The German musician Wiedergaenger (a member of Total Negation, Vargnatt, Absolutum, and other bands) has used his solo project NACHTS as a vehicle for moving through ever-changing sonic and lyrical terrains.
Beginning in 2009, he has released five demos and EPs under the NACHTS name, traversing lyrical themes that have included encounters in nocturnal in-between worlds, abysmal stories, and ruminations on death. Black metal has provided the musical framework, but through each release NACHTS has demonstrated an impatience with convention and an eagerness to explore different recording techniques and sound aesthetics.
At last, NACHTS will be releasing a debut album in late March of this new year. Entitled Privileg, it will come our way via the cooperation of two labels, Crawling Chaos and House of Inkantation, and today we’re presenting its first single, “Du Ewiger Hund“.
“Du Ewiger Hund” seems to mean “You Eternal Dog”, if google translate is to be trusted. In a nutshell, it’s an electrifying whirl, equally capable of punching a listener’s pulse and giving the listening mind a delirious spin.
The irresistible punch comes from a bass-and-drum combo that sends a charge into the autonomic nerves. At the outset, with no prelude, the bass delivers a feverish low-end thrum and the blast-beats hammer like high-octane pistons. At about a minute and a half in, the rhythm section flips a switch, with the bass vividly bubbling and the drums locking into a groovy back-beat — and the switch keeps flipping.
While those grooves are causing muscles to jump reflexively, the surrounding sounds generate an immersive audio whirlpool, produced in a way that makes the music shine. The densely layered guitars meld together to create sensations of frantic derangement and despair — rising, falling, writhing, and flickering with near-abandon.
When the groove switches, the guitars slash, swirl, sparkle, and screech in exultant splendor. Near the end, the keyboards also soar and wail, gleaming in brilliance and unearthly in aura, as if the whirling dervishes in the music have succeeded in levitating….
On top of all that, Wiedergaenger adds the intensity of his high howling voice, pitched to the limits of endurance and coming across like the blasted exhortations of a mad goblin king.
It’s a hell of a way to announce an album, a song that invites immediate replays.
In its themes, Privileg is described as “a cathartic journey through the disillusionment and disdain felt towards humanity, “a no-nonsense, vehement rant against the lethargy and nebulous expressions that permeate our world”. Each of the six tracks, narrated in the first person, “tells a tale of a narcissist’s desire to erase humanity, considering it unworthy of treading the earth any longer”.
Privileg was recorded solely in Wiedergaenger‘s private studio. It was mixed and mastered by Waik Schöner, a longtime musical partner of the artist.
Privileg will be released on March 29th, on CD and digital formats. For more info about the release and how to acquire it, keep an eye on the locations linked below.
CRAWLING CHAOS:
https://www.thecrawlingchaos-records.de/
https://thecrawlingchaosrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/crawling_chaos_records/
https://www.facebook.com/thecrawlingchaosrecords/
HOUSE OF INKANTATION:
https://linktr.ee/houseofinkantation
https://www.facebook.com/HouseofInkantation
NACHTS:
https://www.facebook.com/nachts.wiedergaenger
https://totalnegationnachts.bandcamp.com/