Midnight is really one person in the studio. Athenar started the project as a solo outlet in Cleveland in 2003 and is still its only permanent member, writing and recording it himself and taking it on the road with hooded live players.
The sound mixes first-wave black metal, speed metal and NWOBHM with a lot of punk attitude, and Metal Blade, his label now, has never tried to clean it up. Satanic Royalty, the 2011 debut, is still the record people bring up. When it came out one review said Midnight "make music to start fights to." Steel, Rust and Disgust followed in 2025, with a single called "Cleveland Metal."
For Satanic Royalty's 15th anniversary in 2026, Athenar took Midnight on a world tour, including a UK and Ireland co-headline run with Voivod in June and fall North American dates supporting GWAR, who are also on this Sonic Temple bill.