But you should love Lustre. Nobody else is making music like this. Sole creator Nachtzeit drapes waves of hypnotic black metal -- played at the pace of doom -- in sumptuous keyboard melodies that, at first, don't seem to belong in a metal context. It's like Xasthur deciding to play chilly woodland lullabies and, fantastically, getting away with it. Lustre takes about a thousand steps away from metal's heavy rock roots to plant cascading distortion and protracted screams in a remote and very fertile soil. It's atmospheric black metal with a melodic spine that acts as a pulsating focal point rather than a mere quaint accent.

Lustre has been pouring out music like this for seven years, and _Blossom_ is Nachtzeit's fifth full-length album, though there have been EPs and splits along the way. The above paragraph describes _Blossom_ as well as it describes any of the other releases, but that is commentary on the project's consistency rather than any sense of boring repetition. Every moment of Lustre's recorded history opens gorgeous new avenues for a style of music that is intensely individualistic. If anything, _Blossom_ seems more lush, less stark than earlier Lustre work. Rather than plink out hollow-sounding melodies against a slithery, crushing background, there are low-end drones and sustained synth chords that fill more of the available space. The result is a warm cushion of sound that elevates the songs on _Blossom_ to a more grandiose place. Album highlight: "Part 3" employs a faster beat and a squirmy keyboard lead, launching the track beyond the already celestial quality of the other songs.

If you haven't heard any of Lustre's music yet, get out there and listen. If it doesn't change the way you hear music, don't feel bad. It's probably not entirely your fault.