Lust Hag is a one-woman black metal band from the US, and this is her latest EP.
Mistress in the Mirror contains 21 minutes of raw black metal spread out over seven tracks. You may not have heard of Lust Hag before – I hadn’t – but this is a release that should by all rights make people take notice of this very enjoyable band.
The music is aggressive and harsh, but not without melody. There’s a combination of brutal ugliness and melodic grace here that’s quite infectious. It kind of reminds me of something like a mix of Nattefrost, Mütiilation, Këkht Aräkh, and Wampyric Rites, only with a well-formed personality of its own.
The artist behind the band clearly knows how to craft this sort of underground black metal, and her songwriting skills hit the spot. The music works well to incorporate song-based hooks with dark atmospheric presence.
Some tracks lean into one aspect of the Lust Hag persona more than others. Opener Perilous Slumber, for example, is the longest cut and delivers the full range of textures to be found on this EP, whereas others focus on different areas, (such as sinister atmospheric interlude Winds of Hell’s Gate or the punky spiky malice of Wilting Flower in a Forgotten Landscape). The Beckoning Void is striking in its rich moody groove and thrashing savagery, and Aimlessly Traveling is bleakly energetic, vibrantly otherworldly, and menacing. Closer Vampyric Reflection (Mistress in the Mirror) – the second longest track – ranges akin to the opening song, providing the artist with a broader breadth with which to spread her grim darkness, yet with a more riff-centric approach.
Mistress in the Mirror has impressed. It boasts a lot of high quality raw blackened material within its brief running time, and should find favour with any fan of underground black metal. I’m excited to see what Lust Hag could potentially do with a full length release.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 