Nachtmystium Booked to Headline Louisville Deathfest 2017 [UPDATE: New EP On the Way, Demo Posted]

UPDATE, 1:04pm: Judd has issued a statement in which he elaborates on his decision to return to the stage, reveals he had been living in Louisville to get sober (but has since relocated to California), announces a new EP called Resilient out later this year via new label Earache, and uploaded an instrumental demo for a new track called “Voidless:”

“Alright everyone….what I (and I’m sure many or all of you) thought you’d never see again. Nachtmystium is doing a one-off exclusive set for the metal heads of the city I ran to and got sober in. We are headlining night 1 of the annual LOUISVILLE DEATHFEST, Friday, September 29th, 2017. We will be flying in from LA for this special show, and also bringing a full crew of sound and light techs with us to ensure the performance is above and beyond what one would expect from a band in a small, intimate club.

“This city and the great friends I made there during my year living in half way houses / sober living residencies while I tried to put my shattered life back together is a place that will forever be very special to me. I am thrilled to be making my first trip back since moving to California late last year to be for this special event. We will be playing material spanning our entire catalog, focusing on albums / tracks that were never played live (primarily from the Silencing Machine and The World We Left Behind albums, along with the new material from the upcoming Resilient EP, which should be out on Earache Records in time for this show!) along with some staple songs for long time supporters. Expect a full 60+ minute set.

Thanks to AJ Lucas for having us. Can’t wait to see everyone and to put on the best show we can for you guys.
ALSO – in support of this unlikely event being announced, I have uploaded our new (now finished!) instrumental demo for a brand new track called “Voidless“. A link to the SoundCloud page where the track is streaming can be found below. This demo will be a free download track all weekend in support of the announcement of our appearance at Louisville Deathfest 2017!”

Original Post:

Nachtmystium frontman Blake Judd’s struggles with addiction have been well-documented, and there’s no need to recap the entire saga here. But what’s important right now is this: both Nachtmystium and Judd have been mostly quiet for a very long time. In January of last year Judd resurfaced to claim sobriety, in April he self-released a Nachtmystium rarities collection and vowed to “make things right” with fans he’d ripped off in the past, and then in November Earache Records announced it had acquired the rights to Nachtmystium’s catalog and would be re-releasing the rarities collection. And that’s it. It’s been a VERY long time since Nachtmystium have performed any live shows. Booking them is considered a serious liability because so many promoters have been burned in the past. It’s not even clear who else is in the band anymore.

Now it seems at least one promoter is willing to take on that risk: Louisville Deathfest just announced that Nachtmystium will headline the first day of the 2017 edition of their festival, set to take place on September 29th (and 30th), and they’re billing it as Nachtmystium’s only U.S. appearance this year. Morbid Saint, Imperial Triumphant, Amiensus and Oubliette will play under Nachtmystium, while Brutality, Dehumanized, Gigan, Artificial Brain, Inferi and Enfold Darkness are scheduled for the second day. More info on the event can be found here.

So: will Judd make good on this commitment? Again, who else is in the band? Why only one show all year? A chance to prove to the world he’s well and sober, perhaps?

We’ll update you all as soon as we know anything else.