black midi - Hellfire ALBUM REVIEW
Luckily, this didn’t sound like hell was engulfing my eardrums.
There was a little phase last year where there were a bunch of post-punk albums that really clicked for me. One of my more controversial takes is that I thought that black midi’s Cavalcade, which is considered by many to be one of the best albums of last year, was just a little bit overrated. I understand the raw talent from each member, but I thought that it didn’t gel as well as their first album, Schlagenheim. However, this might be a different story. I haven’t heard any of the singles ahead of Hellfire, so I’m going into this completely blind. This is getting even higher praise than Cavalcade, not that that matters to me, but it’s worth pointing that out. Let’s not waste any more time and get into Hellfire.
Since I never went into detail about it, I prefer Schlagenheim over Cavalcade because the more chaotic sound suits the group much more. I think that was sacrificed with more complex tracks on the latter, which is still cool but it didn’t scratch that itch. This, however, hits that middle ground beautifully and might make up my favorite project of theirs so far. Nearly every aspect of their past projects is improved upon in some way, but I think the songwriting’s the biggest improvement here. The storytelling on a black midi project is something I generally don’t focus on, but there’s so much of it here that I couldn’t look away from it. Something that’s new to them, though, is the theatricality of the music. That’s a big part of what made me adore this album, even if I’m still grasping the overall concept of this album. Simply put, Hellfire is the group’s best album yet. black midi release their most thrilling project yet.
9/10
Listen here
YouTube Music
Hellfire is a Rough Trade release.
There was a little phase last year where there were a bunch of post-punk albums that really clicked for me. One of my more controversial takes is that I thought that black midi’s Cavalcade, which is considered by many to be one of the best albums of last year, was just a little bit overrated. I understand the raw talent from each member, but I thought that it didn’t gel as well as their first album, Schlagenheim. However, this might be a different story. I haven’t heard any of the singles ahead of Hellfire, so I’m going into this completely blind. This is getting even higher praise than Cavalcade, not that that matters to me, but it’s worth pointing that out. Let’s not waste any more time and get into Hellfire.
Since I never went into detail about it, I prefer Schlagenheim over Cavalcade because the more chaotic sound suits the group much more. I think that was sacrificed with more complex tracks on the latter, which is still cool but it didn’t scratch that itch. This, however, hits that middle ground beautifully and might make up my favorite project of theirs so far. Nearly every aspect of their past projects is improved upon in some way, but I think the songwriting’s the biggest improvement here. The storytelling on a black midi project is something I generally don’t focus on, but there’s so much of it here that I couldn’t look away from it. Something that’s new to them, though, is the theatricality of the music. That’s a big part of what made me adore this album, even if I’m still grasping the overall concept of this album. Simply put, Hellfire is the group’s best album yet. black midi release their most thrilling project yet.
9/10
Listen here
YouTube Music
Hellfire is a Rough Trade release.
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