Review: “Hostile Resistance” by Midnight Bullet

“The band’s way of working has changed a bit since the time of the previous records, but the word easy is the best to describes the creation of the record. The process of creating the album has been relatively long, but the songs have written themselves very well. Basically, the album has been created with joy, and there was no need to force the songs in any direction. The genres of the songs have varied a bit on previous records, but this time we wanted to keep the unforgivable energy and brutality from the early days of the band throughout the album.”  ~ Tuomas Lahti, vocals & rhythm guitar

Sharing a mutual adorating for the music of Pantera and Motorhead, Finnish self styled Thrash and Heavy quartet Midnight Bullet have reached album number four in “Hostile Resistance” having crawled out from the woodwork in 2009. Tuomas Lahti (vocals, guitar), Mikko Nokelainen (drums), Lauri Ikonen (lead guitar) and Mirko Miettinen (bass) had originally wanted to bring this Metal to the masses in the fall of 2021 in follow up to 2019’s “Into The Fire” but were delayed due to production schedules and with themes of rebellion, revolution and ruthlessness in the use of power said to run through the spine of the record, it seems very apt that it sees release in the here and now.

Adorned by cover artwork from Karoliina Muukka the album springs to life with “Rain on Me“, a powerhouse Thrash cut in the tradition of the 80’s San Francisco Bay Area scene coupled with slick modern production. The formula has been tweaked as Lahti switches from gruff vocals to sung ones, as if going from Dave Mustaine to Layne Staley from verse to chorus, however the band don’t break the tempo while switching the gears and in so doing ensure the headbanging continues along with the option of singing along. The solos are sublime, adding a vibrancy while lifting the material with fretboard smoking dexterity shown, “Paranoia Obsession” having one of the finer ones along with a Megadeth esq lyrical onslaught that is perfectly relatable. Both “Wait and See” and “Rise and Fall” have all the gallop and drive of a pair Testament cuts with the metronomic skills of Nokelainen providing the perfect backdrop with a clean and crisp drum sound to give those classically styled and toned riffs the foundation upon which to shine by setting the tempo of the damned. The album that has an instant gratification quality about it, there is no deciphering of complex code required to unlock the door to this one and its by no means a punishing listen. Instead it offers up the sonic equivalent of a hot cup of coffee in a hot coffee cup, doing exactly what it says on the tin and providing solid Thrash listening full of verve and swagger that is completely timeless. Introducing more of a Hard Rock riff “Enemy Number One” has single written all over it with far more clean vocals than the other cuts and fortunately stands out for all the right reasons as the album moves into more of a Melodic Thrash direction spliced with heavier moments for a final trio that work well together while enhancing the flow of the album by not breaking up the earlier heavier cuts [7/10]

Track listing

1. Rain on Me
2. Hostile Resistance
3. Paranoia Obsession
4. Wait and See
5. Rise and Fall
6. Dead Redemption
7. Take Me Away
8. Enemy Number One
9. Last Escape
10. Angel of Babylon

“Hostile Resistance” by Midnight Bullet is out 4th March 2022 via Inverse Records and is available over at bandcamp.