NACHTMYSTIUM
8 p.m., Downtown Music Hall. $10 adv., $12 d.o.s.
It means “Encompassing Darkness” in a cobbled-together mix of German and Latin. Now that we’ve got the whole name thing out of the way, we can say that Nachtmystium is one of the best metal bands in the world. Heck, they’re probably the biggest black metal band in America. At least that seems to be the consensus, according to pages upon pages of interviews, profiles and articles about Chicago’s flagship psychedelic black metal exports. In the last 10 years, front man Blake Judd and a revolving cast of band mates have proven to be as prolific as they are dark, issuing a relentless stream of LPs, EPs, live recordings and the like. Last summer saw the release of “Addicts: Black Meddle, Part II,” a sinister nod to Pink Floyd acclaimed by tastemakers of the metal domain.
It’s no shock that they’ll play with Rwake, Arkansas’s greatest contribution to the metal-loving world. But it’s not just that: Nachtmystium keyboardist Sanford Parker just wrapped up recording Rwake’s latest, tentatively titled “I’ve Given My Hands to the Devil.” Our hometown heroes may be hard, but Nachtmystium isn’t for beginners.