Warthur The penultimate Nachtmystium album finds Blake Judd stepping back a little from the somewhat more experimental territories they'd mapped out on the two Black Meddle album to produce a somewhat more classically black metal experience. That isn't to say that Blake Judd turns his back here from the psychedelic influences that shaped the sound of Assassins and Addicts; rather, here he takes the lessons and discoveries made in the creation of those albums and integrates them into a more traditional black metal sound. The end result is not as overtly experimental as the Black Meddle material, but it is still a unique and distinctive sound which finds Nachtmystium taking the lead on the black metal side of the psychedelia/black metal mashup scene just as Hail Spirit Noir were taking on the psychedelia side of the equation.

Warthur In retrospect, the cry for help at the heart of this fusion of black metal and progressively-inclined psychedelic rock is obvious. When Blake Judd stated, in the wake of the disintegration of his personal life, work projects, and general well-being last year, that he'd been struggling with drug addiction for years and had directly addressed the subject in his music, it should have come as no surprise to anyone, for on Addicts he had presented a stark concept album which presents a mature (I'd say "sober", but we all know that wouldn't be accurate) take on the subject of addiction.

Not just drug addiction, mind, though certainly that's the major image here; Judd's tortured lyrics seem just as applicable to any situation where someone is in the grip of a destructive fixation which they know is doing them no good but which they see no way out of. Ranging in style between blackened progressive rock and black metal hysteria, it's a cautionary tale that offers up a genuinely original aesthetic. Don't listen to naysayers put off by Nachtmystium's incorporation of more popular, accessible musical styles here; this might go down smoothly, but I have no doubt that this is the hard stuff.

Warthur Veering dizzily between black metal, psychedelic hard rock, and everything in between, in retrospect we should have known something was up with Blake Judd when he opened this album with an ugly, suicide-themed take on Pink Floyd's One Of These Days and spent most of the album singing about drugs. But despite the now well-publicised opiate addiction which had Judd in its grip by this point and would lead to the collapse this year of the Nachtmystium project, this is still an intriguing piece of blackened psychedelia which bridges the gap between cutting edge black metal and 1960s proto-metal. Ever wanted to hear Darkthrone jam with Hendrix?

adg211288 Silencing Machine is the sixth full-length album by US black metal act Nachtmystium. The album was released in 2012. The band’s line-up has seen some re-working in the couple of years since the release of Addicts: Black Meddle Pt. II (2010) with only band leader Blake Judd remaining a full band member between both releases, although Will Lindsay performed on both albums it’s only Silencing Machine where he is a band member opposed to a guest. Nachtmystium has never had a stable line-up so I’m sure anyone familiar with the band won’t be surprised that Silencing Machines features yet another line-up of the group.

While remaining black metal at heart, Nachtmystium’s music is very much experimental in nature, particularly with psychedelic influences although the group doesn’t explore these anywhere near as much as a vaguely similar and much younger act called Hail Spirit Noir, who released their debut album Pneuma earlier in the year which resulted in what seemed to me that black metal was only a secondary driving force beside the psychedelic sound. Silencing Machine never leaves room for doubt though that it is black metal at its core and anything else the band throws in, be it psychedelic or even progressive parts, are just building on that template in order to make the album stand out from the more straightforward of black metal acts.

The result isn’t as far removed from the original black metal template as some artists I’ve come across, but enough so that it’s also never in doubt that Nachtmystium break the black metal mould, although there are a lot of subtleties to be found during Silencing Machine that could be easy to miss unless you fully invest yourself into the music. It wasn’t surprising to me that Blake Judd has said in the past that Nachtmystium isn’t a black metal band. The music, or at least my comprehension of it, tells a little bit of a different story on Silencing Machine, which is my first encounter with the group so I can’t really compare the album in terms of direction or quality to anything the band has done previously, but I have to say that I’d still call Silencing Machine is a black metal album. The purist out there may disagree, and I can’t help but wonder if Judd himself holds purist views towards the genre, but whatever you consider the album to be at the end of the day, it’s a damn fine work with many moments of pure genius to be found. Tracks like the title track along with And I Control You and I Wait in Hell are top quality compositions that stick with me long after the album’s near one hour running time comes to a close. A great album tier rating is deserved.

83/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org))

UMUR "Assassins: Black Meddle Part I" is the 4th full-length studio album by US black metal act Nachtmystium. The album was released in June 2008 by Century Media Records. A vinyl version of the album was released by Back in Black.

The music on the album is black metal with some anthemic heavy metal elements. There´s a progressive touch to some of the tracks but it´s mostly the ending trio of tracks ( "Seasick, Part I: Drowned at Dusk", "Seasick, Part II: Oceanborne", "Seasick, Part III: Silent Sunrise") that I would label progressive. Tracks like "Ghosts of Grace", "Your True Enemy" and "Omnivore" are more "regular" black metal/ heavy metal tracks.

The band´s basic black metal sound is boosted by synths, keyboards and effects courtesy of Sanford Parker ( Minsk, Buried at Sea, Behold! The Living Corpse, Twilight, The High Confessions, Circle Of Animals) and there´s even some saxophone playing in the ending trio of tracks which also gives the album a nice varied touch. The inclusion of guest lead guitarists on several tracks is also a really good idea, as the solos on the album generally are very well sounding and add atmosphere to the songs.

"Assassins: Black Meddle Part I" was recorded and mixed by Sanford Parker at Volume Studios and produced by Sanford Parker and Nachtmystium. They´ve created a powerful and professional production, that suits the music well, but could have prospered from a slightly more raw sound if you ask me.

My fist listen to this album didn´t impress me much, but I´d advice you to take further listens before passing judgement, because repeated listens have revealed a lot of details and interesting ideas that I didn´t hear the first time around. I´ve come to the conclusion that Nachtmystium have quite a unique sound and while their basic songwriting might not be that interesting, if it weren´t for all the added effects, I´ve ended up pretty impressed. I´d say a 3.5 - 4 star rating isn´t all wrong for "Assassins: Black Meddle Part I".