July 2022 was a very exciting month for music, with some of my most anticipated releases of the year dropping. From the technical prog-rock on Gospel’s EP MVDM: The Magical Volumes Vol. 1: The Magick Volume of Dark Madder or the Magic Volume of Dark Matter to the boastful dance-pop of Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE, much of this month’s music was remarkably energetic and passionate. Though these records are both fantastic, the album I was most blown away by was black midi’s newest rendition of their trademark infernal avant-prog on Hellfire. 

When I first listened to black midi, I despised them. Hearing the hype around their 2019 debut album Schlagenheim, I checked out the record on a whim and found the complex and noisy math rock to be overly technical and lacking in substance. Dismayed by my initial reaction, I put off listening to any more of their music until 2021’s Cavalcade, which brought in elements of folk and prog-rock into their increasingly-varied sound. black midi doubled down on the eclecticism with Hellfire, utilizing facets of vaudeville and country, along with the new elements previously introduced on Cavalcade. This genre-bending assortment of sounds combined with increasingly conceptual and story-driven lyricism makes Hellfire the most exciting black midi record yet.

When Hellfire was first announced, frontman Geordie Greep wrote in a press statement that “If Cavalcade was a drama, Hellfire is like an epic action film.” This characterization couldn’t be any more accurate. Cavalcade, contrary to its title, was restrained and mature, never fully giving the listener what they wanted. It had a masterful sense of tension that sustained throughout the record before climaxing with the final track, “Ascending Forth.” Hellfire, conversely, perfectly embodies its title. Letting go of control and throwing everything into the mix, it sounds like an auditory depiction of the apocalypse—but with outlandish stories of murderous boxers (“Sugar/Tzu”) and farmers persuaded to work for the mafia (“Dangerous Liasions”) instead of fire and brimstone.

It’s difficult to put what makes Hellfire so special into words. It possesses an incredibly unique energy, simultaneously taking itself as a joke and completely seriously. It’s never entirely clear how seriously Greep and co. expect you to take their fantastical tales, and it even seems that they don’t care; in an interview with Pitchfork, bassist Cameron Picton said, “It’s important to be serious without taking yourself too seriously.” In the action movie-inspired chaos of Hellfire, this line between serious and silly is perfectly straddled to the point where it’s nonexistent. It doesn’t matter whether the operatic storytelling of “Welcome to Hell” or the crazed auctioneer of “The Race Is About To Begin” are meant to be taken seriously or not. It doesn’t matter, because on Hellfire, black midi do what so few art rock bands are able or willing to do today. They make music that is genuinely exciting to listen to. In a genre filled with modern doom-sayers like Weatherday, The Smile, and Black Country, New Road, it’s so refreshing to finally hear a band that isn’t afraid to make fun music. And, boy, is Hellfire a whole lot of fun.

Sources:

Black Midi Announce New Album Hellfire, Share “Welcome To Hell”

Shit-Talking and Boat Riding With Art-Rock Misfits Black Midi | Pitchfork