MIDNITE
Seek Knowledge Before Vengeance
(Afrikan Roots Lab)


“Seek Knowledge Before Vengeance,” Midnite’s 4th release since its debut in 1997, is truly another classic from this St. Croix quintet.

Starting Off with the powerful title track, this disc contains just under 60 minutes of back-to-back absolute killers.

As was the case with their previous release, “Jubilees Of Zion,” this new masterpiece was recorded in their homeland of St. Croix at their Afrikan Roots Lab studios. It was mixed by the band’s keyboardist and “musical director,” Ron Benjamin.

Benjamin even takes over lead vocals on one track, the slow, rootsy “New Life,” but once again it’s his brother Vaughn’s unique and captivating vocal delivery which fuels the music, as he sings and chants over the remaining 12 crucial rhythms as only he can. If you’ve never heard him, you’re missing one of reggae’s most passionate and incredible vocalists. Words can barely do him justice.

The musicianship on this release is second to none. These guys are extremely talented and the songs were all produced and written by Midnite, consisting of Phillip Merchant on bass, Dion Hopkins on drums, Abijah Hicks on lead guitar, Ron Benjamin on keyboards, guitar and background vocals (and lead vocals on “New Life”) and lead vocalist extrordinaire Vaughn Benjamin who also lends his talents on some background vocals and percussion. They’ve also enlisted the additional guitar work of Whealon Massicot.

As usual, the cover artwork is cool and thought-provoking, this time done up by the artist named Ninja.

This is serious hard-core reggae with a message. My only complaint is the lack of a lyric sheet. There’s a quote from each tune in the sparse liner notes and each gives a glimpse of Vaughn Benjamin’s incredible lyrics (from "You Don't Know Me:" 'Two negative signs is an equal sign = multiply double negative you get a positive all the time'), but without a lyric sheet it’s impossible to truly figure out what he’s saying. And believe me, as in the above quote, he's saying a lot.

Regardless, “Seek Knowledge Before Vengeance” is an incredible release. Midnite’s the hottest band on the planet right now and this powerful, infectious disc is proof of that claim. This is one killer CD. Check it out.




To listen to a real audio stream of this cd...LISTEN


For more Midnite cd reviews, check out my review page...MORE REVIEWS


For Midnite's home page...MIDNITE


To check out some crucial cds on Skank Records...SKANK RECORDS







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