It’s been a weird summer in my end of the United States as long stretches of heat and dry weather gave way to insane storms and precipitation in August, which has led to my lawn uncharacteristically needing constant mowings, which never happens this time of the year. We needed the moisture for so long that now it feels like we’re getting too much, nature’s way of reacting to our whining.

It’s a fitting time for “A Thirst for Summer Rain,” the eighth full-length from ambient black metal project Lustre to land in our laps. While our thirst has mostly been quenched here, that’s not necessarily the case around the world, and whatever inspired sole mastermind Nachtzeit to create this wondrous collection, it resulted one of the dreamiest, most thought provoking of anything else in the Lustre catalog. This is the first record Nachtzeit recorded for this project in a professional studio, but that doesn’t mean the music is polished and unnecessarily clean. It feels like a magical adventure you take in your brain, hoping for the cooling relief of a summer storm cloud bursting over your head.   

“Quiescence” opens the record in a bed of slumber, the synth rolling in your mind and calming your senses, readying you for the deluge you know is coming. When it strikes, Nachtzeit blends the sedate with the crushing exquisitely, the hissed growls simmering beneath the surface, the fog parting momentarily to let light beams in to warm your flesh. The pace continues to flow with emotion, swelling and dripping before disappearing into a mist. “Faith” enters glimmering, the synth creating a glaze you can practically touch. The playing storms in the mind as quiet moments often enter and sweep in a new dose of serenity, and then the melodies carve back in the opposite direction, pushing and cooling, washing into the horizon.

“Thirst” liquifies and streams into your awareness, carrying over similar melodic DNA from what preceded it and building on those ideas. The synth extends its silver wings as a huge torrent increases the atmospheric pressure, feeling like clouds are opening and threatening to soak the land. Growls pick up steam behind the wall of shadows, and the patterns intensify before promising to drain from the sky. Closer “Alleviation” awakens with an energy jolt, unveiling symphonic beauty and dramatic flourishes that make your heart race. The keys glow with renewed energy as the storm front collects above your head, creating a path to fully explore your dreams and finally ending with a soaking shower, the summer rain for which we thirst finally quenching our raw throats.

Lustre’s eighth full-length adventure is one of the most rewarding under this banner created by Nachtzeit, which is an accomplishment considering how rich this project’s music has been from the start. “A Thirst for Summer Rain” can soothe what ails you if you’re at the mercy of your overtaxed nervous system and you just need a breather or a means to let your mind soar elsewhere. This is a tingling, rewarding experience, a record that is unlike most in the extreme music terrain that actively helps you see the beauty and breathtaking, letting you devour every drop.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/lustresweden

To buy the album, go here: https://www.nordvis.com/lustre-a-10

For more on the label, go here: https://nordvis.com/