Hellfire: 10

black midi | Avant-Prog, Brutal Prog | released 15-07-2022

The final record in black midi's impressive 3 album run is the culmination of the technical and compositional skill they've built and demonstrated in the bands runtime. "Hellfire" is full of incredibly intricate mixes of instruments and brutal guitar riffs that just slam you in the face without warning. The performances are just completely jaw dropping; the entire thing evokes the infernal spiraling feelings that the name and cover imply.

The track list quickly jumps between deathly brutal prog and completely earnest jazz rock that still somehow feels entirely cohesive. The jump from "The Race Is About To Begin", an insane-in-every-sense-of-the-word sensory overload of crunchy guitars, to "Dangerous Liaisons", a grim orchestral piece that slides in between flowery horns and a sinister blast of a creeping motif, into "The Defence", a beautifully composed piece of something between jazz and piano rock, almost something you could hear on a Steely Dan record. The closing track jumps back into that sinister gross atmosphere, before finishing off the entire record with an honest to god upbeat show tune.

It is truly hard to get tired of this album. In the dozens of times I've sat through it, either casually listening in the background or trying to pick out every detail, it has remained one of the most entertaining, enjoyable, and impressive pieces of music I've heard.