Young and punctuated, the Chicago outfit Geronimo! do on their self-released debut full-length, Fuzzy Dreams, what American bands do best: they blend genres. In the case of these nine tracks, the trio pulls together the warm distortion of stoner and desert rock and pairs it with an indie or post-punk mindset that gives Fuzzy Dreams a balance of chic presentation and sincerity of delivery. Chicago being a hotbed of post- this and that, it’s not surprising that a trio with such a progressive mindset and focus on individuality would emerge, but it’s worth noting right off the bat that while the bulk of the Windy City’s noted acts of the last few years have had a blisteringly heavy edge to them, Geronimo! are every bit as sonically tender as they are tonally weighted.

It’s a balance they toy with throughout Fuzzy Dreams. In fact, the first 35 seconds of opener “Thunderbattles” pretty much lays the Geronimo! playbook right at your feet. Massive backwards guitar distortion builds up from silence and soon gives way to quiet, individually plucked notes. Those notes eventually lead to the song itself, a catchy beginning for Fuzzy Dreams with a riff that could have come off CKY’s first album or some lost ‘90s alternative masterpiece, but shows Geronimo!’s youth nonetheless in the form of a bouncing back and forth between low and high notes that cuts back on the groove of KJ Blaze’s guitar. “Thunderbattles,” as the name might suggest, is on the heavier end of Geronimo!’s output, with Blaze leading the way on guitar and also adding vocals to those of Benjamin Grigg, who also handles keys and the occasional trumpet and trombone, while Matt Schwerin mans the drums and also does backing vocals. There’s bass on the record, but nobody’s credited with it.

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Yakuza are a critic’s band. Certainly for as long as I’ve been reviewing albums, I’ve been saying of the Chicago outfit, “They’re doing really important things, it’s only a matter of time before the public catches on.” Century Media probably felt the same way when they signed the band in the early part of the last decade, and Prosthetic too when they put out 2006’s Samsara and 2007’s Transmutations. And you know what? We were all right. Yakuza have been making innovative and individualized metal for over a decade now, and it just seems like nobody’s paying attention.

For their latest outing, Of Seismic Consequence, they’ve found a new label home on Profound Lore, and suddenly it doesn’t matter anymore. If you don’t know, well, you don’t know. It’s not the band’s problem, it’s not the label’s problem. Yakuza has the freedom to do what they want to do and that’s just the way it is. The narrative I’ve seen in Of Seismic Consequence is this is Yakuza’s “fuck it” album. They’re saying “fuck it,” and doing what they want. If you want to come along for that, great. If not, your loss.

And Of Seismic Consequence is a considerable journey, with a feel more like a linear trip than a rounded album of songs. Conventionality has never been top priority for Yakuza, and their progressive bent toward the experimental and tech-jazzy continues here. “Stones and Bones” is as angular as the band has ever been, and 11-minute centerpiece cut “Farewell to the Flesh” is an exercise in ambient minimalism, vocalist Bruce Lamont adding his trademark saxophone to a subdued melodic singing that seems to quiet both the album and the universe surrounding it. Lamont has always been the focal point of Yakuza, but without guitarist Matt McClelland, bassist Ivan Cruz and drummer James Staffel, the heavy/soft shift of a song like “Be that as it May” would fall completely flat. There’s a band dynamic on Of Seismic Consequence, is what I’m trying to say, no matter whose name you see in the interviews.

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I won’t be there to drink it, but for anyone in and around the Chicago area tomorrow, Obelisk favorites Bible of the Devil are playing a release show for their new microbrew, The Devil’s Handshake. Made in conjunction with the local 3 Floyds Brewery, I can only imagine it tastes like burnt rubber and guitar harmonics. In other words: delicious.

If you miss them there, they’ll also be at RADfest this weekend. Here’s the info direct from the band, courtesy of the PR wire:

As you know, Bible of the Devil joined forces a few weeks back with our allies at 3 Floyds Brewery in Munster, Indiana, to create what is believed to be the world’s first street metal ale, The Devil’s Handshake. This malicious and crucial brew will be available in limited quantities at selected worthy taverns and gin-joints around the Chicago area this month, most notably Map Room, Longman & Eagle, Small Bar, Piece and of course Quenchers. Tomorrow will be a most brewtal party to celebrate its release:

June 2nd, 2010, 9pm $5 donation
Quenchers Saloon
2401 N. Western Avenue, Chicago
The Devil’s Handshake : 3 Floyds / Bible of the Devil
collaboration street metal ale release party with:

Bible of the Devil: 12am
Broken Teeth (Austin, TX, feat. Jason McMaster of Dangerous Toys): 11pm
The Vibrolas (Waynesburg, KY, ex-Hookers): 10pm

For those of you worried about getting in to the show, please show up at 8pm as Quenchers is limited in capacity. This event also marks Bible of the Devil‘s 600th show in its illustrious career. Come out and get parched!

If you’re going to kiss a record’s ass, a good reason to do so is the dude who made it was in Chicago doom legends Trouble, but much as I’ve tried, and tried, and tried to unconditionally accept Again, the self-released full-length debut from Jeff “Oly” Olson’s Retro Grave project, I just can’t do it. The album was originally download-only, and came out early in 2009, but was tweaked for physical issue and given its hard copy release in February. More or less since then (it might have been March), when I got the record, I’ve been avoiding reviewing it.

It’s not that Again is bad, but it is very disjointed. I get that Retro Grave is supposed to be an experimental project, but Olson as the chief songwriter, is still using the basic elements of heavy music that launched Trouble in the early ‘80s. It just feels like he has put them in the wrong order. The riff that drives “So So Souls,” for example, is killer, has that full-on swagger that made Trouble a metallic household name, but the surrounding elements aren’t cohesive, and after five minutes, when the track drops to organ, I can’t help but feel let down in a, “Hey, bring that back!” kind of way. Olson, who went to Berklee and clearly knows his shit, can only be doing it on purpose, and I don’t doubt that writing a song like “Monstah” (as opposed to “monster”) is a lot of fun, but that isn’t necessarily going to translate into the listening experience.

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If you’re wondering what might motivate three of thinky-thinky metal’s most luminous outfits – Steve Von Till’s Harvestman, Minsk and U.S. Christmas – to come together and put out a three-way split of 11 Hawkwind covers, the answer seems blindingly obvious: They all really like Hawkwind. Duh.

And with good reason, since that British band, who last year celebrated their 40th anniversary, are more or less the foundation on which multiple generations of space rock have been built and have had an unprecedented, unequaled influence on sonic psychedelia. Hell, I can’t even get through a space rock review without mentioning Hawkwind at least once. Why would Harvestman, Minsk and U.S. Christmas want to tribute to Hawkwind? Maybe the more appropriate question is “What took so long?”

What makes Neurot’s Hawkwind Triad unique, at least in a “Hey, we did something different” kind of way, is that the 11 tracks – divided four, four and three to U.S. Christmas, Harvestman and Minsk, respectively – aren’t divided by band. The Hawkwind Triad opens with U.S. Christmas, then follows with Harvestman, then Minsk, and so on, with no band ever having two tracks in a row (and Minsk bowing out after track seven) until the end of the album. The idea is that it should flow like a record instead of a three-way split, and it works in some spots better than others. But since they’re presenting the tracks in such a way as to mesh the three groups, I thought it might be fun to break them back up for a band-by-band review (the “prick” impulse strikes again). Observe:

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I don’t know if it’s the same this time around because I’m way on the outs of the proverbial loop, but in 2008, when Chicago outfit Nachtmystium released their Century Media debut, Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1, the anticipation was rabid and the reaction was so saliva-laden it was comical. It occurred to me the other day I haven’t gotten the same kind of fever-pitch vibe surrounding the follow-up full-length, Addicts: Black Meddle Pt. 2, but I’m more than willing to allow that’s because, in the two years since the last album, I’ve almost entirely stopped paying attention. So the situation might be the same and I just don’t know about it. Hype doesn’t make a difference listening anyway.

As regards that (listening), Addicts is a curious case. While “High on Hate,” which follows a minute and a half of spell-it-out introduction, could easily fit into a black metal mold at least as established by the last album, much of Nachtmystium’s material on the second offering of their Century Media era finds itself pushing forcefully outside the lines of that genre. “Nightfall” begins with and maintains a spirit akin to Queens of the Stone Age’s “No One Knows,” and the insistent/incessant keyboard runs of “No Funeral” (provided by producer Sanford Parker) would also seem to place the track elsewhere categorically. Yet, throughout these songs and later genre-benders, the production maintained is thoroughly black metal, by which I mean lo-fi and almost purposefully underproduced. A headphone session reveals more psychedelic complexities of sound that regular speaker listening glosses over, and though I personally find it harder to listen to Addicts because of this, it can only be on purpose, since with the likes of Sanford Parker and Nachtmystium main man Blake Judd at the helm of the recording, it’s not as though either party doesn’t know what they’re doing.

Rather, I think it’s a case of Judd and whoever in the rotating cast of Nachtmystium players with whom he wrote these songs having simply outgrown the style in which they began – namely black metal. I’m sure if you were to ask Judd what he thinks of black metal, he’d say either that he doesn’t play it or that he doesn’t give a shit (and both may be true), but if genre concerns weren’t on his mind at least on some level, they wouldn’t be acknowledged in the album’s title at all, let alone in the fucking-with pun manner they are. So what we get is “black meddle,” reshaping a genre the band would probably be better off leaving behind altogether, at least in terms of production. Hell, if you want to compare labelmates, look at the Triptykon CD Century Media released earlier this year. Every nuance of that album was up front and clear, whereas with Addicts I feel like something’s trying to hide from me while I listen, as though Judd is embarrassed by his creativity and sans-box songwriting. Push that to the fore. I don’t give a shit if it’s kvlt. I want it to kick my ass, and if the corpsepaint needs to go for that to happen, so be it.

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Mostly it will travel to and from YouTube, where it was posted and then promptly removed due to its explicit nudie content. How they can get down with banning nipples and show all those Bible-touting jackasses is beyond me, but I suppose there’s a reason I never got that censor job. Lair of the Minotaur‘s track “Evil Power” comes from their album of the same name, and if you managed to catch hold of their “War Metal Battle Master” clip, you should have some idea of what you’re getting here. Brutal, and obviously, NSFW.

I know I’ve certainly hoisted a mug (or at least a party cup) in the direction of Chicago rockers Bible of the Devil on more than one occasion, and now, thanks to Three Floyds Brew Pub, the band will have their own beer with which to do the toasting. If you think about it, it’s a perfect fit. Rock and roll and beer! Who’d have thought?

Bible of the Devil‘s West Coast Parched in the Western World tour starts tomorrow, Thursday, April 1, in their hometown. Drummer Greg Spalding checked in with this update:

Bible of the Devil‘s mammoth West Coast tour kicks off this Thursday, April 1st @ Cobra Lounge in Chicago with Slough Feg. Joining the bill will be Chicago‘s own Hay Perro. Show starts at 10pm and there is no cover. Plenty of new merch and new songs for you all. We are in the midst of unseasonably warm weather here in Chicago so come on out and get demolished by this bill. After this the mayhem begins…

Parched in the Western World April US tour 2010:
April 1st Chicago, IL @ Cobra Lounge w/Slough Feg, Hay Perro
April 2nd Madison, WI @ The Frequency w/Slough Feg, Imperial Battlesnake
April 3rd Louisville, KY @ Third Street Dive w/Slough Feg, The Vibrolas
April 4th Carbondale, IL @ PK’s w/Slough Feg, Zuul
April 5th Memphis, TN @ Hi Tone Café w/Slough Feg, Dead-I-On
April 6th Austin, TX @ Emo’s w/Slough Feg, Radio Moscow, Naam
April 7th San Antonio, TX @ Nightrocker Live w/Slough Feg
April 8th Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad w/Slough Feg, Leeches of Lore
April 9th Scottsdale, AZ @ The Rogue w/Slough Feg, Vektor, Greenhaven
April 10th Los Angeles, CA @ Spaceland w/Slough Feg, Professor
April 11th San Francisco, CA @ Thee Parkside w/Slough Feg, Orchid
April 12th Oakland, CA @ Oakland Metro w/Slough Feg, Elk, Cold Grave
April 13th Portland, OR @ Rotture w/Dark Black, Order of the Gash
April 14th Seattle, WA @ The Funhouse w/Witchburn, Hakai
April 15th Missoula, MT @ The Palace w/Rooster Sauce
April 16th Rapid City, SD @ Roman’s Pub w/Woman is the Earth
April 17th Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room w/Bloodcow, The Dinks, Desire to Destroy

Plenty more to come after this tour including news on BOTD‘s recording plans for its sixth album and who we are recording it with, plus our very own beer!! Yes, the fine folks at Three Floyd’s Brewery have agreed to make a beer in honor of BOTD. BOTD will even assist in the production of what is sure to be an absolutely punishing beer. A show will be dedicated for its release in June. More details to come.

My chief issue with destructive Chicago outfit Lair of the Minotaur has always been memorability. For each of their three albums prior to the latest, Evil Power (their first on self-release label The Grind-House Records), I’ve been psyched to get the disc, put it on, rocked the fuck out, usually woken up in a puddle of someone else’s blood not knowing where I’ve been or what I’ve done, then put the record on the shelf and completely forgotten about it. It’s happened three times now, and more if you count the Cannibal Massacre EP from 2005.

Back then they were on Southern Lord, and the hype around their brutal attack was palpable. Now people know what to expect from a Lair of the Minotaur album and dress accordingly — Kevlar, chain mail, bicycle helmets, etc. What that means is the trio, now consisting of guitarist/vocalist Steven Rathbone, bassist Nate Olp (Demiricous) and drummer Chris Wozniak, have to change things up a little bit.

On Evil Power, they do. Their sound is still based on some of the most pummeling metal the US has ever produced, but several of their tracks show an affinity for hard rock riffing that reminds of Entombed (Rathbone’s vocals also help in this regard; see “Hunt and Devour” and “Attack the Gods”) even as it reaches down your throat to pull out organs both vital and incidental. Whatever it can find, really.

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Aside from their having been the first interview posted on The Obelisk, I have sentimental attachment to Chicago hellraisers Bible of the Devil because, uh, they rock. They rock often and they rock hard. Would be nice if we saw a new record from them this year, but one can only imagine the run of dates they’re doing with Slough Feg will produce one if not more new songs about “the night,” so on that level, it’s all for a good cause.

The band checked in with this update. Note the Chicago show with Paul Di’Anno is happening tonight, Feb. 25:

Attention BOTD fans!  Here’s what we having coming up in the next two months:

February 25th Thurs. Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s Live w/Paul Di’Anno, Icarus Witch, Desolate Sky $12 adv/$15 dos Doors 8pm BOTD plays at 9pm sharp!!!  We also will have limited edition screenprint posters available for $10 to commemorate this occasion.
March 12th Fri. Iowa City, IA @ The Picador w/Snow Demon, Bloodcow
March 13th Sat. Chicago, IL @ Quenchers w/American Draft

Parched in the Western World US Tour April 2010:
April 1st Chicago, IL @ Cobra Lounge w/Slough Feg, Hay Perro
April 2nd Madison, WI @ The Frequency w/Slough Feg
April 3rd Louisville, KY @ Third Street Dive w/Slough Feg, The Vibrolas
April 4th Carbondale, IL @ PK’s w/Slough Feg, Zuul
April 5th Memphis, TN @ Hi Tone Café w/Slough Feg
April 6th Austin, TX @ Emo’s w/Slough Feg, Radio Moscow, Naam
April 7th San Antonio, TX @ Nightrocker Live w/Slough Feg
April 8th Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad w/Slough Feg, Leeches of Lore
April 9th Scottsdale, AZ @ The Rogue w/Slough Feg
April 10th Los Angeles, CA @ TBA w/Slough Feg
April 11th San Francisco, CA @ Thee Parkside w/Slough Feg, Orchid
April 13th Portland, OR @ Rotture w/Dark Black
April 14th Seattle, WA @ The Funhouse
April 15th Missoula, MT @ The Palace w/Rooster Sauce
April 16th Rapid City, SD @ Roman’s Pub w/Woman is the Earth
April 17th Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room w/Bloodcow, The Dinks, Desire to Destroy

Check out our new video for “Warrior Fugue” from our 10 year anniversary show!!  The video was shot and edited by Derek Ashbaugh and friends who also did “The Turning Stone” video. You can see the video here:

Not sure quite what the hell I expected from Dismal Times, the 2009 debut demo EP from Chicago traditional doom outfit Earthen Grave, but I am pretty sure the problem was with my expectation. Having heard a lot of top notch trad doom lately from the likes of The Wounded Kings and Apostle of Solitude, it’s hard to think of a reason I shouldn’t have dug immediately into Earthen Grave’s first half-hour of output as well, but something about the five tracks the six-piece outfit delivered just didn’t sit right in my head.

Maybe the bar was set too high in my mind because of how much Trouble’s name has been tossed around in companion to Earthen Grave’s. Sure, the band features former Trouble bassist Ron Holzner, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Dismal Times is going to be Manic Frustration. His mere presence (and neither that of Trouble’s Jeff “Oly” Olson nor Rick Wartell) wasn’t enough to save Wet Animal, so I don’t know why it would make so much of a difference in Earthen Grave.

Or maybe it was the violin thing. Earthen Grave aren’t the first band to tout strings, and Rachel Barton Pine’s talent is obvious from the outset, but there’s something gimmicky about it, isn’t there? Like, “Hey, check us out, we have this thing, and that makes us different?” so it can be a songwriting crutch? It’s possible that’s what did it, and all the more so because Pine rarely steps out of the parameters of the riffs of guitarists Tony Spillman and Jason Muxlow (The Living Fields), or even when she does, as on the solo of “Life Carries On,” it doesn’t do much to enhance the song another guitar solo couldn’t have accomplished. I’m sure it’s exciting to watch live, stringed instruments in a rock context usually are, but the standout factor isn’t really there on the recording. It works in some spots and is awkward in others. That’s life.

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By the hairy shoulders of Zeus, it’s Chicago crusher-killers Lair of the Minotaur! Verily, they are one of the most brutal, violent acts in these United States, sure to rip the faces off many an unsuspecting boozer in basements all across the land! And what’s this? They have their own label now and a new album? Certainly this is a reason to hide in the bunker you dug into your back yard last summer and subsist for several months on canned peaches and recycled water.

The PR wire incites a panic:

The Greek mythology-inspired carnage continues on Lair of the Minotaur‘s upcoming fourth full-length, Evil Power. The CD and digital download will be released on April 13, 2010 on The Grind-House Records, an independent record label started by Steve Rathbone, Chris Wozniak (both from LOTM) and Josh Diebel (former head of Alleysweeper Records). The record will be distributed by Southern Lord Records, who have released the band’s previous three albums on CD and vinyl, two EPs and DVD.

Evil Power lays all in its path to waste with an approach as heavy as the Kraken, while showing off the band’s heavy rock and punk influences. A deluxe LP version will be released in late summer 2010, featuring a bonus track not available on CD or digital download. Check out the Scott Jackson cover art, and hear the track “We are Hades” at the band’s MySpace page now: http://www.myspace.com/lairoftheminotaur.

Evil Power CD tracklist:

1. “Attack the Gods”
2. “Let’s Kill These Motherfuckers”
3. “Riders of Skullhammer, We Ride the Night”
4. “Evil Power”
5. “Goatstorm”
6. “Hunt and Devour”
7. “Metal Titans”
8. “Blood from the Witch’s Vein”
9. “We are Hades”
10. “Death March of the Conquerors”
11. “The Violent Iron Age of Man”

The album was recorded in the dead of winter in Chicago at Semaphore Studios by Sanford Parker, and mastered by Scott Hull. Rathbone states, “If War Metal Battle Master was the war, Evil Power is the party after a bloody victory.” The album features new bassist, Nate Olp (vocalist/bassist of Demiricous) and guest backing vocals by General Diabolical Slaughter (Usurper), bringing mucho mayhem to the fold.

A new video for the title track, Evil Power, will be released with the album. Rathbone warns, “There will be blood! This video is unrelentingly brutal.” Directed by Ryan Oliver, the special effects master behind the “War Metal Battle Master” video and head of Chicago based Deathblow Productions. The video’s horror theme graphically details the torment of some unlucky virgins, sacrificed to the mighty Minotaur. An uncut version will be available on the web (also in HD), and a TV edit will be shown on MTV2/Headbangers Ball, Fuse and On Demand.

Coinciding with the release, the band is headlining a US tour through the Midwest and East Coast in April:
4/16/2010 Melody Inn - Indianapolis, IN
4/17/2010 Peabody‘s - Cleveland, OH
4/19/2010 M Room - Philadelphia, PA
4/20/2010 Sonar - Baltimore, MD
4/21/2010 The Charleston – Brooklyn, NY
4/22/2010 Velvet Lounge - Washington DC
4/23/2010 Broadway Joe’s - Buffalo, NY
4/24/2010 The Summit – Columbus, OH

It suddenly occurs to me that I never reviewed The Atlas Moth‘s Candlelight debut, A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky. What a dick. While it’s a little late, I may or may not rectify the situation sometime soon (that vague enough?). While I’m weighing out the pros and cons, check out these tour dates from the PR wire:

Cerebrally pulverizing Chicagoan quintet The Atlas Moth will be blazing a good chunk of the East Coast and Midwest on the road this March with Coalesce and Harvey Milk. The low-end triple-guitar thunder the band are well-known for creating on stage is as massive as it is mesmerizing, as witnessed on their 2009 live with Dark Castle, Wetnurse, Black Cobra, Nachtmystium, Pentagram, Javelina and countless more.

The Atlas Moth w/ Coalesce, Harvey Milk:
3/05/2010 Rex Theatre – Pittsburgh, PA
3/06/2010 Kung-Fu Necktie – Philadelphia, PA
3/07/2010 The Ottobar – Baltimore, MD
3/08/2010 Le Poisson Rouge – New York, NY
3/09/2010 Middle East [Downstairs] – Boston, MA
3/10/2010 Il Motore – Montreal, QC
3/11/2010 Wreckroom – Toronto, ON
3/12/2010 Smalls Bar – Hamtramck, MI
3/13/2010 Subterranean – Chicago, IL

The Atlas Moth at SXSW 2010:
3/18/2010 East End Tattoo – Austin, TX @ Chronicyouth.com showcase
3/20/2010 The Metropolis – Austin, TX – early show
3/20/2010 21st CO OP – Austin, TX – late show
3/21/2010 Red 7 – Austin, TX – Goodbye Southby

I’ll be perfectly honest, I haven’t gone back to Raise the Red Lantern‘s self-titled At a Loss debut once since reviewing it. I don’t know if that’s more of a statement about the busyness of my schedule or the mediocrity of that record, but it’s the truth one way or another. Nonetheless, if the Chicago act are willing to brutalize their egos and collective well-being with even a short Midwestern tour in January, they at least have my respect. Here’s what the PR wire has to say about it:

At A Loss Recordings metallians Raise the Red Lantern hit the road this week on their way to join the later half of the ongoing Translation Loss Records Tour with Battlefields and City of Ships. The band also meet up with killer acts including Racebannon, Struck by Lightning, Chord and Mouth of the Architect along the way.

1/25/2010 Now That’s Class – Cleveland, OH w/ Battlefields, City of Ships
1/26/2010 Carabar – Columbus, OH w/ Battlefields, City of Ships, Struck by Lightning
1/27/2010 Beat Kitchen – Chicago, IL w/ Chord, Battlefields
1/28/2010 The Afterdark – Steven’s Point, WI w/ Battlefields, City of Ships
1/29/2010 Eagles Nest – Milwaukee, WI w/ Mouth of the Architect, Northless, Savior for a Fallen Hero
1/30/2010 The Picador – Iowa City, IA w/ Snow Demon, Identity Crisis
2/13/2010 Elva’s – South Bend, IN w/ Mouth of the Architect

Raise the Red Lantern‘s self-titled full-length was released in October via At a Loss Recordings. Recorded in their hometown by Sanford Parker (Minsk, Nachtmystium), the unit have unleashed their most blistering release yet. A bombardment of metallic rock and roll riff shredding and distorted, low-end thunder, all topped with utterly savage throat-shredding bellows.

Peer pressure, I guess. Assassins Part I had some pretty good songs, including “Your True Enemy,” the chorus of which is still stuck in my head regularly (up to and including most of the day yesterday), so yeah, Chicago black metallers Nachtmystium make the cut. What the hell. Can’t be Kyuss clones all the time. Actually, it probably could. There’s enough of them out there.

Anyhoosier, Century Media via the PR wire has info on Assassins Part II. Looks to be a star-studded affair:

This vicious, uncompromising group, led by mastermind Blake Judd are currently recording with Sanford Parker (Minsk) at Volume Studios. They have also enlisted the talents of Wrest (Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice, Twilight) to record all drum tracks, as well as Will Lindsay (Wolves in the Throne Room, Middian) on bass for the much anticipated Assassins Part II, which was hailed by Decibel as “One of the 25 most anticipated albums of 2010.”

Nachtmystium kicks off their 2010 touring cycle by joining up with German thrash legends Kreator so head over to www.myspace.com/nachtmystium to view their complete touring itinerary.

Judd further describes his excitement over this upcoming album: “Our love for post rock and industrial (à la Ministry, Killing Joke, etc.) is even more present this time around. We’re hoping to make a record that will continue to push extreme music into uncharted territories. We hope to see you all soon.”