If you want to get a sense of how remote the area surrounding the Blue Mountain Event Center in Wilseyville, California, is, just look at it on a map. Surrounded by small towns — Bummerville (not kidding) is to the north — one finds Wilseyville about an hour and a half due east of Sacramento and two and a half hours from the Bay Area. Far enough to be far out, which seems all the more befitting a private festival like Festum Carnis 2017, the full lineup for which has been unveiled and which revels in a deep variety of metallic extremity and underground heft.

Hard not to have the eye caught by one-time US black metal innovators Nachtmystium taking part, and for the sake of the fest in general I hope they show up, but there are many, many others involved as well, from Sacramento psych rockers Astral Cult to thrashers like From Hell and Bombscare. If you want to go camping for the three-night event, you need to get in touch with the fest and secure a place on the guest list, and the info on how to do so follows here, along with the complete lineup and much more, all courtesy of the PR wire:

FESTUM CARNIS, a Northern California Open-Air Metal and Camping Festival, is pleased to unveil the lineup for its 2017 incarnation, which will take place on July 7th through 9th at the Blue Mountain Event Center in Wilseyville, CA. In its fifth year, and third at this venue in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains, Festum Carnis invites you – worshippers of all things heavy and close to nature – to come witness the sonic rituals put on by over 25 artists who span the spectrum of underground heavy music, and camp out for up to 3 nights under the light of a full moon.

Blue Mountain Event Center, comprised of over 210 acres of mountainous private property with a running creek, trout pond and A.T.V trails, will open its gate on Friday afternoon for all our Guests who obtained their Passes in advance to arrive and set up camp at designated areas. Food and drinks are available at the bar inside the barn. The barn is what becomes center stage for FESTUM CARNIS that evening as the weekend festivities are kicked off with performances from acts including Nocturnal Slaughter of Portland, Reno’s Ostracized, Dead War from Santa Cruz, The New Plague from Northern California & renowned San Diego black metallers Ruines ov Abaddon. The first night of the fest closes out with the nostalgic sounds of the 80s with San Jose synthwave phenom Vector Hold.

Saturdays schedule includes performances by: standout Southern California black metal bands Conjuror, Skyeater, Coldvoid & Ritual; mock-rock greats Monkeysoop; Portland’s post-rock/psych-sludge outfit Ninth Moon Black and Oakland’s Heavy Metal/Horror supergroup FROM HELL. Late that evening, as the near full moon soars above us and the shadows of the trees shroud us in black, Illinois Black Metal legends NACHTMYSTIUM will take to the stage for what should be a transcendent set. Recently reformed and returning to the scene by way of 2 exclusive 2017 festival appearances, the band will be performing their 2004 EP “Eulogy IV” and 2005 LP “Instinct: Decay” both in their entirety.

Including sets from Lesions, Wandern, Fountain of Bile, Maldicion & more – Sunday, the final day of music and camping at Festum Carnis, is by no means a lazy day or a day to skip for travelling home. Take the always-dreaded Monday off of work and enjoy one final night of ritualistic sonic performances, which will be capped off with a spellbinding performance from Sacramento psychedelic/occult doomsters Astral Cult.

Saturday and Sunday mornings will not have performances scheduled in order to allow guests rest from the night before. For those that like to operate on little to no sleep, the mornings will feature staff-organized activities, games and workshops including a Guitar workshop with Jerry Conner of Monkeysoop, Caricature art with Missy of Monkeysoop and more! Also available for use are the many hiking trails on the property that are just asking to be ventured through, the nearby running creek and pedal boats on the trout pond. Raffles and various organized competitions will also take place throughout both days, with festival merch and other miscellaneous goodies as prizes.

FESTUM CARNIS is brought to you by Arcane Inc., a DreamMaker Project of The Ink People non-profit organization of Eureka, CA. We are honored to be sponsored this year by Broken Psyche Productions, Lagunitas Brewing, The Lazy Cocoon, and Blackstorm Music.

Please note, FESTUM CARNIS is a PRIVATE EVENT, with a VERY limited amount of tickets available. Before tickets can be purchased, an invite must be requested and confirmed. No tickets will be sold at the gates, and anyone who is not confirmed to the guest list will be denied entry. Pre-ordering tickets before the day of event IS IMPERATIVE. To request an invite, and for further information, please visit us @ http://www.festumcarnis.com/

Festum Carnis reserves the right to make adjustments and changes as necessary.

FESTUM CARNIS 2017, Full Lineup (In Alphabetical Order):
Astral Cult – Sacramento, CA (Occult Doom)
Awakened Abyss – San Jose, CA (Black Metal)
Bavmorda – Central Valley, CA (Death Metal)
Bombscare – Bakersfield, CA (Thrash Metal)
Cold Void – Southern California (Black Metal)
Conjuror – Los Angeles, CA (Black Metal/War Metal)
Dead War – Santa Cruz, CA (Blackened Death/Thrash)
Eviscerate – Santa Cruz, CA (Death Metal)
Fountain of Bile – Santa Cruz, CA (Death Metal)
From Hell – Oakland, CA (Death/Thrash Metal)
Incredulous – Napa, CA (Thrash Metal)
Lesions – Los Osos, CA (Hardcore/Doom)
Maldicion – Bakersfield, CA (Black Metal)
Monkeysoop – Texas (Experimental/Weird-Rock)
Nachtmystium – Illinois (Psychedelic Black Metal)
Ninth Moon Black – Portland, OR (Instrumental Psych/Doom)
Nocturnal Awakening – Los Osos, CA (Black Metal)
Nocturnal Slaughter – Portland, OR (Death Metal)
Ostracized – Reno, NV (Stoner/Nerd Metal)
Ritual – Los Angeles, CA (Black Metal)
Ruines ov Abaddon – San Diego, CA (Black Metal)
Skyeater – Los Angeles, CA (Black Metal)
StormBat – Santa Cruz, CA (Thrash Metal)
Suicide Forest – Tucson, AZ (Depressive Black Metal)
The New Plague – Northern California (Death/Black Metal)
Trial By Combat – Bay Area, CA (Death/Groove Metal)
Vector Hold – San Jose, CA (Outrun/Dark Synth)
Wandern – Placerville, CA (Metal)

http://www.festumcarnis.com/
https://www.facebook.com/FestumCarnis/
http://www.twitter.com/festumcarnis

Astral Cult, The Sacred Flame (2016)

Boy, what the hell happened with Nachtmystium? Back when they put out Instinct: Decay on Battle Kommand/Southern Lord and got picked up by Century Media circa 2007, there was no getting away from them. They were inevitable — the band that was going to both pioneer and save US black metal from being a pale imitation of superior European bands. Boldly defiant of their genre and remaking it at the same time. Now, already broken up for a year, their final full-length feels like little more than a footnote to squandered potential. Maybe that was the idea all along. What’s more black metal than saying fuck it to everything?

I’ve heard the stories about drugs and ripoffs and whatever else, and I’ll allow that stuff — whatever of it is true and whatever isn’t — will have a say in how a band is received over the long haul by a community, but wow. Looking around at bands like Agalloch, Deafheaven and any number of American black metal’s other current indie darlings, it just seems like Nachtmystium dropped out of that conversation awfully quick. Guess that’s how it goes sometimes.

Nachtmystium‘s final outing (until the reunion), The World We Left Behind, is out Aug. 5 in North America, Aug. 4 in Europe, New Zealand and Australia on Century Media, who sent the preliminaries down the PR wire:

NACHTMYSTIUM set to release highly anticipated final album ‘THE WORLD WE LEFT BEHIND’ August 5 via Century Media Records

‘THE WORLD WE LEFT BEHIND’ is NACHTMYSTIUM’s swansong, the final chapter in a tumultuous, controversial and always provoking history. A black metal memorial, oozing of desperation, gloom and depravity.

The nine song album is set for release on August 5th in North America and August 4th in Europe/Australia/New Zealand.

‘THE WORLD WE LEFT BEHIND’ track listing:
1. Intrusion
2. Fireheart
3. Voyager
4. Into The Endless Abyss
5. In The Absence Of Existence
6. The World We Left Behind
7. Tear You Down
8. On The Other Side
9. Epitaph For A Dying Star

NACHTMYSTIUM online:
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNachtmystium
http://centurymedia.com/

Nachtmystium, “I Wait in Hell” Live at St. Vitus Bar, Brooklyn, Nov. 19, 2012

This is one of my favorite series of posts throughout the year, and it’s even better now because I can actually embed the players. Thanks as always to Roadburn for documenting these sets and to Marcel van den Vondervoort and his crew at Spacejam for doing the hard work of recording and putting it all together.

If you missed the first batch of 2012 streams, they’re right here, and as always, enjoy:

Conan — Roadburn 2012

Danava — Roadburn 2012

La Otracina — Roadburn 2012

Nachtmystium — Roadburn 2012

Oranssi Pazuzu — Roadburn 2012

Pelican — Roadburn 2012

Valient Thorr — Roadburn 2012

Wino & Conny Ochs — Roadburn 2012

Read The Obelisk’s coverage of Roadburn 2012 here.

The fun never ends when it comes to Roadburn updates, though I’m pretty sure by now there are enough bands on the bill to fill up five or six days. Hell, Roadburn should just make it a full week and be done with it. This time around we learn that Nachtmystium will play all of Instinct: Decay and Witch, Valient Thorr and Bong have joined the crusade.

Check it out:

Roadburn’s extremely pleased to report that Nachtmystium will be playing a very special show at Roadburn 2012’s Voivod-curated Au-delà du Réel event on Friday, April 13th. For the first and only time, Nachtmystium will play their landmark USBM album Instinct: Decay in its entirety.

“Nachtmystium is extremely honored to be a part of Roadburn again”, says Blake Judd, “The fact that we were picked by one our idols and perhaps the most forward thinking metal bands of all time, Voivod, makes it even more that extraordinary. We decided to do something hopefully just as equally special for everyone there. We’ll be playing our album, Instinct: Decay, from start to finish. We hope you enjoy it.” More info on Nachtmystium at Roadburn Festival 2012 / Au-delà du Réel event here.

Much to the mutual pleasure of Voivod and ourselves, Witch will be playing a one-off show at the Voivod-curated Au-delà du Réel event at Roadburn 2012 on Friday, April 13th, 013 venue, Tilburg, Holland. Founded in 2006, Witch churn out an punk-inspired style of psychedelic stoner doom that features Dave Sweetapple (Sweet Apple), Graham Clise (Annihilation Time/Lecherous Gaze), Kyle Thomas (Feathers), and marks the return of J. Mascis to drums (his first instrument, back in the Deep Wound days). More info on Witch at Roadburn Festival 2012 / Au-delà du Réel event here.

We’re elated to announce a very special one-off show at Roadburn 2012: A heavy jam by J. Mascis, Mario Rubalcaba (drums, Earthless), Mike Eginton (bass, Earthless) and Graham Clise on Saturday, April 14^th. This will be one epic jam session for fans of shredding psychedelia. More info on Heavy Jam at Roadburn Festival 2012 here.

Thorriors of the world rejoice, Valient Himself and his minions from Burlatia have been confirmed for Voivod‘s Au-delà du Réel event at Roadburn 2012 on Friday, April 13th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland. For those who like high-energy speed rock-n-roll, sweat drenched heavy metal or ass-shaking punk gospel, Valient Thorr are here to give you what you need. More info on Valient Thorr at Roadburn Festival 2012 / Au-delà du Réel event here.

Once again, the Roadburn Afterburner scheduled on Sunday, April 15th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland, will be a full-on festival day with bands playing on the Main Stage and the Green Room. Technical thrash metal legends Coroner (headliner), along with YOB, Bongripper, Black Cobra, Internal Void, The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation, Bong, Urfaust, Dragged into Sunlight, Fleshpress and Atlantis have been confirmed for the Roadburn 2012 Afterburner. More info here.

Bong, Farflung, Saturnalia Temple, Year of the Goat, Ancient VVisdom, Priestess, Danava, Conan, Atlantis and Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell have also been confirmed for Roadburn Festival 2012.

Tickets for Roadburn 2012 will go on sale Saturday, November 26th, 10:00 Central European Time. There will be a 2 ticket limit (per order) for 3-day and 4-day passes and Afterburner tickets –the same goes for the Campsite Tickets. Please visit www.roadburn.com for more info.

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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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.”