As snobbish as it sounds there’s an air of caution within me when I’m presented with U.S Black or Death metal. Sure there have been some great acts such as Death and Morbid Angel but contemporary trends would have it that while tracks start promisingly, there’s always a Screamo chorus waiting just around the corner.
With baited breath then I took hold of the much hyped Nachtmystium new release entitled ‘Assassins’, hoping that the snob inside would be proved wrong.
In all honesty Nachtmystium aren’t really that new, formed in 1998 in Illinois by Blake Judd it was only however 2002 when the group saw their first EP release, finally getting a full length to exert some energy and killer riffs on.
And exert they do. Take ‘Assassins’ for example; a brutal black metal onslaught with a definite Americana feel creeping into the mix midway through, slowing down to sound more stoner then death metal at times (the brutalized bass drum the constant reminder of just what genre this belongs to however) ending the piece with extended almost psychedelic reverb.
‘Ghosts of Grace’ meanwhile opens pretty straightforwardly, with screamed vocals fortified by ear executing riffs and drums and while enjoyable doesn’t quite seem to reach the dizzyingly visceral heights as Darkthrone or Mayhem once could.
Finally then with ‘Your True Enemy’ do we suddenly find ourselves in the loud abrasive world of black metal we know and love, the speed and aggression perhaps downplayed slightly in previous tracks now upon us with full rabid ferocity while ‘Omnivore’ continues the pulverising with a second dosage of classic grim black metal.
While slower than its neighbour, ‘Code Negative’ does encompass a sense of brooding with echoed guitar play over-layered onto a brooding soundscape that again instils an Americana feel into a genre otherwise dominated by the aforementioned Scandinavian legends.
With ups and downs as an album, ‘Assassins’ probably isn’t the album the hype would have you think it were, with better, yet rummage through this release and you’re sure to find some tracks to your liking.
So while the snob in me didn’t quite take the beating I hoped it would it did get knocked off it’s oh so mighty pedestal, which I’m more than grateful for. Being proved wrong never sounded as good.
