Review Summary: Bringing their psychedelic influence to its logical conclusion, Nachtmystium hve produced what could very well be their best CD yet.
I don't think I would be entirely unjustified in saying that Black Metal is simultaneously one of the most conservative and stuffy and one of the most avant-garde and passionate forms of popular music. It's certainly one of the most idiosyncratic and I think that's why it has provoked fervent debate since its inception.
It's a genre that can accommodate artists as introvert and depressive as Xasthur and Striborg and bands that exude such an air of blissful happiness such as Alcest (more accurately on their latest LP). It includes the jazz experimentation of Ved Buens Ende and the wit and modernism of Dodheimsgard. As bands like Negura Bunget and Loits (and those with more questionable ethics like Nokturnal Mortum and most famously Burzum ) have shown us, Black Metal can be a pedestal to express sentiments of national pride and the rediscovery of their heritage in such a way that they could not with other forms of music.
However despite some of luminaries mentioned above , Black Metal is a genre plagued by legions of bedroom copycats; people who are trying to recapture the atmosphere, attitude and songwriting that made albums like Under A Funeral Moon and In The Nightside Eclipse classics. Unsurprisingly they often come across as cheap, one-dimensional imitations as they are caught between pure idol worship and the search for some sort of unique edge that will make them stand apart from the crowd. That’s why I happen to be very excited about the CD that I’m reviewing today. Nachtmystium is a band that has come from derivative, though admittedly very good and melodically strong, beginnings( their first disc featured a brilliant example of the ‘angry man in bondage gear and Kiss makeup standing in a GrymmNocturneWald of some kind) to become the genuinely interesting innovative beast they are today. It started with 2006’s Instinct :Decay, that integrated LSD-influenced prog/psychedelic music within a raw, blackened framework, and was justly hailed as one of the best records of its sort in recent times. Their new tome, Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1, is very much a natural progression in terms of aesthetic and increased psychedelic influence, albeit with one or two quite noticeable changes that will surely have the purists crying in their parents’ basements.
The most immediate change is the much cleaner production. This may be considered sacrilege to some as even Instinct had a slightly obscure production, but to me anyway it simply necessary for the more ambitious tracks; i.e. the delicate and immensely beautiful psychedelic soundscaping on Seasick(Part1:Drowned at Dusk). All the subtleties that you discover and relish as you listen to the record multiple times would be lost if the production was anything less than immaculate. The second thing is the initially quite shocking but thoroughly delightful pop sensibility this record possesses. Not to say that the music isn’t brutal in certain passages as the drummer on this disc Tony Laureano, who has previously contributed skinbashing for Nile and Angelcorpse, makes sure there are plenty full-steam-ahead blastbeat moments and the music could comfortably be recognised as metal. No, it’s just that since the band started out Blake Judd, the lead guitarist/vocalist who also writes most of the music for the band, has had a knack for writing excellent, instantly memorable melodies and he has really come into his own now. For example, the shout-aloud refrain of the title track is infectious and one of the highlights of the CD. Many of the tracks now have many different textures, from the epic Moog contributions on Ghosts of Grace, to the ominous and atmospheric, piano-based intrumental Away From The Light.
To conclude, I can see this CD appealing to people with an interest in all kinds of metal. I do not think this is their ultimate artistic statement, or the apex of their development and creativity, but I do see it as an exemplary portion of what modern Black Metal should sound like.
