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Third album from this UK band, who are working such a retro metal vibe they sound almost revolutionary. The sound of Midnight Force is absolutely tied to the early '80s sounds of melodic bands in Scandinavia, but they don't hark back to any specific band that I can pin down. When I spin this it sounds familiar as hell, but fucked if I can pick out who it is reminding me of. Classic metal riffs with a pretty dry guitar tone, a recording job that nails that primitive studio sound, and distinctive vocals that are mostly melodic, a bit rough, not really doing any one thing that's super great, but they fit the music really well. This is just idiosyncratic stuff that manages to evoke the feel you used to get from obscure releases back in an elder day, and because of that, Severan punches well above its weight. An album that is more than the sum of its familiar parts.