If I ran one of those big corporate festivals like Riot Fest or Coachella or somesuch, I would pay Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats whatever it took to cover the entirety of Diary of a Madman onstage for a special set. What could be more fitting than to have them take on Ozzy Osbourne‘s 1981 second album, with its killer hooks and weird melodies? They absolutely nail “Believer” while also succeeding in making it their own. Imagine them doing the same with “Tonight” or slowing down “Over the Mountain” or adding a layer of psychological threat to “Flying High Again,” digging into the title-track, and so on. I don’t run one of those fests, or any fests, and I can’t make that happen, but hearing them cover “Believer,” which they posted yesterday in honor of one year since Ozzy‘s passing, it’s fun to dream.

Earlier this week, Uncle Acid put forth the details of their upcoming album, Shapes of Midnight, which is out Sept. 18 on their own Killer Candy Records. The UK outfit have tours lined up to support in the US (with Messa, no less; good tour) and the UK that will carry them from before the release through the end of November, and likely 2027 will bring more to follow from their summer/festival tour on continental Europe — unless that’s already been announced and I’ve missed it — and elsewhere. I was lucky enough to see the headlining at Freak Valley Festival 2026 (review here), and as always they were a grim joy, their melodic take all the more fleshed out with new-ish keyboardist/vocalist Rachel Burnett complementing founding bandleader Kevin R. Starrs and fellow guitarist/vocalist George Hudson. Any day you can see them play is a win, which is to say I hope to hit the tour when they come through.

If you missed the album announcement — no, you didn’t; I know — it’s linked above and the title-track of Shapes of Midnight and the prior single “Don’t Let it Control You” are both under the tour dates below, so if you’re feeling “Believer” and want more of the band’s recent grit, it’s there to be had. I’d have posted this yesterday but for technical difficulties with the site, which is always a brainmelter, but I don’t think a track that, like me, came out in Oct. ’81 — there’s a joke about sore knees here that I don’t even want to make — minds the delay. It’s not like it kicks less ass Thursday than it did Wednesday.

Please enjoy:

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, “Believer” (Ozzy Osbourne cover)

R.I.P. OZZY

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Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats US Tour w/ Messa
09/08 — Charlotte, NC — Neighborhood Theatre
09/09 — Atlanta, GA — The Masquerade
09/10 — Nashville, TN — Brooklyn Bowl
09/12 — Dallas, TX — Studio at The Bomb Factory
09/13 — Austin, TX — Levitation Festival
09/15 — Albuquerque, NM — Sunshine Theatre
09/16 — Tucson, AZ — La Rosa
09/18 — Las Vegas, NV — The Portal at Area 15
09/19 — San Diego, CA — Observatory North Park
09/20 — Los Angeles, CA — The Bellwether
09/21 — San Francisco, CA — Regency Ballroom
09/24 — Boise, ID — Knitting Factory
09/25 — Portland, OR — Roseland Theater
09/26 — Seattle, WA — The Showbox
09/29 — Salt Lake City, UT — The Complex
09/30 — Denver, CO — Gothic Theatre
10/02 — Minneapolis, MN — Varsity Theater
10/03 — Omaha, NE — Slowdown
10/04 — Chicago, IL — Concord Music Hall
10/06 — Toronto, ON — Danforth Music Hall
10/07 — Montreal, QC — Théâtre Beanfield
10/08 — Worcester, MA — The Palladium
10/09 — Baltimore, MD — Nevermore Hall
10/11 — New York, NY — Irving Plaza

UK DATES:
11/19 — Wolverhampton, UK — KK’s Steel Mill
11/20 — Manchester, UK — New Century Hall
11/21 — Glasgow, UK — The Garage
11/22 — Leeds, UK — Brudenell
11/24 — Bristol, UK — Trinity
11/25 — Southampton, UK — Engine Rooms
11/27 — Brighton, UK — Concorde 2
11/28 — Norwich, UK — Waterfront
11/29 — Nottingham, UK — Rescue Rooms

UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS ARE:
Kevin Starrs — Vocals/Lead Guitar
George Hudson — Rhythm Guitar/Vocals
Jus Smith — Bass
Jon Rice —Drums
Rachel Burnett — Keys/Vocals

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, “Shapes of Midnight”

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, “Don’t Let it Control You” official video

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats website

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats on Instagram

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats on Facebook

Something tells me Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats are playing coy a bit when they use a phrase like, “recorded at Abbey Road with some old Neumanns and EMI equipment,” but maybe that’s just my brain thinking every piece of gear in that place must be legendary for one reason or another, if not made that way specifically by The Beatles. Wherever it was made, the streaming-now title-track of Shapes of Midnight — due Sept. 18 on the band’s own Killer Candy Records — bears the band’s signature grainy sound, warm and threatening all at once. It’s got a shuffle of a riff to follow on from the single “Don’t Let it Control” that was released earlier this year to herald their summer tour that finished earlier this month, and the album release will preface a UK run in November. See how everything ties together? Pro-shop.

Looking forward to digging into new Uncle Acid, both as they pivot back to more traditional songcraft following the successful imaginary soundtrack Nell’ Ora Blu (review here) in 2024 and just in general as a fan of the band. Their announcement was quick and dirty on socials (first paragraph below) and I paired it with their latest bio and tour dates, though if a proper for-the-LP press release comes in today I might replace all of it with that, so heads up to the absolutely no one who cares when I do that kind of thing [EDIT: Yes, I did, but I left the “recorded at…” there as well.

Good fun:

Uncle Acid – Shapes of Midnight – Sept. 18, 2026

WARNING: Our new album Shapes Of Midnight is out Sep 18. It was recorded at Abbey Road with some old Neumanns and EMI equipment. Listen on your telephones to the title track at our bandcamp (see bio). Vinyl pre order later today at killercandyrecords.com.

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Two years on from the mesmeric Nell’ Ora Blu, their synth-laden soundtrack for an imaginary Giallo movie, orphic Cambridge heavies Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats return with their seventh full-length, Shapes Of Midnight. A brilliantly macabre concept album partly inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s The Masque Of The Red Death and the too-real nightmares of our modern age, Shapes Of Midnight refines the group’s “Evil Beatles” sound: A thrilling, expertly composed fusion of eerie harmonies, pop hooks, Thin Lizzy-esque twin-guitar brilliance, and the kind of fleet-footed heaviness that’s become their trademark.

Shapes Of Midnight was tracked at Abbey Road Studios — live to analogue tape, natch — in a blessed, three-day blitz in the company of storied engineer Chris Bolster, whose previous clients include Phil Spector, Ozzy Osbourne, and Paul McCartney. The band employed era-appropriate tech, from antique Neumann mics once breathed upon by the Fabs and the Floyd, to consoles and compressors from the peak era of recorded sound. The mastering, meanwhile, was completed by Grammy-nominated engineer Noel Summerville (The White Stripes, The Clash, My Bloody Valentine).

The album marks a return to the guitar-forward attack of their earlier records, but also an evolution. Their blessed invocation of proto-metal heaviness is gilded by blasts of uncanny melancholic pop, bruising NWOBHM gallop, jazzy textures and complexities, and Krautrock-y cro-magnon synth damage. It’s a deliciously dark listen, for sure; as songwriter Kevin Starrs says, “Our albums exist in an alternate universe to our own. They’re all stories that could happen here, but everything’s just a bit ‘off.’”

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats spent their summer laying waste to festivals such as Sweden Rock, Hellfest, and Graspop and will tour North America, the UK, and Australia/New Zealand later this year. Further dates across Europe for next year to be announced soon.

SHAPES OF MIDNIGHT TRACKLISTING:
“House by the Grave”
“Shapes of Midnight”
“When Evil Wakes”
“Don’t Let It Control You”
“Psycho on the Loose”
“I Won’t Sleep (’til You’re Gone)”
“The Other Side of the Sky”
“Sleep No More”

UK DATES:
11/19 — Wolverhampton, UK — KK’s Steel Mill
11/20 — Manchester, UK — New Century Hall
11/21 — Glasgow, UK — The Garage
11/22 — Leeds, UK — Brudenell
11/24 — Bristol, UK — Trinity
11/25 — Southampton, UK — Engine Rooms
11/27 — Brighton, UK — Concorde 2
11/28 — Norwich, UK — Waterfront
11/29 — Nottingham, UK — Rescue Rooms

UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS ARE:
Kevin Starrs — Vocals/Lead Guitar
George Hudson — Rhythm Guitar/Vocals
Jus Smith — Bass
Jon Rice —Drums
Rachel Burnett — Keys/Vocals

https://www.uncleacidband.com
https://www.instagram.com/uncleacidband/
https://www.facebook.com/uncleacid/

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, “Shapes of Midnight”

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, “Don’t Let it Control You” official video