Album Review: Wednesday 13 – Mid Death Crisis (Napalm Records)

Wednesday 13, the iconic shock rocker, is back with his brand-new album, ‘Mid Death Crisis’, out April 25th, 2025, via Napalm Records.

Describing the album himself as a “fun, campy, leave-your-brain-at-the-door rager”, Wednesday 13 does a great job of summarising this record and setting up expectations. There’s nothing game-changing here, especially by the Duke of Spook’s standards, but that shouldn’t detract from the overall enjoyability of the record. It’s Wednesday 13 doing what Wednesday 13 does best, clearly enjoying himself, and producing anthemic horror-infused hits with his undead tongue jammed in his undead cheek.

Setting an eerie scene with the intro of There’s No Such Thing as Monsters, before ramping up the heaviness with the industrial sounding banger that is Decease and Desist, Wednesday welcomes us to his Mid Dead Crisis with a mighty bang. His vocals are sounding great, resulting in a chorus that is as infectious as a zombie bite.

Alas, the album’s biggest lull comes next with When the Devil Commands. A fairly tepid and uninspired twisted heavy rock tune that is ‘Wednesday 101’ but lacking a memorable hook. It’s just boring. Which is something you never want to say about this artist. It’s been out a while (first single) and it’s still not grabbing me.

What is grabbing me though are tracks like No Apologies, Decapitation, In Misery, and Blood Storm. The middle part of the album brings some inspired stuff and easily the most enjoyable Wednesday 13 music heard in a while. We’ve got salacious body shakers, roaring head bangers, sexy foot tappers, and so much more. Here we hear Wednesday at his most comfortable, and goodness, doesn’t he deliver? Showcasing creativity, some really strong creativity, where familiarity doesn’t feel like repetition, the iconic artist transforms classic horror-infused rock and makes it sound hotter than ever.

It’s a blast to listen to, the kind of record you can put on at a party and everyone (including the dead) will be up and moving to it. Especially when the album continues to deliver hefty rock anthems like Xanaxtasy, brooding tracks like I Hurt You, and powerful groovers like My Funeral. You don’t have to love Wednesday 13 to love this album, that’s how easy it is to enjoy, and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t call themselves a fan really. Wednesday 13 has well and truly won me over with this pleasing collection of sinful anthems. Capping mine (and yours, I reckon) enjoyment off with the manic sound of copious amounts of blood being spilled via the high-powered finale of Sick and Violent.

Delivering on all his promises, and more, this is a return to form for Wednesday 13 and fans are simply going to love it.

Wednesday 13 – Mid Death Crisis Track Listing:

1. There’s No Such Thing as Monsters
2. Decease and Desist
3. When the Devil Commands
4. Rotting Away
5. No Apologies
6. Decapitation
7. In Misery
8. Blood Storm
9. Xanaxtasy
10. I Hurt You
11. My Funeral
12. Sick and Violent

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