NACHTMYSTIUM

Farther down the rabbit hole goes NACHTMYSTIUM with the follow up to their envelope-pushing 2008 release "Assassins: Black Metal Pt. I". This second leg of Blake Judd's journey to discover uncharted musical territories is another wild and captivating ride. Where "Assassins" saw ample amounts of psychdelica, ambiance and free-form experimentalism splashed over Judd's progressive black metal canvas, "Addicts" is a picture painted with shades of industrial and jagged post-rock. The end result is still just as fascinating as it was last time around.

Before hammering a razor-edged spike of venom-drenched and speed-laden blackened prog directly into the listener's temple with "High On Hate", Judd misanthropically spells out the words 'nothing hurts more than being born' as a precursor to this demented tale of addiction and the lifestyle of excess. Even outside the ferocity of "High On Hate", "Addicts" as a whole as a more "metal" feel to it than "Assassins", but even that broad of a descriptor doesn't begin to define what lies within these ten tracks (eleven if you grab the vinyl edition with apocalyptic bonus track "Macrocosmic"). Complete with tambourine, jangly guitars and backing "whoa" vocals, "Nightfall" could easily be an upbeat radio hit from the '70s or '80s were it not for Judd's raspy and demonic voice. "No Funeral" was one that took a few spins to completely jive with. The proggy synth and electronic drums that dominate the song fit in perfectly with NACHTMYSTIUM's mission to obliterate any notions of what a metal band can and cannot do, but not so much with the aforementioned vocals from hell. Though only for a brief moment, Judd belts out a few lines of (nearly) clean vocals that, along with an injection a depressive darkwave, ties the song together nicely. The drum samples reappear on "Ruined Life Continuum", but this time giving off more of a DEPECHE MODE vibe than the NIN aura that surrounded "No Funeral". Toss in a gigantic chorus and some spacey guitars and you've got one of the album's most compelling tunes. Bits of weirdness and noise make the otherwise sinister "Blood Trance Fusion" a standout in its own right, while the title track shows a love for KILLING JOKE.

What really sets "Addicts" apart from "Assassins" is its overall lack of cohesion. While there's not a bad song to be found on the disc, "Addicts" plays out very much like an eclectically stocked iPod on shuffle where all the songs are led by the same voice. Where "Assassins" flowed like a freshly opened vein, "Addicts" sprays its blood across the wall like some gory Rorschach Test. The two most closely knit tunes here would be "Then Fires" and "Every Last Drop". Both droning and depressing tunes flavored with moody guitar solos; the use of haunting acoustic guitars, sound effects and new age-esque background vocals make the latter a much more interesting listen.

With every passing album, NACHTMYSTIUM has become the musical embodiment of the phrase 'nothing ventured, nothing gained,' as they continually take risks and tread waters that few others would dare even considering and to their credit, most of those risk pay off. This album might not be as captivating as the last, but it delivers in almost every other aspect. Just like they did two years ago, NACHTMYSTIUM has raised the bar, burned the rule book and destroyed the boundaries.