Although he\'s employed a number of sidemen over the years, Nachtmystium is essentially the work of Chicago native Blake Judd, who began recording demos in 1998 and continues to unleash regular examples of raw, misanthropic, Scandinavian-style black metal (think Darkthrone, early Mayhem, Satyricon, etc.) on releases such as 2002\'s Reign of the Malicious, 2004\'s Demise, and 2006\'s Instinct: Decay.

Their latest, Addicts: Black Meddle, Part II is being hailed by critics as the band\'s crowing achievement. Pitchfork states that Addicts \"stands as a landmark work for this band, both in its omnivorous restlessness and its crushing, monolithic heaviness. It\'s a deeply immersive record, one that can swallow up your whole world if you hear it on headphones in the right mood. And it becomes even more impressive when you learn that Judd wrote it as an album about overcoming struggles, rather than luxuriating and reveling in directionless hate, the way so much black metal is perfectly content to do... The further out this guy pushes his ideas, the better his music gets-- which means Addicts might be Nachtmystium\'s best album yet.\"