WEDNESDAY 13: ‘Mid Death Crisis’ Is the Sleazy, Screaming Horror Rock Revival We Didn’t Know We Needed

Review By Glen Parkes

Posted by Jace Media Music | April 25, 2025

The Duke of Spook rides again—and this time, he’s packing more sleaze, screams, and snarling riffs than ever before. Wednesday 13’s latest offering, Mid Death Crisis, is not just a return to form; it’s a decapitated head-first plunge into the blood-soaked heart of goth-infused 80s horror rock.

Out now via Napalm Records, this feral 12-track beast follows 2022’s Horrifier, a darker, pandemic-era record. But while that album simmered with isolation and fear, Mid Death Crisis is the rowdy undead party that kicks the coffin lid clean off its hinges. It’s big, it’s loud, and it’s dripping with campy charm and toxic glam. Produced by Alex Kane (Life, Sex & Death, Enuff Z’Nuff), and featuring a brilliant guest spot from Faster Pussycat’s Taime Downe, this album finds Wednesday 13 doing what he does best—rocking like hell while grinning straight into the grave.

Opening with the deliciously eerie “There’s No Such Thing As Monsters,” the album sets the tone like the creaking door of an old haunted house. Synths hum, tension builds, and the horror curtain rises. Then comes “Decease and Desist,” a stomping, industrial-tinged rager that wastes no time ripping its claws into your speakers. It’s pure Wednesday—gritty, gory, and catchy as hell.

Lead single “When The Devil Commands” is the album’s undeniable anthem, a demonic dose of glam-metal mayhem complete with arena-sized drums and a chorus designed to summon the souls of ‘80s rockers. The lyrics channel vintage Satanic Panic energy in tongue-in-cheek fashion. It’s wicked fun with a wicked hook, and exactly the kind of theatrical excess fans love him for.

Tracks like “Rotting Away” and “Blood Storm” dial up the punkier goth edge, injecting Misfits-inspired mayhem with Wednesday’s signature bite. “No Apologies,” featuring Taime Downe, sees sleaze metal and exorcism merge into a gloriously chaotic romp. There’s swagger in the riffs, venom in the vocals, and enough grit to make Mötley Crüe blush.

Then there’s “Decapitation,” a gory little murder ballad that starts off with a groove-laden riff before launching into a surf-rock-from-hell bridge. It’s proof that Wednesday 13 hasn’t lost his flair for the theatrical or his ability to twist genres into something unmistakably his own.

“In Misery” keeps the pressure on, a metal-tinged bruiser full of sneering angst. “Xanaxtasy,” with its addictive hook and woozy pulse, takes a sideways step into twisted party territory—a zombified nightclub anthem if ever there was one. “Sick and Violent” punches hard and fast, a fist to the face of anyone who thought Wednesday 13 couldn’t still bring the brutality.

But just when you think it’s all blood and bravado, Wednesday pulls back with the aching “I Hurt You,” a rare introspective moment that adds surprising emotional depth. Follow-up “My Funeral” continues the slow-burning feel with mournful melodies and a haunting sense of finality, before the album closes with “Sick and Violent”—a finale that explodes like a coffin full of dynamite.

Mid Death Crisis is a celebration of everything that makes Wednesday 13 such a unique force in rock and metal. It’s horror with a wink, sleaze with smarts, and hooks sharper than a guillotine. From the campy intro to the crushing finish, this album is a blood-slicked blast and an unapologetic celebration of the macabre.

If Horrifier was a candlelit séance, Mid Death Crisis is a full-blown zombie mosh pit—and we’re here for every unholy second of it.

Tracklist:

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

Final Thoughts: Wednesday 13 has truly delivered with Mid Death Crisis. It’s sleazy, theatrical, full of gothic swagger and metal muscle—a must-listen for fans of horror rock and hard-hitting fun. This is the album to blast when the moon is full, the fog is rising, and you’re ready to dance with the dead.