Loosely inspired by the occult Marvel supergroup of the same name, “Midnight Sons” from Philadelphia’s Zilla Rocca (Wrecking Crew) and Vancouver’s DJ Chong Wizard is a cryptic and poignant look at the modern hellscape of modern society no comic book writer could ever predict.

It’s only right the album channel characters like Ghost Rider and Moon Knight, one cursed with an inferno stare to reflect the pain and suffering of others, the other a millionaire with a personality disorder obsessed with justice under moon light.

In times where no one wants to play fair, “Midnight Sons” examines local politrix (“Honest Living/Crooked Killing”), castigator mythos (“Vigilante Breakfast”), unabashed capital gains (“Millionaire Grammar”), and comic book escapsim (“Marc Spector’s Theme”, “The Gray Ghost”, “Killadelphia”).

The production from Chong Wizard is built on Japanese horror scores, psychadelic rock, Hitchcock strings, sub-woofer breaking bass, and live drums from the legendary J-Zone.

Zilla Rocca gets a helping hand from avant garde oracles (billy woods, Denmark, Curly Castro, PremRock, ALASKA) and street baptised soothsayers (Malik B, Nature, Lord Juco). After a busy year of nostalgia raps with Ray West and in-house one-upsmanship with ShrapKnel and Cargo Cults, Zilla Rocca is unleashed with biting commentary, cast-iron punchlines, and his trademark hard boiled story raps.

“Midnight Sons” is both gothic and straight forward, an ode to Mobb Deep’s “Hell on Earth” as a record and as a mirror to our times.