To listen to Blacklist is to listen to people who have chosen to stand in opposition. Complex and modern themes are wound tightly inside impressionistic lyrics, available to be unravelled by the curious listener or ignored by those who find themselves moved primarily by the force of the music. The band's debut LP, Midnight Of The Century, is raw ambition mixed with raw power. Mixed by Ed Buller (Suede, Slowdive, Pulp, White Lies) and mastered by Howie Weinberg (Muse, Jeff Buckley, Iron Maiden, U2, Nirvana), it is a potent dose of rock and roll maximalism.

When the revolutionary Victor Serge coined the idea of a midnight in the century, he was referring to the dark pact between two of the cruelest tyrants the world had ever seen. And yet Serge is perhaps best known for his rambunctious, stubborn attitude in the face of such darkness: "the course is set on hope," he wrote. It is precisely this marriage of extremity to romantic optimism that characterizes Midnight Of The Century -- not just in the realm of ideas, but musically as well. Despite its density of sound and shadowy atmospheres, the record is the soundtrack to an uplifting journey that is as personal as it is universal. It is also a fitting manifesto announcing the arrival of Blacklist.