Midnight Prey – Jenseitsritt Review

[Cover artwork by Ludwig Missal]

Working from a classic build of vocalist/guitarist, bass player, and drummer, the appropriately minimalist design of Germany’s Midnight Prey works in their favor as they charge through seven songs of the kind of hybrid hard rock and heavy we’ve come to expect from the band’s record label, Dying Victim Productions.

Jenseitsritt, the band’s sophomore effort, arrives seven long years after their debut, Uncertain Times—which begs the question: if times were uncertain in 2019, what is this time, exactly? Anywho, right out the gate, Jenseitsritt is a marked improvement over the debut based on the art alone; mostly because the art for Uncertain Times was a photo that I think was intended to assure us listeners that these fine gentlemen were sufficiently committed to a retro aesthetic. Now having convinced us of that, they’ve advanced to a more artful presentation, which I appreciate. I am still not entirely sure what the art represents, but the watercolor and color palette sure does look cool.

To the substance of it all—the music. Undoubtedly, the two more immediate thoughts anyone will have listening to Jenseitsritt will be about (1) the vocals and (2) the production. And this is where I think Midnight Prey has a distinct advantage over other bands playing in this same general style. The vocals—the more predominant clean ones, anyway—have this vaguely sad, everyman, and almost indie rock (see “Witch King”) quality to them; the earnest tone works. And the warm, almost washed-out production is a good venue for all that earnestness. I wasn’t sold on it at first. The try-hard potential is astronomically high, generally. But it sounds very natural here. A tough landing but they stick it.

Maybe my ears deceive me, but what I am hearing on Jenseitsritt is equal parts hard rock, college rock, and something vaguely metallic. The general jangliness to some of these songs, particularly “Kaspar Hauser” and “Witch King,” was what shocked me the most. Where most similar bands would be some blend of hard rock, psych rock, and metal, the jangliness and slightly repressed sort of sadness in Midnight Prey’s sound is, well, striking, and makes them easily distinguishable from their peers.

My expectations were not met here and I couldn’t be happier. What I expected, frankly, was a quick and easy, retro-themed hybrid type album with a ton of speed and some punk influences. And, man, was I off. Thankfully. I’ve had my fill of those. Jenseitsritt has some depth to it. A ton of charm. Melody. It sounds reflective. Cathartic, too. I imagine I’ll be coming back to this one, often.