Band:	Nachtmystium
Album:	Silencing Machine
Style:	Psychedelic black metal
Release date:	July 2012

01. Dawn Over The Ruins Of Jerusalem
02. Silencing Machine
03. And I Control You
04. The Lepers Of Destitution
05. Borrowed Hope And Broken Dreams
06. I Wait In Hell
07. Decimation, Annihilation
08. Reduced To Ashes
09. Give Me The Grave
10. These Rooms In Which We Weep
11. Ashes To Ashes [limited edition bonus]

With the release of Assassins: Black Meddle, Part 1 and Addicts: Black Meddle, Part 2, Nachtymystium pulled quite the interesting trick out of their hat. That is, they split their fanbase into two separate but equally devoted parties. On the one hand, there were those (*raises hand*) who enjoyed the more experimental, psychedelic approach of the Black Meddle albums, wishing to see the band continuing in such a direction. On the other, there were those who considered the new technique unnecessarily outlandish, preferring the sound that was employed on Instinct: Decay and prior albums. So, after Addicts was released, the question that then awaited Nachtmystium was essentially: how do we reconcile these two divided camps? Well holy shit, ladies and gentlemen, it appears that the band have come up with quite the satisfying answer in 2012's Silencing Machine. It's not the sound of the Black Meddle albums, and it's not quite the sound of Instinct: Decay either. Rather, it's something of a blend of the two, and fans of each style are sure to be satisfied.

To the point, Silencing Machine almost sounds as though Nachtmystium have really matured and come into their own, taking what they learned from their Black Meddle-era experimentation and blending it with the rawer, more straight-edge black metal sound of their past. "And I Control You," for example, is slow, heavy, and haunting, bearing a striking resemblance to the same formula employed on "Here's To Hoping" from Instinct: Decay. "The Lepers Of Destitution," as well, has quite the murky, "dirty" sound to it, and is probably the closest the band come on the album towards getting back into the Instinct: Decay type sound, and this manipulation of the album's production on different tracks is only further testament to Nachtmystium's evolving composition skill.

Then there's the Black Meddle side to Silencing Machine. While you're not going to find anything as blatantly strange as, say, the saxophone on "Seasick" (from Assassins), the influence is definitely there. "I Wait In Hell" drops little industrial sounds here and there, especially at the end, that are somewhat reminiscent of the beginning of "No Funeral" from Addicts. The title track also has quite a catchy, repetitive chorus as well, also much like many of the tracks on Addicts. But the beautiful thing about Silencing Machine is that although it's a synthesis of [band]Nachymystium[band]'s former albums, it's also original. On some tracks, especially "I Wait In Hell" and "Give Me The Grave," the band experiments with some very interesting (bass heavy!) grooves, and Blake also delivers some very well-executed solos on both of the aforementioned tracks as well, both in a manner that Nachtmystium haven't really done before.

In essence, Silencing Machine is both a regression and an evolution. Nachtmystium have returned (somewhat) to the sound of Instinct: Decay, and yet they've done it with the composition techniques of the Black Meddle albums and with a few additional tricks thrown in here and there. Some may say that the band should have gone further in one direction; that they played it safe by skating this fine line between the Black Meddle albums and Instinct: Decay. But Silencing Machine is more of an update than anything else, almost as though Nachtmystium are saying "this is our older sound brought up to date with our new sound." The end result is, simply put, very pleasing to the ears, and I would honestly be very surprised if neither Black Meddle fans nor Instinct: Decay fans couldn't find something they enjoy in it.