Nightstick - "Death to Music", 1999

Nightstick's third release in as many years is the one I return to most often. It's not necessarily the band's best, but it's the most accessible, if such a term can even be applied to a band like Nightstick. While the debut album, "Blotter," was likely the most iconic and certainly the most extreme, it's not the kind of record you casually play on a random weekday afternoon or in your car; its follow-up, "Ultimatum," was also a demanding listen. "Death to Music," however, is the closest Nightstick ever came to making a more traditional doom/sludge record—one you could fit into a playlist between a Buzzov*en album and a Weedeater one, so to speak. There's still a weirdness factor to it, but the songs are less meandering than usual, and there's a hint of musicality compared to the all-out misanthropic psychedelia of "Blotter" or the droning heaviness of "Ultimatum."

This shift is immediately apparent from the album's opener, "Babykiller," a crushing track that falls stylistically between Electric Wizard and Bongzilla. Filthy, overdriven chord progressions over doomy drums lead to a final section where a slide guitar adds the kind of eccentric touch you would expect from the band. The vocals follow the shouted, graceless approach already employed on "Ultimatum," here loosely following the song's melody—a trend maintained throughout most of the record. The bluesy "Free Man"—featuring more memorable vocals and a midsection speed-up—and the trippy "Egghead" suite are even better examples of this newfound style, combining classic doomy, Black Sabbath-inspired riffs and big grooves with well-executed guitar leads, sometimes overdubbed and harmonized for a 70s-style effect. "Young Man, Old Man" stands out as one of the best, featuring robotic vocals and a rifferama that nearly borders on stoner metal, reminiscent of bands like Louisiana's Suplecs.

The band throws a few oddities in the mix, such as the two punkish tunes "Jarhead"—probably among the shortest songs the band ever recorded—and "The American Way," as well as the typical Nightstick instrumental psych jam sessions "(Won't You Take Me To) Junkytown" and the noisier "Boot Party Theme," the latter featuring FX-heavy guitars throughout and what appears to be a xylophone in its ending section. There's even space for a remake of "In Dahmer's Room" (from the band's first 1994 EP), which shifts from the up-tempo, punk-influenced original to a lengthy doom dirge with hallucinating lead guitar work, culminating in an unexpected, eerie acoustic ending paired with background feedback.

The album features a fittingly grimy, fat production, similar to the previous record but sounding more consistent overall, while retaining the organic, live-in-studio quality the band is known for. As a bonus, the dancing clown Padoinka—a staple of the band's live shows and the de facto unofficial fourth member—finally appears on the sarcastic album cover.

I'd start with this record to introduce Nightstick to someone unfamiliar with the band, as it's less extreme than the previous two. That said, if "Death to Music" is the only Nightstick record you have heard, you've not experienced the band at its most nihilistic, and you should pick up "Blotter" and "Ultimatum" to truly understand Nightstick's signature weirdness. Make no mistake, this is still an absolutely worthwhile effort and the band's most musically focused album; it deserves a place in every doom/sludge collection, even if it's less unpredictable or groundbreaking than the first two.

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