Thursday, August 03, 2006

End Of The Year Candidate: Nachtmystium - Instinct:Decay


The majority of new black metal bands coming into existence very rarely come from Norway now. One of the places with heavy interest in black metal is now the US. Could Nachmystium be a band to lead the way for raw styled black metal in the US? It’s difficult to say, but this album may just place them higher among their peers.

One of the main elements that makes a black metal band “raw” is the production. As strange as it is to say, the production fr the instruments is recorded intentionally poorly, making most of the instruments sound weaker, and the overall feel looser. There’s lots of reverb, especially on the garbled vocals. When done properly, raw production can give a different emotive reaction, such as an early band forging a new sound, or transporting the listener to a different time.

The experimentation with spacey sounds, psychedelic solos that could’ve been inspired from the 70's, and rock sounds inspired by the 80's merged with 90's styled blast beat and tremolo picked black metal transports the listener to different time and place. This is one of those times when “raw” styled production helps the experimentation and retro influences give the listener a feeling of a new, undiscovered band forging a new path in the musical landscape.

There are slight down sides, the noisy interludes between songs can be a bit annoying when they go on for too long, and the booklet doesn’t really have much in it except for some snippets of lyrics. The down sides are only minor though, as Nachmystium may have created a new off shoot of black metal for legions of other North American black metal bands to rise with.

9/10

Nachmystium At Battle Kommand Records

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