To say the announcement on the signing of Nachtmystium was met with howls of vitriol and derision by a significant amount of people is no overstatement. Perhaps the somewhat cynical and attention seeking way Prophecy Productions made it along with a video for new track ‘Predator Phoenix’ didn’t help things. It contained many quotes from disgruntled (ex) fans who had been historically burned by scammer Blake Judd, “Snotpissium can eat the shit from my hairy asshole” being one such striking comment. There’s no denying the fact that Blake has been a “wrong un” and there is no need to bandy around with words like “allegedly”. You know what they say though, “never trust a junkie” and oh so many did when Judd was in throws of addiction. Fans, labels and a score of ex-band members all got fleeced in well-publicised ways (non-delivery of paid for merchandise being a prime example), as Judd chased his next fix. It’s up to you to decide how many chances someone deserves and whether claims of being clean after bouts in rehab should be taken into account for past misdemeanours and it is unlikely many will ever want to have anything to do with Judd again let alone listen to new material. Then again there is no denying what he did actually manage to achieve musically with the prolific Nachtmystium who are oft looked upon as trailblazers of the USBM scene, along with time spent in the likes of Twilight, Krieg, Drug Honkey (aptly) and Hate Meditation. Well, back he is and whether you treat the return with the contempt it perhaps deserves or decide to give his ninth album a listen is purely down to your individual choice. I guess it is largely down to the fact of whether you have been affected financially or otherwise by his flagrant scamming, I personally have not. Maybe you will be hoping the album is going to be a spectacular fail, whatever way you look at it, this is a contentious release… so here we go!
Although handling most of the album himself Judd is not without some collaborators. Italian Francesco Miatto is assisting on drums and Ken Sorceron (Abigail Williams ex Lord Mantis etc) bass; another participant of said bands Andrew Markuszewski apparently wrote half the lyrics. You would expect these to be deeply personal and taking into account first track is entitled ‘Survivor’s Remorse,’ you would not be wrong. Even, if like me the last you heard from Nachtmystium was 2014 album ‘The World Left Behind’ it is evident that the trademark multi-layered and burgeoning sound last encountered is very much intact here. Draped over a sample from Michael Winner’s grimy Death Wish guitars furrow away, drums thump and rage flows from the vocals. Hitting a melodic high quickly it bounces away and tenaciously gets the blood potently pumping. Quirky keyboard signatures add to it and it’s a punchy number for sure. I would say that you can easily imagine it causing a pile up in the pit but accompanying notes, just in case you were wondering, state Nachtmystium do not intend to perform live. There’s a bit of a post-punk twang about the aforementioned ‘Predator Phoenix.’ Yeah no doubt you may think it is case of the musician trying to prove himself reborn and rising from the flames subjectively but there’s absolutely no denying that the song is catchy as hell. The driving groove is actually pretty damn fantastic and has (dare I say) real addictive qualities. Those looking for a spectacular failure here are going to be sadly disappointed. Bringing the tempo down ‘A Slow Decay’ presents a musical slippery slope alluding to a pessimistic descent and rising into anguished frustration. I’d really like to see the lyrics and wonder if they are going to be provided in the booklet. There’s guitar work here that brings to mind a dire Country song where everything goes wrong for the protagonist and even his dog has crawled off to die.
‘Conquistador’ is a feverish dervish of frenzied guitars, rigorous and tightly honed as it loops away in a one-take speedy assault. ‘Blind Spot’ at first thumps away but injects some neat guitar soloing into its veins giving it a sense of artistic virtuoso. ‘The Arduous March’ starts with another film sample, it’s so obvious and overused I won’t spell it out and as suggested this song is a bit of an uphill slog at first interspersing sluggish pace with cleaving, more frenetic bursts of speed. The title track is left to last and keyboards add an expansive sound to it along with a bit of a frosty vibe before it chaotically moves into a deluge with song-title being spat out venomously.
So, a solid album make no mistake and one that (any remaining) fans of the band won’t be disappointed with. There’s a deluxe edition apparently with a 60-page artbook and extra track ‘Blight’ which was not included with our promo copy. Well at least it doesn’t come with a cover of ‘Just One Fix,’ ‘Golden Brown’ or ‘I’m Waiting For The Man,’ now there’s some ideas for a future cover’s EP.
(8/10 Pete Woods)
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