Whether due to cocaine usage, an insatiable desire to create, or some combination thereof, Nachtmystium have, rather miraculously, released new music every year since 2002. And if you thought “Well, 2011 is basically over, so I guess they finally missed a year,” you thought wrong. The band has recorded a new song, “I Wait in Hell,” for a 7″ split with Murmur, which will be available any second now via Inferna Profundus Records. Here’s the band’s statement regarding the track:

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(Photo by Alyssa Lorenzon. View the full set here.)

Hats off to No Clean Singing contributor BadWolf, conductor of this fascinating interview with Nachtmystium’s Blake Judd, Will Lindsay and Sanford Parker during their winter tour with Cradle of Filth. Among the topics: Blake Judd’s ongoing struggle with heroin addiction (at interview time he claimed to be drug-free), various band members’ opinions of Cradle of Filth, being labeled a “sell out” by black metal purists, the trials and tribulations of being on record label Century Media, the metal scene in Chicago and more. Here’s an excerpt:

Blake Judd- Every record with us is a drug record. Addicts is the record I made while I was a heroin addict—which I have kicked.

No Clean Singing- Congrats on kicking the habit.

Blake Judd- Well, I only did it so these guys would come on tour with me, and I’m not kidding. That album is about hard living. I want to live hard. I don’t want to skip a beat ever. If I can have a good time I will have it, if I can have an experience I am going to indulge in it, and if I die tomorrow I never had a dull moment. That’s how I want to live my life, and how I have done so since I was eighteen years old.

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It’s Alyssa Lorenzon for the win… again! This time the MetalSucks Goddess of Photography captured some killer pics of Cradle of Filth, Nachtmystium, and Turisas when they played the Starland Ballroom in New Jersey earlier this month. As always, Alyssa’s photos will make you feel like you were at the show, even if — sad for you! — you weren’t. Check ‘em out after the jump…

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A producers’ role in the overall sound of an album is often under-appreciated. Sure, most people know roughly what it is that producers do, but until you’ve been in a recording session and seen first-hand how producers work with bands you can’t possibly understand the entirety of the impact they have on the final product. I’ve always been fascinated by producers (and mixers); when the Internet first started to be a place you could easily find a lot of organized, useful information (at some point in the late ’90s / early ’00s) I’d spend hours upon hours looking through album credits at AllMusic.com to see who produced and mixed my favorite albums, then I’d follow those links to look at said producer or mixer’s entire discographies, then I’d follow those links to look at other albums… and so on and so forth. I totally ate it up, and it’s still something I find an incredible amount of interest in.

That’s why I’m excited that Crustcake posted this awesome video interview with metal producer Sanford Parker, certainly one of the “it” producers of the moment, who’s worked with Nachtmystium, Pelican, Rwake, Batillus and many, many more. Check it out after the jump.

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Major, major props to reader Bob Furtado, who not only caught the above cameo by Nachtmystium’s Blake Judd on Family Guy this past Sunday, but was even nice enough to send us a screen cap. I hadn’t actually watched the episode until just now, but the Judd character is referred to only as “Other Guy” (seriously, that’s what one of the characters calls him) and has no lines. I’m assuming Judd didn’t even know that he’d be making an appearance on the show.

The question is: How the hell did he end up on the show at all? Is one of the show’s animators/producers/whatever a fan, or did they just somehow come across the video for Nachtmystium’s “Every Last Drop” — in which Judd portrays a pretty cretinous-looking drug dealer — and think, “Yeah, that’s what an addict should look like!”

In any case, you can check out the episode here. And if you haven’t already seen the video for “Every Last Drop,” enjoy it after the jump.

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Well, this is terrible.

Jef Whitehead — perhaps better known in the metal world as “Wrest,” the moniker he’s used while working with bands such as Leviathan (his own project), Lurker of Chalice (also his own project), Sunn O))), Twilight, and Nachtmystium — has been “charged with criminal sexual assault and aggravated domestic battery… allegedly attacking his girlfriend,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

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Welcome to “Question of the Week,” a (sometimes) weekly debate amongst the MetalSucks staff regarding a recent hot button issue.

This week’s question was once again suggested by “Hipsters Out of Metal!” columnist Anso DF, and even though the Grammy nominations were actually announced last week, it still seemed like a fun debate to have. So:

WHAT ARE YOUR NOMINATIONS FOR BEST METAL GRAMMY?

The MS staff’s answers after the jump.

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Shelby Cobras of Illogical Contraption must be trying to stir up shit, or as we so fondly call it in Interhole jargon, trolling. Because some of his choices on his “Top 20 Shittiest Metal Releases of 2010” list are just downright infuriating: Tryptikon is shittier than Korn? Nachtmystium is shittier than both? REALLY?

Of course we take these things in stride here at the MS Mansion because we’re professional trollers ourselves. But some of you will most certainly take things quite seriously which always makes for interesting comment fodder. It’s like pulling puppet strings, I tells you.

Wait until you see what his #1 Shittiest Metal Album of 2010 is. Go read the list, then come back here and argue.

What’s your #1 shittiest metal record of 2010???

-VN

This simple-yet-visceral guitar solo makes me its bitch every time I hear it.

As the end of the year draws closer and closer, we’ve been spending an increasing amount of time debating which metal albums were the best of 2010; indeed, the staff of MetalSucks will all post our “Best Of” lists next Thursday, December 16, right before we shut down for the holidays. (And don’t worry, there’ll be a reader’s poll, too.) But while that argument flames on, Listmaster General Carlos Ramirez has stirred up some shit of a whole different color over at Noisecreep, posting that site’s list of 10 best songs of 2010.

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Agalloch’s Marrow of the Spirit: Apparently not a candidate for best album of the year.

Yep yep yep: the right honorable Mr. Phil Freeman of MSN’s “Headbang” blog has revealed the 135 finalists which will soon be whittled down for his “Twenty Best Metal Albums of 2010″ list, which will presumably be published sometime in the coming weeks. You can go here to read it, and then leave Phil angry comments about how your favorite album isn’t even on this list of 135 records.

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The new Nachtmystium video for “Every Last Drop,” which Stereogum premiered earlier today, is really scary. Not ghouls and ghosts and blood and horror-type scary; but queasy-in-your-stomach real-world scary about the realities of serious drug addiction. Like you get when you’re watching the sad stories and broken lives on an episode of A&E’s Interventions or reading about the drug-addled downfall of a rockstar like Layne Staley. Or maybe you know someone who battles with serious addiction, or, sadly, has already lost the battle. Whatever the case, most of you should be able to relate in some way to this haunting (perhaps semi-autobiographical?) Nachtmystium video. It’s really fucked up. I’d say it’s safe for work, but it’s not for anyone with a light stomach.

I’m pretty sure this is Nachtmystium’s first ever real-deal music video, and it’s a hell of a way to enter into visual fold… not that MTV would ever touch a clip this controversial in subject matter. The clip was put together by Seldon Hunt and Jimmy Hubbard, who also created the album art for Addicts: Black Meddle Part II, from whence “Every Last Drop” comes.

-VN

This song gets stuck in my head at least twice a year. I don’t know why.

So yeterday Cradle of Filth announced a North American headlining tour in support of their new album, Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa, and people seem to be put-off by the support acts — namely Nachtmystium and Turisas (Daniel Lioneye are also on the bill, but for whatever reason, no one seems to be put off by that). Longtime MetalSucks Mega-Maniac Shinaain writes, “I was little taken aback… Should I be?” Reader Stephen Parker, meanwhile, cries out “WHY!?” MS columnist Nocturno Cultowitz, after disappearing for weeks and weeks without response to any of our e-mails, actually called me to predict that either Blake Judd would murder Dani Filth by the conclusion of the tour, or otherwise Nachtmystium would be kicked-off the tour for attempting to murder Dani Filth.

But I think you guys are looking at this at all wrong. Cradle of Filth are a gateway band! And the kids at their shows are highly likely inclined to enjoy a) some form of black metal, and b) bands with a certain theatrical flair. Well, Nachtmystium meets one of those criteria, and Turisas meet the other. Will Nachtmystium go over CoF fans’ heads? I honestly don’t know. Cradlers (or whatever the fuck they call themselves) might be really open to a song like “No Funeral” in a way that some tr00 kvltists have not been. And I think they’ll eat Turisas up. So one way or the other, I imagine that opening for CoF will garner both Nachtmystium and Turisas at least some new fans. And at the end of the day, isn’t that a good thing? Don’t we want awesome music to reach as many ears as possible? It’s not like they’re opening for Limp Bizkit or ICP or whatever.

Dates after the jump, courtesy SMN.

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Photo by Chris Roo

Back in August, I got a chance to talk with Yakuza front man Bruce Lamont about all things Yakuza, his band’s stellar new album, Of Seismic Consequence (which is a contender for this curmudgeon’s year-end “Best Of” list), his upcoming side projects and collaborations, his other fellow musicians from the Windy City, and Yakuza’s then not-yet-announced tour with Triptykon and 1349 — a tour that is now under way.

Unfortunately, then the Bob Cock penchant for procrastination kicked in. But whilst Yakuza are still in the midst of the aforementioned tour (get dates here), I present you with the always charming Mr. Lamont’s take on…well, just about anything he’s involved in nowadays – including an upcoming solo album.

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Black Market Activities will release Mercy, the third full-length from Chicago’s Sweet Cobra, on September 28; since we’re debuting a track here on MetalSucks, it should go without saying that we think it’s pretty frickin’ cool. “Brux,” the opening track, has to be one of the catchiest songs we’ve heard all year; it sounds like Mastodon, if Mastodon were more interested in making sure they got stuck in your head and less interested in, like, orcs n’ shit. If the slip-slide riff and boppin’ drums don’t make you wanna get up and grab a hula-hoop, than you must have no pulse. This song is so infectious you’re gonna need to drill into your brain just to get it out.

Check out “Brux” below, and then pre-order Mercy here. It was produced by Sanford Parker (Pelican, Nachtmystium) and mixed by Kurt Ballou (Do you seriously not know who Kurt Ballou is?!?!), as if you needed any further incentive to buy a copy.

[this promotion has ended]

[UPDATE: Dates have now been posted at Stereogum!]

Feels like we’ve been waiting forever for a Nachtmystium headline tour; in my recollection there wasn’t one for the Assassins: Black Meddle Part I album cycle, and as you all [should] know Blake Judd and the crew have released another excellent album since then. Maybe there was a headline run for Assassins but I couldn’t go or something… which makes this new opportunity even sweeter.

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There’s been some backlash in our comments sections with regards to Nachtmystium’s live show. And though it pains me to say it because I love this band to death — Assassins was near the top of my “best of” 2008 list and Addicts will no doubt be near the top of my list for 2010 — it’s kind of warranted.

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Nevermore, Kingdom of Sorrow, Nachtmystium, Watain, Heaven Shall Burn, Whitechapel…. and, uh, Attack Attack!. All these bands released records last week, and after the jump we take a look at how all of those records performed. Metal Insider‘s Zach Shaw has done a fine job of collecting the data, but you’ll have to visit Metal Insider to get his cheeky commentary. The numbers — with my own cheeky commentary, naturally — after the jump.

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But he, like, totally had it coming. He was the singer for some band called Beneath the Sky.

I’m kidding. I don’t endorse violence against untalented people. Just front row games of Uno.

ANYWAY, here’s some other shit we happened this week:

• We’re streaming Watain’s Lawless Darkness and the Monolith/Voyager split.
• Intronaut’s Sacha Dunable talked about his new band and Sick of it All’s Lou Koller concluded his “Quintessential Guide to Hardcore.”
• We spoke to Nachtmystium’s Blake Judd and Heaven Shall Burn’s Maik Weichert.
• We checked out Thou’s Summit.
• We met the world’s youngest Nile fan.
• We wondered if Opeth ripped-off Immortal.
• We came up with awards that could be named after metal stars.
• Vince isn’t that into Kylesa, and has some advice for Portal, too.
• Anso thinks that No Prayer for the Dying is the worst Maiden album ever.
• As it turns out, Fred Phelps is still an idiot.

Next week we get to debut that video we were supposed to debut this week, and we have another stream, and some other stuff I’m probably forgetting. ‘Til then, enjoy your weekend!

-AR

Darkthrone. Immortal. Mayhem. These are bands that are part of the black metal lexicon spoken by every fork-tongued and cloven-hoofed miscreant in the scene.

Sonic Youth? Interpol? Wax Trax Records? Not so much.

It’s a crystalline look into the mind of Blake Judd, the figurehead of the behemoth known as Nachtmystium, the black-metal rooted Chicago band that morphs it’s shape with every release. On the heels of their much lauded and much respected fan-favorite 2008 LP, Assassins: Black Meddle Part I, the band is prepping a second LP that is bound to confound the black metal purists and tip the scales in their favor for best-of year lists. Enter Addicts: Black Meddle Part 2, due June 8 via Century Media.

In between crafting his Nachtmystium material, Blake has stayed active with Twilight, a black metal supergroup of sorts that features multiple notables in the heavy music scene: N. Imperial (Kreig), Wrest (a.k.a. “Leviathan,” Lurker of Chalice), Aaron Turner (Isis), Sanford Parker (Minsk), and Stavros Giannopoulos (The Atlas Moth). The hydra-headed (pun!) beast recently released their second LP, Monument To Time End, via Southern Lord.

With Addicts on deck and the ravenous beast Twilight already in the wild, I sat down for a chat with Blake Judd himself to discuss the new Nachtmystium LP, Monument To Time End, his label Battle Kommand, hitting the road (they play NYC on June 12th), and black metal in 2010.

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The MetalSucks co-sponsored Eyehategod headlining trek with Nachtmystium, Brutal Truth, and Black Anvil starts tomorrow in Orlando, and as if EHG alone weren’t enough to lure you to a gig, well, this oughta do the trick. Zena Metal – somehow scooping us on news about a tour we’re sponsoring!!! - reports that for $40, you can purchase what is pretty much the best VIP package ever: “a BBQ, soundcheck access, a meet & greet and a limited-edition poster.”

Again, that’s for forty bucks. So for literally hundreds of dollars less than you’d pay for a VIP package to Ozzfest or whatever other big-name tour you’re planning on going to this summer, you can eat (hopefully?) good food, hang out at soundcheck, meet the band, go home with a souvenir, and not be married by some guy you’ve never heard of. Holy shit, that is awesome.

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