Midnight Vice Midnight Vice

"Midnight Vice is a NWOTHM (New Wave Of Traditional Heavy Metal) band hailing from the depths of Tampa's Underground metal scene. With a sound that pays homage to the legends of the 1980's metal era, they combine crushing riffs, soaring vocals, and blazing guitar solos to create a sound that is both familiar and fresh. They are characterized by denim and leather, with a "take no prisoners" attitude. The group is heavily influenced by bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Savatage, Megadeth, Motörhead and many more. Midnight Vice brings a sense of tradition to their music, all while infusing modern energy that is sure to ignite the flame within diehard metal heads. The band was originally formed in 2020 by vocalist Tyler Gray, and bassist Lakota Stafford. After enduring a few line-up changes, the band eventually brought guitarist Samuel Bean, and drummer Dennis O'Sullivan on board. Picking up speed, they started writing heavy metal anthems of their own. It wasn't long before they hit the ground running, rehearsing in humid, sweltering warehouses as preparation for great things to come. "We all shared a lot of the same interests in certain bands, but our musical backgrounds were all pretty different", remembers vocalist Tyler Gray and adds: "We were just a couple of guys jamming, and testing out the waters. Once we wrote the first two songs ("Baptized By Fire" and "Excalibur"), that was when our sound was pretty much established." Growing up in Tampa, Florida, the band was surrounded by the spirit of a lot of legends. "For the band as a whole, Crimson Glory and Savatage are by far the most influential local legends. We're also very big Death fans", confirms the singer. To Savatage, the band even pays tribute with a cover version of their Speed Metal classic "White Witch", from the almighty "Hall Of The Mountain King" album. "With us being a heavy metal band from Florida, it felt right to pay our homage to a band that put Florida on the map in regards of American heavy metal", says the singer and adds that Midnight Vice guitar player Sam Bean grew up in Tarpon Springs, the hometown of Savatage. Within the past few years, a new and young scene developed, discovering and sharing their love for traditional 80s Metal. While the first wave came with bands like Skull Fist, Enforcer, Ram, Cauldron and White Wizzard, a second wave just kicked-off with Midnight Vice possibly becoming one of the bands on top of it. "It is absolutely a new scene. It is incredible to see all of these new bands coming out. It's honestly gotten to the point that it's hard to keep up with all the bands popping up these days. I remember the heydays of Enforcer and Skull Fist being followed by bands such as Haunt, Riot City, and Sabïre. Since then, I feel like it's just been an overload of new bands. It's really cool to see, and we're happy to be part of such a flourishing movement." In 2023, Midnight Vice released their first EP digitally, which will be out physically including the mentioned Savatage cover now in 2024 on their new label RPM (Reigning Phoenix Music), the home of Helloween, Riot V, Jag Panzer, but also more bands of this new generation, like Skull Fist, Tailgunner and Saber. "We love all of our songs, and we are very confident in the material that we've put out so far. For the most part, the EP turned out exactly how we expected it to", sums the vocalist up, who has Heavy Metal in his blood and running through his veins. "Heavy metal is an undying force that inspires and empowers. It's a power cage that no true fan will ever escape. Midnight Vice embodies that, and we stay true to the spirit of what our predecessor's created.""