Nachtmystium – Addicts: Black Meddle, Part II
Cry for Help
High on Hate
Nightfall
No Funeral
Then Fires
Addicts
The End Is Eternal
Blood Trance Fusion
Ruined Life Continuum
Every Last Drop
Since the genre-defying advent of ‘Assassins: Black Meddle, Part I,’ Nachtmystium’s next studio step has been among the most anticipated of 2010. Filled with a couple of bewitching EP releases, the two-year interval between parts I and II signalled a remarkable follow-up. But the much-hyped ‘Addicts’ is sadly several doses short of a full fix.
Though not without its appealing features, Nachtmystium’s latest release is starved of extreme influences, as solid riffs are recklessly switched for poppy hooks and electronica. Opening on a series of primal beats and chants that spell the statement, “Nothing hurts more than being born,” ‘Addicts’’ minimalist intro is undeniably pretentious. Harking back to the aggressive moments of ‘Assassins,’ ‘High On Hate’ wastes no time on such atmospheric niceties, rampaging toward a ragged climax. Cloaked in scratchy, old school-style production, ‘…Hate’ is a ferocious exception to an album otherwise riddled with soft rock and industrial trappings.
Dubbed “black metal disco” by frontman Blake Judd, this electronic hybrid amplifies the band’s classically hallucinogenic sound. Capturing the horrors and highs of drug addiction, sludgy guitars meet seething electronica for a catchy effect that gradually wears thin with repetition. However, ‘Blood Trance Fusion’ is an intriguing head-trip lingering somewhere between campy, old school horror and a drug-addled nightmare. Distorted to a scream-like pitch, its electronic embellishments merge perfectly with Blake’s rasping snarls.
While these Ministry-esque sections sometimes border on cheap, dance floor fodder, it is ‘Addicts’’ soft rock elements that produce its dullest lapses. Tainted with maudlin, corporate indie, ‘Ruined Life Continuum’ lacks the Americans’ former metallic venom. There’s even a generic touch of QOTSA in ‘Nightfall’s’ clunky, repetitive grooves, which clash horribly with Blake’s spine-chilling screams.
Although drawn from daring and impressively complex songwriting, the innovative ‘Addicts’ remains a generally passionless exercise in experimentalism. 6/10
Reviewed by Faye Coulman
‘Addicts: Black Meddle, Part II’ is out now on Candlelight
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