Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1 Review
by Mark Hensch
.
There are some vistas of the mind that should remain unknown. On Assassins, their fourth full length album, Nachtmystium not only unearths one of these fearsome mindscapes but unleashes it on an unsuspecting public with nuclear energy. The end result is a disc brilliantly vibrant but starkly decayed, hovering somewhere between the band's dark past and their likely glorious future.
Picture it like this. Imagine watching an old black and white movie, only to have Technicolor added mid-film. Following this spectral shift, it becomes apparent that the film was always painted in darkest shades of black and white, and that the Technicolor merely makes them more transcendent. Black would be more black. White would be more white.
This is the kind of sensual overload on play here. Using traditional black metal as an origin, Assassins expands extremity into otherworldly realms as bare as they are chaotic. Imagine Burzum traveling back in time to warp and alter minds with Pink Floyd and one is almost there.
The key word is "almost." The music on offer here simultaneously chills and stimulates in a way few other bands can---the only relevant modern comparisons are in my mind recent Enslaved or Hail Horror Hail period Sigh. Despite this, Nachtmystium will someday be in a league of their own if they are not already.
"One of These Nights," for example, glides in with black gusts of wind before turning into a fist-pumping arena rock behemoth. The spectral "Ghosts of Grace," in contrast, shimmers with frosty melodies as bitter as Burzum yet as depressingly catchy as Joy Division. Anathemic blitzkriegs like "Assassins" and "Your True Enemy" flay with traditional black metal's fury while maintaining a lurking, atmospheric menace and trippy guitars sounding like a bad acid freakout. Best of all, the whisper of hate that is "Code Negative" smothers listeners in hallucinogenic fog, both crushing and mind-expanding.
The real center point is the disc's expansive trilogy of closing tracks, already dubbed the "Seasick" trilogy. Peaceful yet paranoid, manic yet malicious, these songs encapsulate all that makes black metal such a moving genre of music while injecting fresh ideas into it at the same time. Though all great songs on their own, the "Seasick" trio is best when appreciated as art of the bigger picture---that is when it really blows minds.
Though always enveloped in moody atmospheres and hazy delirium, the scariest thing about Assassins is that it still seems like Nachtmystium have yet to put out their best work. The future is definitely bright for such an eerie, dark band---get this ghostly masterpiece of psychedelic horror ASAP.
Nachtmystium's Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1
1. One of These Nights
2. Assassins
3. Ghosts of Grace
4. Away from the Light
5. Your True Enemy
6. Code Negative
7. Omnivore
8. Seasick (Part 1: Drowned at Dusk)
9. Seasick (Part 2: Oceanborne)
10. Seasick (Part 3: Silent Sunrise)
CD Info and Links
Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1 Rating:9.5
Preview and Purchase This CD Online
Visit the official homepage
More articles for this artist
tell a friend about this review
.
...end |