Heavy Song of the Week is a feature on Heavy Consequence breaking down the top metal, punk, and hard rock tracks you need to hear every Friday. This week, No. 1 goes to Midnight for their hometown anthem “Cleveland Metal.”
There should be more regional tribute albums in metal like Midnight’s upcoming Steel, Rust and Disgust, which sees the one-man band covering tracks by Cleveland heroes such as Rocket from the Crypt and Dead Boys. Because punk and metal, in particular, have always been such a regional form of music, built on local scenes and communities.
Sometimes an artist rises beyond their local scene to garner more widespread fame, which could be said about Midnight. Though the band’s signed to Metal Blade Records and toured the world, Midnight mastermind Athenar hasn’t forgotten his roots, and that’s admirable. The upcoming tribute LP is spearheaded by the original tune “Cleveland Metal,” a love letter to Athenar’s hometown that channels Midnight’s blackened speed metal through good ol’ fashion bar-band rock n’ roll. Cleveland rips!
Honorable Mentions:
Pigs x7 – “Carousel”
Self-described as the “unashamedly stoner” song on Pigs x7’s new album Death Hilarious, “Carousel” is certainly one of the groovier moments on the LP. The lumbering riffs and head-nodding rhythms serve to break up the tracklist’s darker atmospheres and noise rock dabblings with some physical swing. For more from the Pigs, check out our exclusive track-by-track breakdown of Death Hilarious with the band’s Matt Baty and Sam Grant.
Rise Against – “Prizefighter”
“Prizefighter” is a thoughtful song, and quite meta at that, as it analyzes the relationship between an artist, their art, and their fans. Rise Against vocalist and lyricist Tim McIlrath can write from personal experience, reflecting on an often neglected part of this equation in the eyes of the public: the toll on the mental health of the artist in all of this. “It’s trying to reconcile the shift from spectator to the public arena,” said McIlrath of the anthemic song, “and what you owe the people that are your fans versus what you owe your own mental health.” His thesis can be summed up with the chorus line: “I’m not something to be fenced in.”
Tetrarch – “Cold”
Tetrarch dish out a very Nine Inch Nails-esque slab of industrial metal on “Cold.” Under three minutes in length, it’s a claustrophobic track with crushed-out guitars that bury the vocals in the mix — as if they’re literally being smothered. A couple grinding breakdowns and melodic vocal parts offer brief respite, but this is otherwise Tetrarch at full tilt, foot on the gas.
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