Blake Judd - the world of black metal's most polarizing figure has returned and much to the disdain of his naysayers. Fuck 'em! The people who matter are the ones who understand people like myself and Blake: family, friends and colleagues. For Blake, the road that's led him to this high point in his career and personal life has been fraught with addiction, destitution and utter fucking hopelessness; the kind of shit that most people commit suicide over. We who've experienced this Hell are the only ones who are in any kind of position to even speak on these matters! But yet here you are with all the virtue and all the right things to say… Should you even be reading this?

When it comes to the music, there are few artists / bands who are as talented and who possess the same kind of vision for BM as Blake Judd and Nachtmystium - USBM's most intangible and artfully-minded recording project. Would there even be psychedelic black metal if it wasn't for them? Psychedelic yet dreadful; spanning a lifetime's worth of transgressions and transformations along with all stylistic complexities not akin to any other band you've ever heard. True American black metal that not only captures the essence of suffering but also the American ethos. Nachtmystium music is usually dedicated wholly to personal matters, but with the forthcoming LP, "Blight Privilege", Blake has chosen - at least in part - to detail suffering and discord on both national and global levels. During my latest interview, Blake Judd of Nachtmystium lets us into his new life, his new way of recording and this fresh new vision for Nachtmystium.

Jeger

Hails, Blake and welcome to MetalBite. Man, what a Hell of a journey it's been. I thought you were all but completely done with black metal, which was a heartbreaking feeling as I've been an admirer of your work for some time. A few years ago, you expressed your interest in moving on from BM into different musical endeavors. What inspired you to take your rightful place under the Black Mark once again?

Greetings and thank you for the kind words regarding my past work.  This album exists and Nachtmystium was resurrected from its 'retirement' simply because I still owed Prophecy Productions an album I'd commited to in 2017.  I became totally uninterested in being involved in this music on any level after stupidly popping my head up around that time thinking I'd be welcomed back.  So I ended the band and didn't give it another thought for a few years until the pandemic hit, and at that time I decided I'd crank one more album out.  I wasn't going to have my final move be to screw over our record label who's been really good to me / the band since we started working with them in 2016.  So, I tried to make the best Nachtmystium album I could for them.

How do you feel about the project in its current form?

It's not really an active project, it was just a recording endeavor and we made a bunch of songs (there's actually another full albums worth of new material and additional scraps beyond that, even, from the initial recording sessions between 2020 and 2022). I hired a drummer named Francesco Miatto (longtime fan whom I've known forever) who lives over in Italy, and he was so inspired and excited to get to be playing with one of his favorite bands that he told me to literally send him anything / everything I had recorded and he'd learn it and put drums to it, so we had as much material as possible to build this album from.  I'm not sure I've ever had someone work that hard on a Nachtmystium record as a drummer.  Really scored with him and we produced what we both think are some really strong tracks.  The remaining materials we recorded will likely be released some day.

Your previous EP, "Resilient", saw you in a rejuvenated state of mind, body and spirit following a very arduous period in your life. I've found these times in my life to be ever-fleeting. How would you describe the current state of Blake Judd?

The most boring version of myself, ever, hahaha.  And I mean that in a good way.  I've very much 'retired' from my chaotic lifestyle that I was known for (for better or worse).  I legitimately quit using hard drugs over half a decade ago.  Like any drug addict, it wasn't perfect at first. I had relapses like most of us do in early sobriety, but they happened less and less over time, and eventually just stopped.  I've been in a very steady living situation / relationship with the same person now for most of a decade out here in California.  We have cats and a garden that we're really into.  I spend my free time hiking, camping, working out and living a very normal life I guess you could say - compared to my old anyways.  I needed to put all that shit behind me or I was going to die.  That's what it really came down to.  It was time.  So, here I am.  I always loathed the idea of living this lifestyle when I was younger... Now I fucking love it and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.  You won't see me returning to any stages or anything.  I'm really happy with my quiet, uneventful 'normal' little life these days.

The forthcoming album, "Blight Privilege", set for a tentative release via Prophecy is a volume that appears to detail struggles on a global level, as opposed to the deeply personal subject matter of Nachtmystium past. How do you feel about the current state of things globally?

I'm very disturbed by the entire situation both in my country and geopolitically.   We're going through what is called a "fourth turning".   It's a theory of generational cycles and patterns that can be traced back to the 1600's where every 80 years there has been a massive calamity that rearranged the global order of the day.  80 years ago from the now was World War II, 80 years before that was the American Civil War, 80 years before that was the American Revolution, and so on....  So, I believe we are going through our modern day version of this process.  I was indeed massively (and unusually for Nachtmystium) motivated by these topics for the subject matter on the A side of the new album.  The album is two parts: side A is part Blight and deals with the topics we're discussing here and side B is part Privilege and deals with my life coming out of homelessness and addiction about a decade ago up til today.

I was really inspired to take this path after what the world went through in 2020 and that's really where the entire concept for this album started.  I don't need to pontificate on the tyranny we all experienced... We all know what happened and how fucked up it was.  I started there.   My old long time partner in Nachtmystium, Andrew Markuszewski, shared these feelings with me on a deep level and helped me write the lyrics for half of the songs on this portion of the record.  We've never felt stronger about lyrics we've created for Nachtmsytium in terms of their relevance in modern day.

From what I've heard, the record sounds magisterial as far as engineering. How would you describe the production process?

Thanks!  I did it myself!!  I'd never recorded a record digitally by myself in my life, so I spent a year or two learning how to use my DAW that I purchased and recorded a couple other demos and albums for other projects before I did this one so that I knew my way around the software and figured out what I was capable of and what I was going to need to outsource.  Basically, I recorded all the guitars, vocals and synths by myself and the original bass tracks (Ken Sorceron who mixed the record re-recorded these bass tracks as he just wanted to be on the album and thought he could get a better tone, which he did!) all by myself.  The drums were recorded in Italy at a pro-studio by an engineer named Jacopo Pettini that our drummer, Francesco Miatto, recommended from previous recordings with his other bands CHARUN and CORAM LATHE.  I had him make me a rough drum mix to use to track the final guitars / keys / vocals, etc on my end as like a scratch mix and then when everything was done, I sent all the files from the Italian drum recording sessions and my sessions in California to Ken Sorceron and he mixed the whole thing (and re-tracked the bass, as I just mentioned) at his studio up in Oregon.  Turned out really great.

Any plans on taking Nachtmystium back on the road?

None.

You've had some experience with mainstream labels like Century Media, but I definitely feel like Nachtmystium belongs underground. How would you describe the difference between major label representation and that of underground labels?

It's totally different than working with smaller companies that are more passion-driven than numbers-driven.  I've had great experiences with both though, if I'm being honest.  Century Media was really good to me when we were with them for 6-7 years there, Candlelight was good to me (we did a similiar stint with them), and Prophecy has been really good to me.  I think Prophecy is the perfect sized label for Nachtmystium  because they're a little more artsy / underground-minded and their roster is more curated in a way that we make sense on it, than, say a modern Century Media roster would.  I'm really lucky to have them working with me today after all the stupid drama from the past.

How have people been responding to your unprecedented return to black metal? I, for one, am beaming with pride.

I really don't know, man.  When you're me, you can't read comments too much or be on social media searching for yourself / your band.  It's not good for my mental health.   Also, it's just not reflective of reality.  I hate what social media has done to the world at large.  So, I stay off of and away from it at all costs in general, but definitely when it comes down to Nachtmystium these days.  I don't need to read strangers making comments saying they wish I'd "overdose and die" because some other person didn't get their $20 t-shirt 15 years ago when I was in a terribly dark moment of addiction / sickness.  These people are fucking scum and I'll await the day one of them comes and says it to my face (that's never happened, once, btw) I'll confront it then, violently.

I'm glad to know you and certainly plenty of other people are excited I've made a new record.  I've had many people reach out in the last months and I do also have a Nachtmystium YouTube channel (thats heavily shadow-banned of course, so you only see it if you search for it) and there's a good amount of very active followers who are commenting whenever I post stuff and just as enthusiastic as I remember people being when we were doing this 15-20 years ago.  So, it's far from all negative, that's for sure.  I just try not to engage with any of it.   I also don't need to be reading a bunch of people telling me how great I am either, though, just as much as I don't need to read people saying bad stuff.  None of it is good for your mental health and keeping an ego and addiction under control.  I try to be humble today and remember how lucky I am to be alive and to be able to make music at all after everything. 

Art is a lot like peeling back layers of yourself and it's not always a pleasant experience. What's been the most valuable thing you've learned about yourself through your art over the course of your career?

Well said. Really well said, actually. I can't make art that I'd release to any of you guys to listen to that wasn't truly spawned from something extremely uncomfortable.  For example, while this album was being recorded we had COVID happening plus the riots / chaos in the United States for the first half of 2020, and then October 2020 rolls around and my Father (who had just retired 5 months earlier after working for 42 years straight) got diagnosed with grade IV glioblastoma (late stage brain cancer) and was given 16 months to live.  Probably the most devastating and insanely terrible thing I've ever been through in my life was watching that play out.  Fortunately, I'd gotten my shit together personally in the years leading up to this and I was actually able to be there for my family, in the flesh, for months at a time throughout this whole ordeal.  My partner and I were flying back to the midwest in the U.S. here from California to where they lived every other month for the entire time.  It was insane.  After all the craziness in my personal life, for 15 years leading up to this point, having it all finally under control and the world blows up (COVID) and my family blows up with this cancer thing. It was just fucking insane - one of the hardest experiences of my life.  Trying to stay sober through all that was the hardest part of all, but I fucking did it and that in itself really proved something to me personally and has given me strength thats stayed with me since.  It's probably the only good thing other than the album to emerge from this tragic situation.

But anyways, my point in sharing those personal details was to give the reader here a little background as to what I was going through personally at the time I was writing all this music.  I was so overcome with true, deep emotion, I think it really is reflected back through the music.  It was my only solace during a really difficult period, but also provided me with exactly what I needed to distract myself durng any down time when I was home, and it helped keep my mind and hands busy, which kept me away from a relapse potentially.  Really grateful for how it all worked out.  To be able to make a record while going through such a tough moment was really a blessing in its own way as well.

I've faced similar struggles to yours throughout my life and I've found them to be both blessings and curses. Some of my greatest works have been inspired by pain. Are you drawing much inspiration from suffering these days?

Absolutely.  And currently, I'm in the midst of a deep case of writers block because my life is not upside down in any way right now.  My best work is the biproduct of my personal suffering.  If I'm not suffering, there is no music to make.  That's really what it comes down to.  I'm sure life will throw a curve ball at me sooner or later though, as it does to all of us, and I'll get inspired to start creating again.  Whether that will be Nachtmystium or not is anyones guess, but we'll see.

Do you have a message for your followers?

Thanks for the people who've stuck with me.  And for the rest of you, don't believe everything you read on the internet.  Most of it is completely perverted from reality.   Thanks to everyone checking out the album and to you for the support & interview.