Among the most prolific and ever-present names in heavy music, Nik Nocturnal has become a vital part of the culture through his widely-popular Youtube channel and social media platform.
Over the last 11 years, Nocturnal has amassed over 1.25 million subscribers to his Youtube channel alone, along with strong social media footprint that also tallies well over the million mark among the major platforms combined. Through his interviews, his skits, his tutorials and his collaborative projects - Nocturnal has lived his adult life through the lens of heavy music, all documented and broadcast as part of a true Youtube, digital-age success story.
In what looks to be his final upload, Nik Nocturnal is saying goodbye to his channel.
Sharing a very personal, candid conversation with his fans and followers, Nik revisited the different era's of the series and expressed his gratitude in being able to share what he loves with so many people. Nik would go onto express that while he loved the work, it became unhealthy in that his work became his retreat - never taking the time to confront the ups and downs that come with real life.
Nik expressed in the video, "The channel over 11 years has been through such an insane journey and it has been the most incredible thing I have been a part of in my entire life. And it's something I will always be thankful for, something I will always be blessed to have done this for literally my entire adult life since I was 17 years old."
Nik would go onto express how his work ethic ultimately took over in a way that while professionally productive, never allowed for personal time. "I have a very unhealthy relationship with content where I will go through shit and instead of necessarily dealing with in in that moment, two hours later I'm like, 'All right, someone that's close to me passed away. I guess let's go do the stream or get the YouTube video finished.' I have the most blessed job in the world and I'll never take that for granted, but I've never taken that proper time to just absorb things like that — like a normal human basically would."
Nik reiterated the concept of community - a talking point he both began and ended his personal message with. He confided that he began the channel because he wanted to share metal music with people a didn't have the support group and personal network to do so - thus he created one. Nik would finish his message urging fans to continue to connect via Discord and the community that galvanized around the channels. He punctuated his message in saying, "I hope you guys never forget, because I know I won't, that we did fun metal things here."
As a final parting gift, Nik has released an ode to 2000's metalcore with The Lost Chapters EP. Working with members of All That Remains, Caliban, The Ghost Inside, Bury Tomorrow an Darkest Hour, Nocturnal showcases his talent, his true love for the sound and the kind of reach he spent more than the last decade cultivating with a release that is heavy in style and significance.
Stream the EP below.
