Nachtmystium has been bugging me recently because I had to write a review of their latest album (which I've just did) but I wasn't fully at ease with this record. Instinct : decay is really a brillant record, no doubt about it. The production is raw but the riffs and the ideas shows a band that wants to make the genre evolves rather than obsesses over old ideas. It's funny how much a band can be considered black metal or not because of it's production. The sound counts as much as the music itself in this scene. And that why, I think, most people have a hard time taking it seriously. Which is a shame. Because when you look at the pictures, all this corpsepainted guys in the woods, there is also a very obvious desire to propose much more than music but a different world and a different look on life. Even the first release, with their childish satanic mentality, are still excellent record. Just listen to Darkthrone's "Transilvanian hunger" and pay attention to the atmosphere that enrapture the whole listenning experience. This is very unique and many people have tried to recreate this sound. But Nachtmystium goes in the other side, and instead of being hateful, are much more melancholic with some hint of a metal mentality that makes everything more flamboyant and overblown. This is still raw, this is still a black metal record, but beneath the riffs, there is a more traditionnal metal band that push more diverse influences than just a Darkthrone sound. Is this the landmark release of a band that will become as glorified as Enslaved. I don't know, maybe, but maybe not. But if these are signs of a constant progression, the following Nachtmystium record will be very interesting, indeed. Hell, when I first listenned to "Instinct : decay" I first thought I heard some Isis or Pelican influence. Now, I don't hear it, but that would not be very surprising to see both the USBM and the "Art Metal" scene going hands in hands since Xasthur as just signed to HydraHead and any black metal band released by Southern Lord is a subject of interest for every SunnO))) fans. And their numbers seems to grow every day. So, from Norway, to America and also France, new bands are bringing a different vision and aesthetic to a sound that a bunch of norvegian started at the beginning of the 90' and transformed it in an international movement that made an impact on heavy music that will remain in the history of music for years to come. "Nachtmystium - Eternal ground":http://www.battlekommand.com/mp3s/Nacht_eternal.mp3
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