The new Under Midnight album is another good listen, track for track. Unlike its predecessor, this one is not a blatant concept album. In fact, there's only one song about virtual reality on the whole album - "Artificial Light," a very dance-able tune with noise.
Musically, this album sounds a tad more aggressive than the first. One cut, "Way Up Here," sounds like the pop narrative of the last album, while tunes such as "Lie To Me" and "Dystopia" take the aggro/intense approach. "Dream Baby" is a cool tune, with female vocals in the chorus adding a dreamy sound, and Frankie adding his angry vocals to the verses.
Under Midnight brings us a few firsts here: Grunge-industrial and industrial surf music!? "Void" uses a fuzzy, grungy guitar tone to give it that Seattle flavor; while "Oh Boy" mixes surf music with industrial sampling and heavy bpm's fired at us through the computer.
If there is a common theme to these songs, it's probably the hypocrisy of legalistic Christians. The opening cut (album's toughest song), "Lie To Me," sounds like a dialogue to a lying TV preacher. In "Guilty," this same legalist seems to belittle someone (a Christian rocker, maybe?) and then seems to gloat arrogantly in the closing number - "Way Up Here."
Concept or not, each song stands alone. Under Midnight stays current and aggressive and competitive in the industrial genre.