Press Reviews
Album Review - Global Metal Apocalypse
MIDNIGHT MESSIAH
'The Root Of All Evil'
It's always grand to see modern day bands playing the classic sounds of hard rock and heavy metal in such epic glory, whilst adapting it to their own taste. This is how exactly London quintet Midnight Messiah have gone about things, it is highly detectable on their debut album 'The Root Of All Evil' which sheds a brilliant sound in all of the departments. Clean and powerful vocals lead the front-line of this modernised version of Iron Maiden, whilst the guitars and drums deliver that all important blow that leaves the album in good stead as being a must own release for all those who prefer the old style of rock and metal. Make no mistake about it, 'The Root Of All Evil' is an album that will please many fans alike and is sure to give this band some well-deserved attention.
Download This: "The Evil One"
For Fans of: Iron Maiden, Van Halen, AC/DC
The album is available online from the label website: www.coldtown.com priced at £7 GBP.
[8] RHYS STEVENSON
Midnight Messiah Warm-Up Show
Midnight Messiah Warm Up Gig
Cart & Horses, Maryland
Friday 19th April
Hailed as the birthplace of Iron Maiden, it’s seems fitting that Paul Taylor and Phil Denton, the creative heart of Elixir, which at one time featured Maiden alumni Clive Burr on drums, should choose to debut their new outfit at the very same venue.
Billed as a warm up gig ahead of their upcoming headline show in Belgium and series of festival performances in both UK and Europe, this show could be looked on as a shakedown to iron out any bugs before the bigger shows. A palpably nervous Taylor can be seen pacing the floor before hand, perhaps unsurprisingly as this will be the first time the five piece have shared a stage together.
He needn’t have worried. From the opening assault of Thirty Pieces of Silver and Damned for all Time, it’s obvious that the hard miles put in on the road over the years has paid off. The rhythm section, featuring a be-shaded Dusty Miller on bass and Darren Lee on drums, hold down a furious beat, while guitarists Denton and young maestro Dave Strange trade licks with virtuosic abandon. And as Taylor’s vocals soar through Holy Angel, Wise Man of Roklar and the epic Destiny, any worries the band may have had are put firmly in their place.
Running through the rest of their debut disc with a hunger that outfits half their age would be hard pushed to match, it’s clear that this is a band who would give many of their more famous contemporaries a run for their money. The question and answer soloing in You’re no Friend of Mine has the pub shaking on its foundations and King of the Night has glasses, and voices raised high in the crowd. As the band head into the eponymous closing number, it is clear where much of this new found spark is from. 
The new energy brought to the band by the addition of Strange is perfectly illustrated in the revised approach to former Elixir favourite Midnight Messiah. Faster, heavier and downright dirtier, the song is taken to a whole new level with a punch and swagger lacking in the original.
The band close out the show with a real treat for the assembled punters. Son of Odin classics The Star of Beshaan and Treachery are run through with a power rarely seen before, Strange’s precision guitar work lifting the songs to a whole new level, and bringing down the roof on an evening which bodes well for the future of the band.
Bucko,
Bucko's World
The Root Of All Evil
There is a new online review of Midnight Messiah's 'The Root Of All Evil' album.
In summary, Paul Maddison writes: "‘The Root of All Evil’ is a deep and meaningful release that has a bit more soul than a simple metal release, musically tantalizing at every twist and turn that provides a rewarding listening experience".
You can read the full review here
All Hallows Eve
"All Hallows Eve" - Power Play Magazine, Jan 2011
"The first thing you have to say about this, Elixir's sixth full-length studio album and follow up to 2006's "Mindcreeper" is that it looks the business. Duncan Storr (Hawkwind) has provided the cover artwork and the whole package looks beautiful. Now I know that people say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but in the case of "All Hallows Eve", those first positive impressions that you get from the cover are more than justified by the music within. Elixir have been plying their trade since 1983 and they have rarely sounded as good as they do here. The band have produced the album themselves and demonstrated that they know just what is needed to bring the best out of their songs. The guitars are crisp and incisive, the bass and drums rock solid and Paul Taylor's melodic vocals soar effortlessly over the top. Every instrument has room to breathe yet they still lock together as part of a powerful whole. Most impressive though are the songs themselves, which are surely some of the most accomplished and effective in Elixir's lengthy career. The quality is uniformly high throughout but I have to pick out the memorable "Daughters Of The Moon", the snarling riffs of "Midnight Messiah", the incredibly impressive fourteen-minute epic "Samhain" and "The Pagan Queen" with its excellent solo. Indeed all the lead guitar work is top notch and definitely one of the features which makes this album so successful.
There is something special about "All Hallows Eve". It feels perfectly complete, as if not a note or word is out of place and I hope the band feel justly proud of what they have achieved. Fans will always talk about Elixir's admittedly stirring "Son of Odin" debut but to my mind "All Hallows Eve" may be not only their latest, but their greatest."
9 / 10
Chris Kee
Hard Rock Hell III
Hard Rock Hell III - Classic Rock Magazine
"Elixir turn out to be the surprise NWOBHM package of Hard Rock Hell. They have a fearsome twin-guitar attack - take a bow Phil Denton and 'Storming' Norman Gordon - a blond giant of a frontman in Paul Taylor, and a soaring anthem in the form of "Midnight Messiah"
Geoff Barton
