VOIVOD + MIDNIGHT

Divergent Promotions presents by arrangement with Route One  

VOIVOD + MIDNIGHT + CRYPTOSIS

Voivod
Very few bands survive for four decades. Even fewer are those that continue to reach new creative heights, long after legendary status has been achieved. Voïvod were never like other bands: even as the thrash metal scene exploded in the early ‘80s, the Jonquière, Québec crew stood apart, both as unique visionaries and as proud subverters of the metallic norm. From early prog-thrash classics like Killing Technology and Dimension Hatröss through to the psychedelic explorations of The Outer Limits, Voïvod have been standard bearers for individuality and creative freedom for nearly 40 years.

Midnight
Midnight is a band fronted by one Athenar, aka Jamie Walters, a guy who has had his hand in practically anything metal coming out of Cleveland over the years. Originally just a for-fun side project, Midnight has developed into a full-fledged band, and the formula is simple -- raw, NWOBHM-inspired fare, with heavy influences from bands like Tank, Motorhead, and a bit of early Venom as well. It's certainly not complex, and there's really not a lot of variation from song to song or album to album, yet there aren't a lot of bands playing this style these days and Midnight is surprisingly effective and entertaining.

Cryptosis
In a metal scene brimming with talent, Dutch heavyweights Cryptosis stood out like a shining diamond from the very start. Commencing their reign of cerebral terror back in 2020, this most distinctive and inventive of metal power trios sent shockwaves through the scene with their monstrous 2021 debut album Bionic Swarm. A raging cyclone of highly evolved extreme metal, it showcased the band’s dystopian vision, introducing the exhilarating sound of three ingenious virtuosos, and standing proudly apart from prevailing trends. Cryptosis remains determined to follow their chosen path, and in 2025, they return with a phenomenal sophomore record, Celestial Death released on Century Media Records. An exercise in creative defiance, Celestial Death maintains Cryptosis’ core policy of making epic music that refuses to be pigeonholed. From the neck-wrecking intensity of opener Faceless Matter and the triumphant fury of Static Horizon, to vivid and venomous finale Cryptosphere, the Dutchmen’s second full-length is a sustained revelation. The songs are sharper, tighter and imbued with a powerful sense of skewed melody; the production is vast and destructive, but laudably organic and meticulously detailed. Everything that made Bionic Swarm so compelling has mutated and been magnified, and the band are ecstatic with the results. Underpinned by elements of black, death and thrash metal, combined with orchestral compositions, they have produced a sound that has no precedents in modern heavy music. Songs like Ascending and In Between Realities offer a box-fresh new metal hybrid, performed with furious skill and unwavering passion. This is melodic black/death metal taken to the next level.