NACHTMYSTIUM’S NEW RECORD IS A PSYCHADELIC BREW OF PROG-INFLUENCED BLACK METAL

Nachtmystium’s new record Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1, which drops June 10th on Century Media, is such a solid record that it’s sure to be on a lot of people’s year-end Top 10 lists, as Axl wrote about a month ago. If you’re one of those (like me) who are usually turned off by most black metal because of its sameness and lo-fi-for-the-sake-of-lo-fi production values, this is the record for you. If you like your metal heady and smart, this is the record for you. If you’re a fan of Pink Floyd, boy oh boy is this the record for you.

Any Floyd fan should recognize the homage in the album title immediately. Opening track “One of These Nights” is a sinister-sounding black metal interpretation of Meddle opening track “One of These Days.” The three-part, album-closing epic “Seasick” is an obvious nod to the 22-minute epic “Echoes” from that same album. And the comparisons go on from there.

Guitar World’s MetalKult blog is doing a 7-part “In The Studio” video series chronicling the recording of Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1. The first entry features the band members talking about the role of mushrooms and beer in the band’s writing process, as well as some other studio shenanigans and behind-the-scenes footage.

This is a fucking fantastic album. You owe it to yourselves to pick it up on June 10th.

-VN