There is a heavy, lingering fog that settles over the mind after profound loss, a kind of quiet devastation that alters how one processes time and memory.
When trauma takes root, the silence it leaves behind can be suffocating. Some creators attempt to write their way around this quiet, polishing their pain until it becomes palatable for casual consumption.
Others, however, refuse to sand down the edges. They turn their instruments into tools of excavation, digging through the wreckage of their own history.
In his latest release “Midnight Trains“, Lior Golan chooses the latter path, offering a collection of recordings that confront his deepest scars with startling clarity.
This is a project born from necessity rather than ambition, a collection of songs that serves as a direct response to overwhelming circumstances.
Based in Tel Aviv, Israel, Lior Golan is the guitarist, composer, founder, and sole funder behind this rock project. His biography is marked by intense personal battles, including severe PTSD following his IDF service and a prolonged struggle with substance abuse.
Compounding these trials was the devastating loss of his sister at the NOVA party, an event that cast a long shadow over his life and work.
At the centre of the record is Gabe, the singer and principal lyric writer. Their partnership spans fifteen years, built on mutual understanding and shared endurance.
Gabe’s voice gives the material its human scale, carrying the tensions in Golan’s writing without reducing them to spectacle.
The release of this EP marks a significant milestone in Golan’s career, functioning both as a piece of art and as an act of survival. These five tracks sat dormant on a hard drive for four years while he focused on recovery and sobriety.
Now, finally professionally mixed and mastered, they emerge as a raw documentation of resilience. The decision to record at Shardo Studio, utilising an SSL console, allowed the group to capture the unfiltered energy of their performance.
By tracking the bass and drums simultaneously, they preserved the spontaneous chemistry that defines the best independent rock releases.
This approach honours the tradition of classic heavy rock bands, where the interplay between people in a room creates a friction that cannot be replicated by digital manipulation.
Robust and gritty, the production strategy serves the emotional weight of the material perfectly. The opening track, “Cruel Wind“, establishes an immediate, driving rhythm, anchored by a prominent bassline that pushes the song forward with relentless momentum.
Gabe’s delivery is raspy and unpolished, carrying the exhaustion and defiance of someone who has fought hard for every breath. The addition of Niv Hovav on Hammond organ, synths, and piano adds rich, swelling textures to the arrangements, expanding the sound without diluting its core intensity.
Golan’s guitar writing keeps the record grounded, favouring force and movement over ornamental display. The title track, “Midnight Train“, captures the restless, kinetic energy of a classic rock anthem while remaining deeply anchored in Golan’s personal narrative.
The instrumentation grinds and crashes, echoing the heavy machinery of the song’s namesake. It is a piece that speaks to the urge for escape and the relentless push toward an uncertain future.
In moments like this, one might recall the visceral, industrial paintings of the early twentieth century, where the raw power of machines mirrored the chaotic, unyielding nature of human ambition and struggle.
The song channels that same mechanical urgency, turning the rhythm section into an engine of forward motion.
There is a surprising tenderness to be found here as well, particularly on the closing track, “You Tried Your Best“. Gabe carries its lead vocal, while Golan wrote the lyrics himself, giving the song a special place in the EP’s emotional architecture.
Its words offer a quiet, compassionate acknowledgement of failure and perseverance. When the song reaches toward distant stars and human hearts, it extends a hand to anyone else drowning in darkness.
The vulnerability displayed here is striking, proving that true strength often lies in the willingness to admit one’s own fragility.
“Midnight Trains” also reads as a beginning rather than a final statement. Golan is already developing a second album and preparing for a tour, giving this hard rock EP the feel of a first chapter finally released into public view.
What remains when the amplifiers are finally turned off is a profound respect for the honesty of the work.
It leaves us to consider how we process our own quiet devastations, and asks if we too have the courage to turn our deepest wounds into something that might guide others through the dark.
