Nachtmystium – Silencing Machine CD review

Blackened psychedelic metal band, Nachtmystium are back with their sixth studio album entitled Silencing Machine, an album that can only be described as Nachtmystium’s best work to date.  Made up of ten dark, melancholic and twisted songs, Silencing Machine is one of the finest releases of 2012 so far, spewing forth filthy, grimy, down tuned guitar riffs, monstrous, grotesque vocals and sinister and ambient melodies. Made up of only five members, it’s hard to believe such a huge and terrifying sound can come from such a small band that can relay so much aggression into these ten all killer songs. Prepare to be blown away by one of the most accessible and musically brilliant black metal bands of all time. One thing is for certain… It’s going to be heavy!

Opening up with the mechanic screeches of ‘Dawn Over the Ruins of Jerusalem’, Nachtmystium kick off this album superbly, delivering an onslaught of musical excellence that sounds like the coming of the apocalypse as this murky, metallic sounds creeps through your speakers. Followed by tracks such as ‘The Lepers of Destruction’ and ‘Borrowed Hope and Broken Dreams’, Nachtmystium raise the bar high for black metal bands – both mainstream and underground all across the world, showing that their song writing abilities has lead them to write easily accessible songs that still maintain an aura of mysteriousness and sheer brute seen in your typical black metal song.

The use of the keyboard and haunting/chilling sound effects throughout Silencing Machine, gives it that machine like stature – giving tracks such as ‘I Wait In Hell’, ‘Silencing Machine’ and ‘And I Control You’ a razor sharp edge that will cut through your ear drums the moment the first chord is played. It’s one of those albums that needs to be played through headphones appose to out loud; just because you need to soak in all that gloomy, atmospheric goodness that all the songs on Silencing Machine give off.

Nachtmystium are a band who experiment with both the melodic and the astoundingly heavy – showing extreme contrast between sections in their songs to add interest and diversity to their music. This is why Nachtmystium stand out from your run of the mill: Black, death and doom metal bands, and it’s because tracks such as ‘Give Me the Grave’ are so easily distinguishable and recognizable due to their progressive, ever changing nature. You never know what to expect with a Nachtmystium song and that is the beauty of the beast!

If you don’t go out and buy Silencing Machine or even have a listen to it online then there is seriously something wrong with you. Nachtmystium should be extremely proud with this release, not only writing and recording the finest album of their career, but one of the most iconic and memorable black metal albums of the past few years. [9/10]

1. Dawn Over the Ruin of Jerusalem
2. Silencing Machine
3. And I Control You
4. The Lepers of Destitution
5. Borrowed Hope and Broken Dreams
6. I Wait in Hell
7. Decimation Annihilation
8. Reduced to Ashes
9. Give Me the Grave
10. These Rooms in Which We Weep