(written by Islander)
Over the last five years we’ve paid close attention to the horrid ambitions of the Virginia-based death-doom band Night Hag, beginning with a feature about music from their then-forthcoming 2022 debut album Phantasmal Scourge, following that with an interview after the album’s release, continuing with a premiere of their full-length 2023 split with Italy’s Burial, and now forging ahead with yet another premiere.
The subject of today’s musical revelation is a song named “Drowned In Death“, which is off Night Hag’s fearfully anticipated second album Great Dismal Darkness, which will be released on October 16th by the Rotted Life label.
As some might say, this isn’t a song for the faint of heart, but you’re not faint-hearted or you wouldn’t be here!
Night Hag have already proven their mastery of music that leaves listeners feeling both gutted and unclean, capable of mounting maniacally mauling barrages but also downshifting into episodes of pulverizing and putrid hopelessness. Their music reeks, it’s rotten, and it’s also ravenous and riotous.
But their new album pushes their evolution further. As summarized on behalf of Personal Records, it embraces “a slower, thicker, and more suffocating approach that’s equal parts primitive death metal, fetid doom, and swamp-born sludge” — “no gimmicks, no polish: just seven tracks of crawling decomposition, oppressive atmosphere, and unrelenting sonic filth”.
Which brings us to the nearly eight-minute monstrosity of “Drowned In Death“. Following a hallucinatory (and kind of queasy) overture and then a dose of brutish pounding, the song undergoes a calamitous convulsion. The drums and bass furiously thunder; cymbals flash; guitars writhe, scream, and viciously churn; and the words come forth in gruesome gutturals.
The assault is ruthless, like some combination of immense tunnel-boring machine rapidly gouging through bedrock and the feeding frenzies of carnivorous wasps. The music also monstrously lurches and heaves, dismally boils and drops bombs, always accompanied by lots of dynamic drumwork and those cavernous vocal terrors (which at times sound like they’re being strangled).
Eventually Night Hag really slow down — crawling, miserably groaning, and emitting choking musical fumes. The music still has a pulse, but it’s a dismal and dying one. The drums still crack necks, but it feels like an execution. To segment that grotesque crawl and all the gloom that it oozes like viscous ichor, the bass throbs by itself and shrieking feedback intrudes, but there’s no reprieve from the crushing and suffocating oppressiveness of this leviathan’s slow death throes.
NIGHT HAG Lineup:
Sam Fox – vocals/bass
Jon Ransom – drums/vocals
Casey Williams – guitars
Joe Arida – guitars
Great Dismal Darkness was recorded and mixed by Yave Rust Recording, with mixing
and mastering by Bob Greenough at Not for the Weak Records. It features cover art by Form Terror Growth (Fred Grabosky) and a logo by David Mikkelsen (Undergang).
Rotted Life will release Great Dismal Darkness on CD, vinyl LP, cassette tape, and digital formats formats. Pre-orders can be placed now — and below you’ll also find a stream of the new album’s first single, “Effluvia Tendrils“.
PRE-ORDER:
https://www.rottedlife.com/
https://rottedlife.bandcamp.com/album/great-dismal-darkness
NIGHT HAG:
https://facebook.com/nighthagva
https://nighthag666.bandcamp.com