Sure, it wasn’t that long ago that everyone and their mother were playing black metal. All of a sudden it seemed like the entire genre dropped off the face of the earth, and this certainly wasn’t helped by the demise of many of its mainstays like EMPEROR and IMMORTAL. Yet the corpse paint donning legions have still managed to thrive, and even here in the good ol’ USA you’ve got bands like NACHTMYSTIUM who still churn out haunting, brutal and (gasp!) authentic-sounding black metal in praise of VENOM, BATHORY, HELLHAMMER and all the rest of the dark gods who came before them.

From the beginning of this disc to the end, you’ll feel like you’re in early 90s Norway. Everything that you’ve come to expect from the scratchy analog production to the marathon blast beats is all here. Vocalist Zmij sounds at least as evil as Varg Vikernes ever did (this is apparently a one-time-only appearance from him with the band), and the guitar work will surprise you with how flashy it can be. The song structure tends to be slightly less chaotic than, say, “Blaze…” era DARKTHRONE, which either makes the whole package more listenable or more predictable, depending on how you look at it. As you listen you feel like you’re in more than slightly familiar territory, but within these 24 minutes you can still find enough moments to keep your interest. I particularly enjoy “Cold Tormentor (I’ve Become)” where the blast beats are in moderation in favor of a more thrash metal rhythm… I suppose less can indeed be more. The JUDAS ISCARIOT cover that closes the EP is also charming with its quite noticeably out of tune harmonies. This style was never meant to be pretty!

This self-titled EP originally came out in 2002 as a limited printing and has just been re-released in hopes of getting the recognition they felt it deserved. Well fear not, because you’re getting it here—not just for the EP itself, but for the wake-up call to those who have either forgotten about black metal or have shunned American made black metal for not being made in Scandinavia. At the end of the day, although NACHTMYSTIUM may not have been involved in the black metal explosion of the early 90s, their music is at least as good as what came out of that era.

- Cardona

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/nachtmystium

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