as the band wastes no time introducing you to their eccentricities and immense musical talent. The dizzying instrumental passages that get cut off by soaring vocal refrains and rising horns are a sound that's somehow already classic Black Midi and it works once again here.
Eat Men Eat might have been my favorite of the singles and I haven't been able to stop listening to it since it first came out. Cameron takes over vocals and tells a crazy story about this desert mining operation run by a vicious captain. The whole second half of the song details his meltdown as the main characters escape and I think it's my favorite musical moment of 2022. Lead single Welcome To Hell is next and has Geordie's weirdly gripping vocals on display right from the start and never lets you go. While it isn't one of the more technically insane instrumentals here it does maintain a tangible elasticity throughout the entire song giving righteous support to the song's core anti-war themes.
I have to take a trip directly to the best of the deep cuts The Race Is About To Begin which is introduced as "a song like no other" and yeah, that pretty much sums it up. It's an insane seven-minute eruption of instrumentation that is constantly trying to take itself over completely. There's also a winding lyrical narrative that makes repeated reference to the stories of numerous other songs on the record. A few minutes in Geordie goes on a rapid-fire rant that is so long and detailed it doesn't even feel possible as it continues to unfold from one minute to the next. I think it represents the peak of intensity on the album and the much calmer moments that finish the track off feel like both necessary relief and some level of thematic conclusion.
Speaking of calmer moments the record isn't afraid to dial it back here and there. The Defense is probably the closest thing to a ballad on the record and it tells the story of a Christian guy who runs a brothel and is constantly trying to justify his profession in regard to his religious beliefs. It's actually a pretty compelling narrative that fills in part of the gaps in engagement for a track that is much lighter on the instrumental side. Still is one of the most sullen songs I've ever heard on a Black Midi album with lyrics that seem to mourn both wasted time and lost love reflecting that. As you probably expect the instrumental density does certainly unfold as the song goes on but it's mostly a gradual progression. It's not my favorite song here but it is a nice change of pace for the record.
Dangerous Liaisons has the most tangible progression on the album but by the point the thick distortion is crashing all the sounds into each other behind Georgie's gruff howls it's unhinged but in a great way. Also I have no choice but to mention that the song is about Satan disguising himself as a mafia guy and tricking someone into committing murder which is admittedly pretty hard.
The closing track 27 Questions is a decent song but it coming at the end of the record does sort of expose my only complaint about the album. While 27 does make more prominent use of keys than most Black Midi songs and the whole theme of asking 27 questions across the songs final verse is pretty unique, I can point out at least two specific Black Midi songs that sound and progress VERY similar to this one. On its own the song is quite enjoyable but it brings to light an issue I have with Hellfire that I certainly didn't have on the band's previous two records, songs failing to stand apart from each other. Even with the impressively technical writing and instrumentation there is definitely a consistent style to the way these songs unfold and how they sound at their peak intensity.
Despite that complaint muddying some of the deep cuts this record still has highlights that go toe to toe with the best Black Midi songs to date. The band continues to push the limits of their sound with both complexity and narrative lunacy and it works wonders. If there was any question about Black Midi being one of the predominant experimental rock bands out there, this bunch of weirdoes just silenced their doubters. 8.5/10
This cover has a lot going on and you have to look at it for a moment before anything actually registers. I love the color palette and composition, the blank space in the center leaves a little breathing room and gives the whole cover more depth. When you zoom into any particular spot you don't really know what's happening and it looks messy but altogether you can start to put the pieces together. I'm not a huge fan of the style overall and I think it could have worked a lot better on a larger scale. It could've been helpful to have a contrasting white branding in one of the corners to help tie it all together. 5/10
For more experimental rock check out my review of the new Viagra Boys album Cave World here
