Hellfire
The most jarring part about listening to the London band black midi isn’t how much musical ground they cover—post-punk, progressive rock, breakneck jazz, cabaret—but the fact that they cover it all at once. A quasi-concept album that seems to have something to do with war (“Welcome to Hell,” “27 Questions”), or at least the violence men do more generally (“Sugar/Tzu,” “Dangerous Liaisons”), *Hellfire* isn’t an easy listen. But it’s funny (main character: Tristan Bongo), beautiful, at least in a garish, misanthropic way (the Neil Diamond bombast of “The Defence”), and so obviously playful in its intelligence that you just want to let it run over you. The first listen feels like being yelled at in a language you don’t understand. By the third, you’ll be yelling with them.
black midi’s new album Hellfire will be released on 15th July. Hellfire builds on the melodic and harmonic elements of Cavalcade, while expanding the brutality and intensity of their debut, Schlagenheim. It is their most thematically cohesive and intentional album yet.
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“And this is how I sometimes think of myself, as a great explorer who has discovered some extraordinary land from which he can never return to give his
Hellfire, the extraordinary new Black Midi album, is absolutely full of wrong'uns. It's wry, exhilarating and frenetic stuff
Black Midi's 'Hellfire' engages with rock’s history while simultaneously taking it in imaginative new directions.
With their third LP Hellfire, Black Midi continue to put out adventurous and challenging music that keeps listeners on the tips of their toes.
Hellfire by black midi album review by Leslie Chu. The UK trio's new full-length drops on July 15, via Rough Trade Records and DSPs
From cocktail-lounge piano to thrashing drums, the British prog band make musical handbrake turns that are thrilling but hard to love
Black Midi - Hellfire review: “I’m sorry," he told the alligator. He fired. The alligator jerked, did a backflip, thrashed briefly, was still. Blood began to seep out amoeba-like to form shifting patterns with the weak glow of the water. Abruptly, the flashlight went out.
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UK 3-piece tread the fine line between unlistenable racket and work of genius. Album review by Guy Oddy
Unique London outfit wrestle with chaos on their explosive third album and achieve precise mayhem