Band:	Nachtmystium
Album:	Addicts: Black Meddle, Part 2
Style:	Psychedelic black metal
Release date:	June 2010

01. Cry For Help
02. High On Hate
03. Nightfall
04. No Funeral
05. Then Fires
06. Addicts
07. The End Is Eternal
08. Blood Trance Fusion
09. Ruined Life Continuum
10. Every Last Drop

It's been accepted long ago that traditional black metal is getting pretty tired, though it's fun to listen to the staples, hearing new bands put out the same crap year after year, month after month is just flat out boring. It's just the natural order of things; music needs to evolve. The real question to ask is; how can music evolve without turning it's back on the original sound?

Holy fuck. It appears Nachtmystium have figured out the answer to that rhetorical question.

The surprise in itself is surprising, seeing as Nachtmystium have already turned a lot of heads with their previous album, the strange Assassins: Black Meddle, Part 1. What would be a good follow up to that? Well, making something even more different-er, naturally. Trying to describe Addicts: Black meddle, Part 2 is a real noodle-scratcher, seeing as descriptions are generally based on relativity, and this really stands on its own. The core of the music is US black metal, with psychedelic keyboards and melancholy riffs built around the black metal core. As been stated by many others, this is black metal you can dance to...although that dance may be a depressed zombie shuffle. Danceable black metal; this is about the point whenever people will either turn their nose up in disgust, or say to themselves "that sounds fucking terrible, I gotta hear it!". Well, sorry to disappoint, but the whole album just sounds natural. They found the perfect equilibrium between raw aggression, and fantastic melody.

One thing that doesn't go unnoticed is the entire album concept - drug addiction, obviously. Not exactly a new topic in the world of music, but rarely portrayed like this. It wouldn't be a far stretch of the imagination to find out these artists have had first hand experience with substance abuse, based on how genuine everything sounds. It's cripplingly depressing, tracks like "No Funeral", "Ruined Life Continuum" and "Nightfall" carry upbeat melody with depressive overtones while "Blood Trance Fusion" is just downright sinister. There's no way these guys aren't familiar with drug addiction.

Nachtmystium have easily put themselves high in the running for album of 2010, do not overlook this one!