I’ve been impressed with the sheer quality of music hitting this site throughout this year. And so perhaps it shouldn’t surprise me that one of the few genres I’ve only ever mustered a passing interest for can threaten to hurl a curve ball right between my eyes. Goth metal (or I think we say ‘dark metal’ these days) even when mixed with elements of black metal, can often sound and look like it’s designed to target listeners who only decided to start wearing black last week and who have landed on the first or most accessible alternative sound they come across. Plenty of posturing and visual theatrics but few ideas (and I’m a life-long power metal fan so I know how cruel words like ‘unoriginal’ and ‘derivative’ can be). But, for all that, I can’t help liking Nachtblut with their black metal pretentions neatly shrouded over those bouncing power chords. Maybe it’s those rhyming German lyrics, the Sabaton-levels of catchiness in the melodies or just the casual way they manage to absorb any number of clichés in each track while still sounding like they are in this for all the right reasons. It’s the kind of band that I can imagine arriving on an early 11am slot on a festival stage and everyone flicking their hangover-dazed heads round and thinking ‘hey, these guys are actually quite entertaining.’
So, ‘ghostly grimace’ face on; kick drum at the ready; Rammstein meets Dani Filth vocals all warmed up…. let’s see those air guitars! Nachtblut are not exactly new to this. The independently released Antik was an interesting album and good enough to attract the attention of Napalm (who re-released it in 2011) and where they’ve been for the last two releases, including this one. Now on album number four and they’ve settled into a neat, and no doubt saleable, sound. But for all their box ticking, the formula also includes a bit of subtlety and a level of song writing talent among the simple arrangements that will no doubt propel these guys into the heart of many a metal fan. Slower tracks (and one of my favourites on the album Wie Gott Sein) and ballads (Und Immer Wenn Die Nacht Anbricht) break up the mid-paced romp the band seem to chiefly prefer. If hooks are what you need then it’s Schwarz, Töte Mich or Dort Wo Die Krahen Im Kreise Fliegen – the latter track (which translates into something like ‘There Where The Crows In Circles Fly’) I can see German and non-German speakers alike chanting the words in unison across a field near you sometime soon. As for the Sabaton comparison – just listen to those keyboards and check out Kalt Wie Ein Grab and you’ll see what I mean about Rammstein.
There’s an honesty and a somewhat addictive quality to this even though I’m not quite clear yet just how seriously I’m supposed to take it. Not very, I’m guessing. It’s not going to win any awards for pushing the boundaries of metal (although who the fuck knows these days?) but if everyone was trying to do that all the time the world would be a very tiresome place indeed. There are not many surprises in here other than it’s better than I might have bargained for. But I like Nachtblut and it’s something I’m going to be happy dipping into now and again on the way home from work. And sometimes in the morning. Ok, I’ve been dabbling a bit recently. So what? I can handle it. What’s that? A Nachtblut patch on my denim jacket? Er, how did that get there?
(7/10 Reverend Darkstanley)
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