Middian

After the dissolution of Yob after 2005’s phenomenal The Unreal Never Lived, founding guitarist/vocalist Mike Scheidt took time off to reconsider his musical career. Feeling the tug of the band again, he asked two close friends — bassist Will Lindsay and drummer Scott Headrick — to join what would become Middian. Their debut album, Age Eternal, expands the Yob template with a darker, more insidious edge. "Dreamless Eye” explodes forth like Mastodon with the intensity of High on Fire, slowing down to half-speed after six minutes to stretch the chords to their greatest lengths. "The Blood of Icons” sports Yob-isms at the 3:25 mark — Scheidt’s echoplex strumming prefaces the louder passages to follow. With a long, plaintive intro, the 14-minute title track continues the Yob extrapolation with more of Scheidt’s melodic riffage, finally kicking in with a distinct Daylight Dies vibe. "The Celebrant” and especially "Sink to the Center” suffer devastating apoplexies as Scheidt and Lindsay swap sustained death grunts and echo-y falsettos like demon warriors overcome by bloodlust. The five songs of Age Eternal entwine Middian’s varied emotions into implacably virulent episodes of doom metal that will draw in all fans of said bands.