Midnight Vice – Midnight Vice

Midnight Vice
Midnight Vice
Label: Roar (Rock of Angels Records)
Out: March 28^th, 2025
Playing time: 28:11

‘New Wave Of Traditional Heavy Metal’ (NWOTHM) is currently very much in vogue. Many new releases are labelled in this category. This includes the self-titled debut EP by Midnight Vice, a band from the underground scene in Tampa (Florida). Although, this EP is not quite as fresh as dew. It was self-released in July 2023. After signing a record deal with RPM-ROAR, it is now being re-released worldwide.

‘Strike In The Night’ is a blast right from the start. Highspeed Metal, the riffs are fired off almost every second, the drums provide additional drive. Singer Tyler Gray effortlessly keeps up the pace and belts out a series of high-pitched Metal screams. A guitar solo that seems to come from hell is the icing on the cake. ‘Spellcaster’ is only slightly slower. Tyler shows that he can also master the somewhat deeper vocal passages. In between, the high screams are used again and again. In addition, the double bass drives. Why should Midnight Vice change their previous concept? This means that ‘Excalibur’ also offers hardly any variety. At least with the deeper vocals, the tempo is slowed down a little. ‘Baptised By Fire’ starts with rolling thunder and distorted spoken words. The song seems a little more melodic than the previous ones and more rhythmic. The merciless forward pounding is suspended a little, the high screams remain. The guitar solo is also somewhat calmer and more melodic. ‘Mysteria’ is also very melodic. With a refrain to sing along to. In ‘Deliverance Of Steel’ we are still not in the same wild waters as at the beginning of the EP. But an increase in tempo can clearly be heard. The singer is mostly in a slightly lower range. Occasionally, the high screams come to the fore again. And the guitar solo occasionally tends towards the high-speed range again. With ‘White Witch’, the musicians then return to their initial Highspeed Metal.

Midnight Vice take no prisoners on their debut EP. Most of the songs are up-tempo, sometimes drifting into Highspeed Metal territory. In the first few songs, Tyler Gray mostly belted out high Metal screams. But before that became too annoying, he kept switching to slightly lower pitches. Nevertheless, I would like to hear a bit more variety in a follow-up. Constantly blasting away at the speed limit gets tiring after a while.

Midnight Vice – Strike In The Night: https://youtu.be/v3paxNn4_bw?si=Fy7Ruz89d974m4Z_

Lineup:

Tyler Gray – Vocals
Sam Bean – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Dennis O’sullivan – Drums
Lakota Stafford – Bass

Track list:

• Strike In The Night
• Spellcaster
• Excalibur
• Baptized By Fire
• Mysteria
• Deliverance Of Steel
• White Witch