Oh,
Nachtmystium. This band has gotten so much shit for so long, whether it be controversy over false accusations, or simply hate towards the poorly received album 'Addicts: Black Meddle Part II'. I've never been able to understand it. Petty gossip and misunderstandings will always exist, even among the black metal nation, and I personally enjoyed 'Addicts: Black Meddle Part II', as I had it on repeat for several months.
But all that aside, this review is about the group's latest full-length, '
Silencing Machine'. '
Silencing Machine' has been highly anticipated for quite some time. The question is, does it deliver as what we would expect from the black metal titans? The answer is, not entirely. My hopes were a little higher for this release. It's still a solid black metal effort, but it just doesn't compare to masterpieces like 'Addicts: Black Meddle Part II' or '
Instinct Decay'. If '
Silencing Machine' had been recorded by any other black metal band, I would be quite impressed. However, this is
Nachtmystium, a band that's on an entirely different level than average black metal.
One thing that's missing from this record is at the sheer emotion and experimentation that has guided past releases.
Nachtmystium seem to be putting more focus in speed and aggression and less on heartfelt guitar harmonies and psychedelic elements. It's still got all the rawness of past albums, just with more straightforward black metal tactics, making for something slightly closer to an average release for the genre. Keep in mind, this is a band that's never even been entirely black metal focused, but rather have been using the style as a foundation for something greater.
Apart from the unfortunate decrease of expected boundary-pushing, '
Silencing Machine' is quite a listenable record. It's executed perfectly. There are melodic, ever-in-motion tracks such as 'Borrowed
Hope And Broken Dreams' and some darker tracks bathed in negativity like '
Decimation,
Annihilation'. However, the pieces that combine the two textures seamlessly, like 'I Wait
In Hell, that are most effective and memorable. I could see this album being a gateway record to black metal in its entirety.
All together, '
Silencing Machine' speaks for itself as a good black metal effort, but that's as far as it goes. This is definitely not the most memorable, most genre-bending, or most enjoyable record in the outfit's catalog. Therefore, I give it a solid 14/20. While we've become accustomed to
Nachtmystium dangling their legs in the waters of the genre, they finally have decided to take a chance and wade through the lake. Let's just hope the band's next move isn't to completely dive under the surface.
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