September 18, 2026 by A.S. Van Dorston

A Poe-inspired triumphant return to heavy rock on their best sounding album yet

Two years ago when the sixth album from Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats was announced, I was stoked, as it had been six years since their last one, Wasteland (2018). I’d been playing all five of their albums, appreciating their evil Beatles sound crossed with Sabbathy proto-metal, Thin Lizzy twin leads and heavy psych more and more. Nell’ ora blue (2024) was a massive disappointment. I mean sure, as an “oi, we fookin’ bloody love Goblin, let’s make an imaginary Italian pulp horror soundtrack” tribute, it was pretty cool. But it didn’t sound like a real Uncle Acid album. To my ears, Shapes of Midnight is their real sixth album.

This is also a concept album, based loosely on Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” story where Prince Prospero thinks he and a thousand nobles can escape the plague by sealing themselves inside a fortified abbey, where they indulge in revelry that climaxes with a lavish masquerade ball. A mysterious masked intruder appears, who Prospero pursues, until he, and the rest of his guests drop dead. One can easily see it’s relevance to our present grim reality where corporations and rich assholes are destroying the environment for everyone — but even the most privileged can’t escape death.

It’s also their best sounding album, which is no shock as there was a consistent progression since Vol. 1 (2010) was recorded on a consumer 8-track cassette, reel-to-reel on Blood Lust (2011), a slightly more professional 16-track setup on Mind Control (2013), more microphones, outboard gear and headroom on 24-track with The Night Creeper (2015) and Wasteland (2018) was recorded at Sunset Sound in L.A. and The Overlook in Elstree. So the sessions at Abbey Road weren’t a giant leap from the last two, but with the Beatles-era Neumann mics and classic EMI TG12345 solid-state console, it definitely has an extra sprinkle of pixie/demon dust. The first three singles integrated well with the band’s catalog when I listened to a playlist mix rather than sticking out as anomalies. They played two of them last weekend at Levitation fest and they measured up to some of their all-time best.

“House by the Grave” kicks off with a thick, heavy proto-metal riff, and mid-song shifts and they doom the f**k out to an even heavier Iommi-worthy riff. But that’s not all, as they then break out into a NWOBHM gallop subtly augmented with an organ that charges into an apocalyptic crescendo. It’s the longest track at 6:50, yet seemed to whizz by in the blink of an eye. A promising sign for good times in the end times to come. The title track is another masterpiece where the central showcase is a series of harmonized lead solos that are the best tribute to Iron Maiden I’ve heard in years (they also covered “Remember Tomorrow” in 2015).

The occult cauldron bubbles with liquidy menace in the psych noir brooder “When Evil Wakes” with an assist from a saxophone and Doorsy Farfisa organ before fading into darkness with some extended guitar solos. The third single is the hard driving “Don’t Let it Control You” that links the motorik rhythms of German Kosmische Musik and a Stooges neanderthal one-note piano vamp with Queens of the Stone Age’s robo-rock. It’s a relatively simple rocker, but one of their best, with stickier melodic chorus than on previous highlights like “Blood Runner.”

“Psycho on the Loose” begins with a juicy John Carptenter 80s synth line, and launches into a smoking guitar chugger that serves as another highlight. The saxophone returns more prominently on the smouldering “I Won’t Sleep (‘Til You’re Gone)” with a T. Rex glam boogie rhythm. On “The Other Side of the Sky,” they compress the best atmospheric bits of their last imaginary soundtrack experiment into a dreamy, cosmic jaunt that transcends that genre tribute. The album ends strong with “Sleep No More” that slows the tempo to the lumbering lurch of the undead or near dead. The riff isn’t as flashy as those on the rest of the albums, and it shouldn’t be, as it promises dread to match lines like “a night of terror shall begin,” chanted in a terrifying whisper at the end. It is presumed that the bastards meet a suitably gruesome and deserved end.

Uncle Acid fans are also rewarded for their patience, essentially an eight year wait since their last real rock album, and it was definitely worth it, a concise eight tracks of all killer and no filler in 45 minutes. While the band’s catalog is more consistent in retrospect than it had been given credit for at times, there’s a strong case to be made that Shapes of Midnight is their best since Blood Lust. And perhaps after a time of soaking this up through spooky season, this could even be a contender for their all-time best.

The Six Album Run Club

Let’s skip the fake soundtrack and give the band the credit they deserve for a stellar run of six albums that place them as one of the best rock bands of the 21st century with Elder, Colour Haze, Motorpsycho, Truckfighters, Graveyard, Radiohead and Ufomammut.