This New Nachtmystium Song Will “Tear You Down”
Sad but true: this coming Tuesday will see the release of The World We Left Behind, the final album from Blake Judd’s Nachtmystium (at least for now… I don’t think anyone would begrudge Judd the right to bring the band back at some point in the future, should he choose to do so). Sadder but truer: other than a demo for the track “Voyager” released last November, no actual music from World has been released to the public yet…
…until now! Pitchfork has debuted the new jam “Tear You Down,” which you can stream below. Says Judd of the track:
“Tear You Down” is, by far, the most vicious track both musically and lyrically on The World We Left Behind. Musically, its influences range from traditional eastern music (the primary opening riffs scale being derived from the more traditional middle eastern style of music, which I have always felt had a unique and creepy vibe to it.) I can also sight Black Sabbath and more modern black metal bands such as Deathspell Omega and Funeral Mist as all being influential in the riffing throughout the track. Lyrically it deals with the relationship between an all-controlling addiction and its relationship with its user, but from the persepctive of the substance itself rather than the users relationship with the substance. It is very telling of my ongoing relationship with heroin that I struggled with for over four years and viciousness that the drug unleashes mercilessly upon its user. The song tells the story of that dark world from an angle that I feel is different than the way other songs written on the topic by other artists generally approach the subject. I feel the music herein accurately encapsulates the chaos and true darkness of that sad and lonely world.”
I’ve listened to the song twice now; I dug it the first time, but dug it far more the second. I think it takes some getting used to — whatever else you might wanna say about Judd, you can’t accuse him of failing to take risks! — but it’s worth taking some time with it. One of the things I love about Nachtmystium recordings is that they reward multiple listens.
Blast “Tear You Down” below. The World We Left Behind is out August 5 on Century Media. You can pre-order it here.
