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Nachtmystium and You in Series…

Nachtmystium - Instinct: Decay"Instinct: Decay" is the latest outing from "kvlt" USBM faves Nachtmystium on Battle Kommand Records, and some of what I've read about this album deems it somehow "progressive"—which perhaps by black metal standards it is, though personally I question whether or not a few spacey ambient interludes or reverberatingly layered solo passages are truly "progressive" to the degree that some would have you believe. But in no way is that an attempt to discredit this material whatsoever: In fact, I enjoy several aspects of this release a little more than what I've heard from Nachtmystium in the past. I just don't want people to get the wrong idea, because there's still plenty of raw and fairly traditional black metal going on here—it's just that rather than tagging it "progressive" I'd simply refer to it as a refusal to stagnate. Basically, this effort sees the band taking that same brand of eerie, dissonant riffing and those same sneering screams and developing them further by introducing a greater number of tempo changes and minor variations in architecture. So yes, the occasionally intriguing clean passage or numerous appearances of resonant lead melodies (or caustic lead textures, in some cases) do indeed work to separate this album from the pack, but anyone listening to this material will still immediately recognize it as black metal through and through... and oddly enough there are actually a few areas that are surprisingly stripped down and in your face considering the overall growth of the songwriting.

Also worth noting is that the recording is a little stronger than some of the group's past efforts as well. For the most part the production maintains a thick and tactfully rugged atmosphere where the vocals are excellently mixed deep in against the instrumentation, but whereas some prior Nachtmystium recordings displayed a rather biting guitar tone, the rhythm guitars are much more controlled this time around—leaving only the leads to carry some of that harsher bite here and there. Again, make no mistake, this is not what I would call a "polished" sound, even by black metal standards. It still follows the general tone of the genre's classic aesthetic, it's just that noticeable improvements have been put into place. I'm admittedly quite fond of black metal's oft-relied upon black and white imagery, so I'm not really feeling the layout on this one (though the outer packaging is alright, and I do commend the decision to ignore those conventions), but I do find the lyrical snippets included within the booklet to be pretty damn promising—not to mention very atypical of most of the black metal that I come across:

Inner complacency, Reliving illusions once immense, Hidden from the sheep, The sanity of the isolated is my salvation...

This is certainly a step forward, and one that leaves me quite curious as to what Nachtmystium will deliver in the future.

Nachtmystium "Eternal Ground"
Nachtmystium "Abstract Nihilism"

As usual, downloading is bullshit, so don't be an ass. Buy a copy of the CD for yourself if you're into it:

Battle Kommand Records
The End Records

You in Series - Outside We Are FineIn the interest of extreme diversity, here's something that basically has absolutely no correlation to the above album whatsoever. "Outside We Are Fine" is the first full-length from the relatively young You in Series, and I'd probably have to say that the packaging on this release doesn't necessarily suggest that it would be as good a record as it is. So beyond that, this is yet another in a long line of quality Equal Vision releases that does the trick for the lighter side of my listening habits. You in Series is actually a pretty curious outfit in that their material's sort of emo-ish, kind of post-hardcore-esque, and in some ways has a few "alternative rock" (or whatever) elements in place as well... but then, I could also argue that some of the more involved riffing has a light dash of metal wrapped up in it as well, though the vibe of the album isn't particularly aggressive or anything. It's "heavy" in that it's very well recorded and the rhythm section has quite a bit of punch in the mix, which is great, but this isn't what I would consider a "heavy" band. Yet, oddly enough, as melodic as much of the material is, it's not wholly laidback either, so they're working in an interestingly balanced environment—one that's neither overtly technical nor overly basic by any means either. I must say that I'm way into the vocals on this one, too. There's nothing particularly unique about them per se, but in terms of singers with relatively high voices this guy fuckin' nails it—I don't find the singing to be irritating at all, and some of the soaring vocal lines and harmonies are totally great. I don't know, it's kind of a weird album because on the one hand it sounds a little different to me as compared to the bulk of what falls into these niches, but it's also not so out there that it comes across as unfamiliar, you know? Oh, and these guys seem to have a little more lyrical creativity than most of the acts within this general realm as well. So, I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, but Equal Vision has a damn good knack for snatching up these kinds of bands, and rarely misses the mark in terms of my particular listening tastes.

You in Series "See Not What You Want, But Who You Really Are"
You in Series "The Watcher"

Make the grab if you like what you hear:

Equal Vision Records
RevHQ
@ Very Distribution

Comments

  1. BRO! I’m definitely diggin Nachtmystium. Those riffs are nuts!

    6.21.2006 | By Adrianoso

  2. Yeah man, that Nachtmystium is damn good.  I really like the the like 3 minute long leads in the end of “Seeds of Suffering.”

    6.21.2006 | By Ryan

  3. cant wait to check out the new one by nachtmystium.. eulogy iv definately one of the best USBM albums ever made

    6.24.2006 | By Anonymous

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