This is Blake Judd's farewell gift to the world. To begin with, I'd say it's a deserving conclusion. After his latest conviction, he's spending time with family. On a personal note, this implies the coming of age- when you hit rock bottom in life, family time is the way to go.
I'm not one to glorify substance abuse & hedonism but The World We Left Behind is, upon close listening, a reflection of an individual's life journey; an an honest account quite devoid of material worship. I was expecting an Instinct: Decay conclusion because The Silencing Machine went that way despite the successful psychedelia of Assasins & Addicts. To put it simply, TWWLB is an intelligent brew of the traditional & psychedelic, perhaps it's Judd's best effort in terms of musicianship. I'm also giving it a thumbs up in terms of production. There is ample gloss to mark quality & that signature lo-fi black metal livery is present but in trickle amounts. While tracks such as Fireheart & Voyager invokes the essence of Darkthrone & Burzum respectively, the rest of TWWLB are Nachtmystium's own. Yes, they sound familiar because they are treading the black metal path, just like jazz album sounding jazzy- there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
It is fair to hope that Blake Judd would muster enough sense along the way to revive Nachtmystium should the situations permit. I consider them to be an essential USBM establishment, people with enough courage to look away from the hype while dwelling on grounds that do not pave way for fertile development.
