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Nachtmystium: Addicts – black meddle pt.2

14/09/10 || Khlysty

BLASPHEMY!!! HERESY!!! UNCLEAN!!! UNTRVE!!! UNKVLT!!! UNGRIMM!!! ABOMINATION!!! BURN THE HERETICS!!! BURN THEM AT THE STAKE AND SCATTER THEIR UNHOLY ASHES TO THE WINDS!!! NO, NO, BEFORE BURNING THEM, FIRSTLY DISEMBOWEL THEM!!! FOR IT IS WRITTEN THAT ALL THOSE WHO ABANDON THE TRVE, KVLT, GRVM, NEKRO WAYS SHALL FOREVER BE CONSIGNED TO ETERNAL RIDICULE AND BE HUNTED DOWN. FOR YOU SHALL NOT SUFFER A RECREANT TO LIVE!!!

Okay, now that we have this thingy out of our system, let’s talk about “Addicts: Black Meddle pt. 2”, the new Nachtmystium record and the second part of a series (?) of totally revisionist takes on black metal. For more info about what happened with “Assassins: Black Meddle pt. 1”, please refer to my review here. For, now, we’re entering a whole new realm of music by Blake Judd and his cohorts in crime and desecration of everything that’s held holy and hallow in black metal.

See, “Addicts” is definitely NOT black metal. Oh, it’s informed by the genre and has a couple of songs that sound like black metal. But on the whole, “Addicts” is nothing more than an incredibly good record of anthemic experimental heavy rock music. Let me give you some examples: “No Funeral” sounds like a beefed-up version of an old Gary Numan song, what with its synthetic (or synthetic-sounding drumming). “Nightfall”, with its stuttering riff reminds me of Gang Of Four, the English Marxism-via-punked-up-funk new wavers.

Let me continue: “The End Is Eternal” starts off as a typical mid-tempo four-to-the-floor rocker, before morphing into a psychedelic dirge of the highest caliber possible. “Blood Trance Fusion”, stupid title aside, is a martial-beat-driven nightmare, all textures and furtive noises, before turning into a scorcher that would have Venom shedding tears of frustration. “Every Last Drop” sounds like an exercise in desperate atmosphere, as majestic as it is dark and hopeless. And I could go on and on and on, since every song here is a fucking curveball, a small, concise thesis on heavy rock music and all its strains, genres and permutations.

If the above comments haven’t already made it clear, let me tell you that Nachtmystium continues its lonely path towards a new kind of music. While still informed by black metal’s trademarked ambiance and desperation, the music contained here is so diverse that, if one comes to it expecting even the stylistic changes that the band applied to its sound with “Assassins”, one will be taken back. If not for Blake Judd’s rasp, nothing here sounds like the band that put out, say, “Instinct: Decay”. So, is this a bad thing? Has Nachtmystium turned soft? Has Blake Judd become a sissy?

No, no and no. The music is exceptionally hard-hitting and incredibly effective. Even with the stylistic curveballs the band throws to the listener, the record has a pretty “homogeneous” ambiance and “vibe”. Yeah, the velocity factor of the songs has been toned down to a mid-paced groove, but the music is so great as to leave one speechless. The guitars don’t spit and snarl, but work in a more insidious and impressive way, laying down a detailed canvas of guitar work, riffing and soulful soloing. The drums, courtesy of some Wrest guy, are exquisitely detailed and majestic in their simplicity and effectiveness. The Sanford Parker production is so good that it brought tears to my eyes: full-bodied, organic, lively and powerful. Please, other metal bands, listen to “Addicts” and be ashamed for the sound of your records.

So, is there a bottom line here? Yeah, and it is none other than this: “Addicts” is one of the best records that ever graced my ears. Nachtmystium, by totally abandoning every restrain their chosen genre imposed to them, create an album that opens up new horizons for metal. It’s smart, it’s soulful, it’s experimental, it’s heavy in more ways than one can imagine, it’s a near-masterpiece. If you want to listen to great music, regardless of style, genre or any other classification, you need “Addicts”.

Information
Released: 2010
Label: Candlelight Records
Website: Nachtmystium MySpace
Band
Blake Judd: lead and rhythm guitars, vocals
Jeff Wilson: rhythm guitars
Guests
Bruce Lamont: vocals
Russ Strahan: guitars
Matt Johnson: guitars
Will Lindsay: bass
Sanford Parker: keyboards, effects, production
Chris Black: keyboards, programming, guitars, backing vocals
Jeff “Wrest” Whitehead: drums

Tracklist
01. Cry for help
02. High on hate
03. Nightfall
04. No funeral
05. Then fires
06. Addicts
07. The end is eternal
08. Blood trance fusion
09. Ruined life continuum
10. Every last drop

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