(((O))) Review: Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats – Shapes of Midnight

Right off the bat, I had no idea what to expect when I put on Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats’ new album, Shapes of Midnight. Due for release through their own Killer Candy Records, it caught me completely off guard.

For a brief moment, it was almost as if Bigelf had returned with a follow-up to their 2014 release Into the Maelstrom, but this record takes a very different path. Following 2024’s sixth album Nell’ Ora Blu, Shapes of Midnight drops you straight into the world of Hammer Horror, Giallo cinema, and macabre storytelling, paying homage to Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death while leaving unexpected nightmares waiting around every corner.

The cover carries that same pulp-fiction atmosphere, conjuring the kind of storytelling you could imagine legends like Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, or Peter Cushing bringing to the television screen as they introduced the next tale in their own adaptation of EC Comics’ Tales from the Crypt. With its layered textures, ominous psychedelic power, and twisted atmosphere, the Deadbeats clearly understand both the score and the source material.

I know they’re going to be compared to the Sabbath sound, and that’s understandable. After all, Uncle Acid opened for Black Sabbath during their 2013 European and UK tour while the Brum legends were promoting 13, including two shows in their hometown of Birmingham: LG Arena on December 20 and the National Indoor Arena on December 22. But this is different. Here, the Deadbeats are showcasing their own power, force, and pure wake-up call, giving the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe a giant middle finger.

When ‘House by the Grave’ kicks the door down, all bets are off. They lay down the law with brutal, sludge-like attacks and horror-sque riffs, creating a place filled with terror and evil in a way that makes you wonder what Kubrick might have done with this band scoring the 1980 horror classic The Shining, starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall. The insanity and madness unfolding inside the Overlook Hotel fit this band’s twisted musical language perfectly.

The revved-up roar behind the title track delivers another massive wake-up call as the killing unfolds inside the house depicted on the album cover. We’re not talking about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre here; this is a full-on slasher in its own Bigelf-like form, something Damon Fox would have been proud of. The double-tracked, reverberating vocals hang over the brutal aftermath as Scotland Yard pieces together the killer’s next clues and tries to figure out what he has left behind.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the big screen, ‘When Evil Wakes’ introduces late-’60s keyboards that bring the Farfisa organ to mind, recalling the sounds The Doors and Iron Butterfly used to create their own psychedelic worlds. Uncle Acid then lure you in with incredible riffs, powerful improvisation, and bluesy guitar textures, while the track slips into the madness of criminals locked away inside Arkham Asylum, leaving you wondering what they’ll come up with next to make Gotham City reign in terror.

‘Don’t Let It Control You.’ Now this is where the Deadbeats get down and heavy, using cosmic space-rock throttle to make the jump into lightspeed. And no, this ain’t Star Wars crap. This is where they pull pages straight from the adult illustrated fantasy world of Heavy Metal, or imagine what the Joker and Harley Quinn might come up with next to force the Dark Knight out of his manor and stop them once and for all. It’s a madhouse waiting for him.

But what’s this? Is ‘Psycho on the Loose’ showcasing a nod to the new wave and post-punk scene while somehow making Devo sound like a sludge-metal band? The answer is yes. At first, you might think it’s tipping its hat toward Devo’s Duty Now for the Future era, but once the cloaks come off, the song becomes a dangerous showdown between killer and protagonist, with the final confrontation unfolding through the synth-like parts lurking in the background.

Next, ‘I Won’t Sleep (’Til You’re Gone)’ sees the band stepping into ’70s glam-rock territory and putting on their platform boots, but with a saxophone shuffle thrown into the mix. It carries a foot-stomping force and ’60s garage-rock atmosphere, landing somewhere between Slade and The Electric Prunes as if the two bands had collided to create one of the heaviest shuffles imaginable.

They bring the synths back for the surreal climax of ‘The Other Side of the Sky’, keeping the tension high as the final section turns into an all-out fight. You can almost feel the characters becoming wounded and exhausted, but just as things appear ready to take another turn, the killer takes his own life by falling into the blue sky and accepting his fate as the musical backdrop carries him toward his demise.

Closing out the haunted house is the bluesy-synth shuffle ‘Sleep No More’. The Deadbeats understand that blues and synths can work remarkably well together. It may sound like an odd combination on paper, but they make it work, keeping the beat moving and driving the whole thing toward the sunset and another adventure waiting somewhere down the road. It’s a bit Italian prog, a bit Pentagram, and a whole lot of psychedelic madness blended into one giant hallucinogenic smoothie.

Let’s face it: Uncle Acid have really taken things up a notch, and they’re giving 2026 a serious run for its money. Shapes of Midnight is one of their boldest and most adventurous releases, showing just how far this band can push its sound without backing down. They’ve created something original, dangerous, and perfectly suited to the haunted house they’ve built around these songs. From start to finish, it isn’t pretty, and that’s exactly what makes it work.