NACHTMYSTIUM – “SILENCING MACHINE”
CENTURY MEDIA (2012)

Metal Church - The Present Wasteland

Nachtmystium is a US based Black Metal quintet whose name has been popping up quite often in the music media, unfortunatelly not always for all the right reasons. Their decision to release their earliest material under music labels of dubious political ‘affiliations’ made them many enemies over the years and it was really only after the renowned German label Century Media stepped in and took them under its protective wings that they gradually began clearing their name and releasing some of the most challenging work in their career. 2010’s “Addicts: Black Meddle, Part II” introduced many post-Rock and Industrial influences and was warmly embraced by both journalists and fans alike, so you could say the band’s latest effort “Silencing Machine” had some really high expectations to live up to.

Even though their music has really evolved over the years, Nachtmystium are still, at their very core, a 90s-influenced Balck Metal outfit and that is why high-pitched guitar tones and raspy shrieking vocals are still part of the picture. What Blake Judd (vocals/guitars) and Co have succeeded in, though, is to continue using those Floydian atmospheric passages which characterised their previous two efforts and to further experiment with different sounds in both the vocal and guitar departments, borrowing along the way elements used by some of the giants of the genre such as Darkthrone, Satyricon and Taake. The end result is a well balanced and varied release that ought to attract the attention of fans of classic and modern-sounding Black Metal.

The two opening compositions of the album, namely “Dawn Over The Ruins Of Jerusalem” and “Silencing Machine” are pretty conventional straight-forward affairs – the former’s riffs betraying the band’s admiration of late 90s Darkthrone while the latter introduced vocal effects and a few groovy guitar moments. Though both fairly enjoyable, the album really takes off with epic sounding harmonies of “And I Control You” and reaches its true potential through the elongated eerie passages and haunting keyboard tunes of “The Lepers Of Destitution” – one of the highlights of the album. The guitar riff of the follow-up “Borrowed Hope And Broken Dreams” is Goth-orientated, but really fits the album and it is a more impressive tune in comparison to both “I Wait In Hell” and “Decimation, Annihilation” which are varied but also fairly inoffensive in nature. “Reduced To Ashes” starts as a classic early 90s tune but soon develops into a more atmospheric piece and paves the way for the amazing “Give Me The Grave” – a five and a half minute belter whose groovy/catchy refrain and highly distorted riffs combine elements from both Katatonia and Taake. The closing track “These Rooms In Which We Weep” is based on a slow eerie theme whose mood is reminiscent of that of Burzum and both its clever lead guitar accompanying melodies and catchy/repetitive riffs bring this impressive album to a glorious conclusion.

I have to admit that “Silencing Machine” is a far more impressive album than I expected and that is purely down to both the band’s artistic ‘insecurities’ and blatant need for experimentation. The only reason why this album has not received a top rating is because I feel that there is some more work to be done before the band’s varied compositions can be of an equal standing, however that day may not be too far off. A very impressive release that should be well-received by fans of the genre and extreme Metal enthusiasts.

John Stefanis

Rating: **** (4.0/5.0)

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