Assassins: Black Meddle Pt 1

Nachtmystium | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 10, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Century Media
• ASIN: B0018PJESK
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,718 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting fusion..., August 26, 2008

By 

eternal now "roejoerrer" (mankato) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Assassins: Black Meddle Pt 1 (Audio CD)

I have tried and tried to get into Black Metal. I've stumbled upon some interesting finds (DeathSpell Omega, Negura Bunget, Emperor etc) but nothing that really pushed the limits and was actually entertaining. I'll be honest, the whole Black Metal wankery just doesn't do it for me. I appreciate the whole anti-establishment message, but the potentcy of such a message gets lost in the myriad of elitism, garbage lyrics and Satanic drivel, silly looking corpse paint and wannabe Elizabethan poets.

Nachtmystium do something entirely different, and I'm sure it helps that the band themselves don't even consider their music 'Black Metal'. Rather, they take elements from any genre they please, fuse them together and voila! you get some amazing music. 'Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1' is a very deep, interesting, tripped out and awesome journey that is truly unique and different, though not without its faults. Using Black Metal as a foundation, Nachtmystium bring forth a very raw and agressive sound that is buffered by some cool and tripped out psychedelica jamming/electronic noise, and some rock influences as well. The vocals are harsh, barren and very Black Metal, as is the core of the music. What you get is your usual Black Metal barrage of high pitched shrieking, blast beats so fast it sounds like its in a different time signature from the rest of the band, and tremelo picked guitars. However entangled within each musical piece are atmospherical/electronic movements and passages, giving the listener a break from the blast beats, the screeching and the tremelo guitars. These trippy breakdowns are very reminiscant of things that Pink Floyd used to do, and in fact this album is a sort of tribute to that bands musical breakthrough 'Meddle', you could actually say (as many critics have already) that 'Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1' is just that: a Black Metal version of Pink floyd's 'Meddle', or rather 'Meddle' done Nachtmystium style.

For some good examples of their fusion mastery, check out the song 'Assassins' which features a very long electronic/trippy outro that is sure to take you to other dimensions.

No matter what you call it, Nachtmystium make some really interesting and gripping music. I would certainly peg them as a genre defying band and not a Black Metal band. While the majority of 'Black Meddle: part 1' follows many Black Metal staples, there is enough psycheldelic and rock substance to add some variety and depth to the songs.

I highly recommend this release to music lovers, genre hopping lovers and those willing to step outside the box.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What if Pink Floyd made a black metal album?, July 13, 2008

By 

Tom - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Assassins: Black Meddle Pt 1 (Audio CD)

What if Pink Floyd made a black metal album? Sounds like a ridiculous question, the music of Pink Floyd and black metal have nothing in common. That's what I thought until last week. Boy was I wrong. This is my first exposure to Nachtmystium, and in general, I don't really care for most black metal music. I like the basic fell of black metal, it's typically too harsh, and the lyrics are just too ridiculous for me. That's an unfortunate stereotype I guess, and I think that this album is going to be the catalyst to expand my musical intersts into the genre a little more.

But as for this album...all I can say is WOW! I bought this after it was announced that they would be opening for Opeth in the fall, and seeing very favorable reviews on several websites. I have lsitened to it at least 8-10 times since last Tuesday.

The album starts out with a mellow, mostly instrumental track (One Of These Nights). Reading the title gave me images of the Pink Floyd track One Of These Days...and after listening to it, you realize that the band definitely had this song in mind when they recorded their version. By no means a cover, but a very distinct influence

The next track, Assassins, is a great catchy song. I find myself repeating the chorus over and over again, and it instantly got added to my metal playlists on my iPod.

The rest of the album ranges in style from electronic, spacy instrumental passages, directly out of the Pink Floyd song book to riffy, heavy, and ultimately very catchy metal. The typical (IMO) black metal vocals are there, but are never felt as harsh or too extreme.

The album ends with three tracks, the Seasick trilogy. The first two parts are instrumental, very mellow and moody, then finished up with the third track, emotional and driving and just really gets you fired up.

My only complaint (and it sounds cliche, but it is true) is that the album is too short. It is only about 45 minutes long, which maybe is an indication of how spoiled I am by some other bands who put out no less that 60 minutes of music every year or so. I guess I just have to start making my way through the back catalog of Nachtmystium very soon...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Assasinating The Competition and Crushing Their Temples!, February 24, 2010

By 

C. Horne (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1 (MP3 Download)

It does my heart great joy to submit such a review for Chicago's own Nachtmystium. We are a city fortunate enough to have some new bands come out representing us with serious metal fury/creativity(Born of Osiris, Veil of Maya, Lair of the Minotaur, Plague Bringer and Sweet Cobra just to name a few). These guys here are no different.

Assassins is technically the fourth album from Nacht but the first to be recorded at top notch professional quality. Things start of moody and psychedelic with the intro and progressively get heavier until it meshes right into the title track.

"Assassins"(the song itself) is so addictive I must have listened to it a hundred times already. It's insanely energetic and ends with some great psychedelic flavor before moving on to what is if anything a modern day metal masterpiece. I'm amazed no one combined psychedelic with metal until now. But, Nacht knows how to do it well and doesn't disappoint with tracks like "Your True Enemy"(Crush Your Temples!) and the "Seasick" trilogy of pure psychedelic metal madness!

If Black Meddle Part II is anywhere near this good is quite an album to hear.