Review: TAILGUNNER – Midnight Blitz

Napalm Records (February 6^th, 2026)

Reviewer – Jason Hopper

Arriving from the UK in 2022, TAILGUNNER have made a name for themselves touring in support of their debut album, ‘Guns For Hire‘. They were fortunate to find themselves opening for KK’s Priest on one of their European tours. This led to KK Downing being so impressed with their NWOBHM musicality and youthful exuberance that he agreed to produce their sophomore release, ‘Midnight Blitz’.

If you’re looking for a straight up, no nonsense heavy metal band that harkens back to the glory days of the 80s, then TAILGUNNER is right up your alley. This is heavy metal in its most basic, primal form with a heavy Judas Priest sheen over the entire album. This is the album that JP could have made either directly before or after the legendary Painkiller.

To be clear, I’m not comparing singer Craig Cairns to the legendary Rob Halford. They are two completely different singers. Craig does bring the heft needed to power these tracks and that is evident by first single, and album opener, ‘Midnight Blitz’.

This song is not an outlier. The album can be summed up by this track alone. If you love this song, like I do, then you will absolutely dig this album. The band knew they had something special here and decided to name the album after it. Everything you need for a great metal track is here: A commanding vocal presence, solid and flashy riffs, and an effective bottom end to hold it all together.

How’s this for coincidence? I just reviewed the new Gabrielle De Val EP, which features the song ‘Time To Die’ and references the 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner. Now TAILGUNNER decides to directly reference the same movie with ‘Tears In Rain’. Both songs are unique from each other and both songs are sensational. Unlike the more fast paced numbers on the album, this is a straight up rocker with a melodious groove constructed by guitarists Zach Salvini and Rhea Thompson. I am not sure who takes lead here, so I’m giving them both credit. This is the song I played a few times before moving on to the rest of the album. My favorite from the album.

The band doesn’t break new ground style-wise, and all the old school metal tropes are here.  When they’re played this well, you can’t help but dig them. Take ‘Follow Me In Death’ as an example.  It’s a double bass sonic assault, the type that offers speed metal riffs while the singer stretches out a limited number of words, overenunciating each one to fill the chorus.  It’s been done countless times by other bands.  Yet, the only proper response can be to smile and bang your head to the infectious rhythm.

I wondered if ‘Blood Sacrifice’ is an unrecorded KK’s Priest track. The song sounds like something that you would have heard off their last album. Craig Cairns virtually impersonates Ripper Owens vocal stylings. A take no prisoners track that never lets up, it’s three minutes and eighteen seconds of heavy metal bliss.

There is a ballad to break up the ferocity of the tracks, and there’s a surprising influence from the Judas Priest Turbo album. ‘War In Heaven’ begins with a keyboard intro not dissimilar to JP’s ‘Out In The Cold’. From there it builds, going from an acoustic guitar to the crescendo of the full band in the chorus. Atmospheric with a melancholic vocal approach. The track is placed perfectly on the album, allowing the listener to catch their breath between the metallic bombast.

I found this album’s production to be unique by today’s standards. Over the last thirty years, music mixes seem to have steadily increased in loudness. Critics will call this style “Brick walling”, with many layers of instrumentation cranked to ridiculous levels, making the production less dynamic. 

What KK has done here is return the old school style of dynamics to the band. This album sounds like it was produced in the late 80s or early 90s. I had to turn the volume up on all my devices to levels I would not dare try for fear of making my ears bleed. The album sounds terrific, with dynamics between the instruments that allow for sharper moments to stand out due to the old school style of leveling. It’s quite a step up from the lower production quality of the debut.

There is a lot to love here for metal fans of all ages. As a middle-aged fan, I try to look at bands like this from a different perspective. While this is material that has very familiar tropes, the truth is many of the bands from the 80s are fading into the past. In order for this genre to continue, new bands playing this style need to be embraced by the next generation. They need their own heavy metal heroes. To that degree, TAILGUNNER honor the past while showing the way to the future. There’s something for young and old here and I expect this band’s talent and popularity to only grow from here. Support TAILGUNNER by streaming, buying, or seeing them live. Here’s hoping that they get a support slot opening for a band in America sometime soon.

Tracklisting:

1. Midnight Blitz
2. Tears In Rain
3. Follow Me In Death
4. Dead Until Dark
5. Barren Lands and Seas of Red
6. War In Heaven
7. Blood Sacrifice
8. Night Raids
9. Eye of the Storm
10. Eulogy

Line-up:

Craig Carns – Vocals
Rhea Thompson – Lead Guitar:
Zach Salvini – Lead Guitar
Bones – Bass Guitar
Eddie Mariotti – Drums 

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