MIDDIAN Age Eternal (2007)

10 May 2007
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From the ashes of the American psychedelic doom trio YOB is born the beginning of a new era. An era of eternal darkness. Eternity, comparable only to the one of the black space... However, Mike Scheidt didn't hesitate even for a second - he quickly found substitutes for the two rhythm section members who left, and, although under a new name, he's continuing from the point he reached with his previous gang - with a third album for the record label Metal Blade, but first as Middian. Don't let the opening track “Dreamless Eye” mislead you with its surprising attack of straightforward dynamic metal sound, because right after its first half it transforms into the well-known formula - the schizophrenic, witch-like singing of Mike Scheidt, accompanied by consecutive variations of slow, heavy, exploding passages. It goes this way till the end of the album, which, on the other hand, consists of only five songs with an average playing time of 10 minutes each. And although the cover artwork is closer to the stoner genre than on any of YOB’s offerings (excluding the one of the mighty debut, powered by the Italian art duo Malleus), Middian's doom is more darker than hazy. As a matter of fact, Mike Scheidt is one of the few musicians jamming probably the heaviest and darkest stoner doom in the entire galaxy, if not further. All YOB worshippers have no reason for mourning, although the cosmic heaviness has now been slightly replaced with a bit of dynamics in a metal way, because Middian is not the typical "mourning" doom band, after all. And if you thought of throwing the CD away after “The Unreal Never Lived” - you should know you’ve been about to make a big mistake. You will find out why when you hear the voice of Ben Ward in the 16-minute-long cosmic final hymn “Sink to the Center”. That's right - the same Ben Ward, frontman of the holy British stoners Orange Goblin.
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