The Projectionist – Visits From The Nighthag Part I (Appalachian Noise Records)
Wednesday, 10th October 2018
It is a miserable place to be latched to something mediocre. Something that can’t sway you to fury because of how awful it is or thrill you because of how fucking spectacular it is. Nope. Something that largely fails to register one way or the other. Something that just is. Welcome Visits From The Nighthag Part I, the beginning of a journey of some kind.
Picture The Blair Witch Project.
Without overselling it or giving undue praise to the above mentioned, if you took its essence and filtered through the usual late 90s European black metal lenses, Visits From The NIghthag Part I is what you wind up with. Five tracks of icy feels, murky production, plastic drums (whether they’re programmed or a human, they sound remarkably false.
Curious also is the presence of silence tacked on to the end of each track (ranging from thirty seconds to over two minutes). Hopefully this is something particular to the pre-release nature of this version, not dissimilar from the peculiar voice ‘watermarks’ that common with advanced releases in the early 00s. It doesn’t add points for a net positive experience (nor does it take away).
In its slower moments, opener “Act I – Paralysis of Subsonscious Toxins” carries a chilling essence and “Act 4 – What Can Be Mollified In A Banshee’s Thrashing” is fun with its multiple vocalists and maelstrom-like feel. There isn’t enough of substance here though to warrant repeat visits. A visit to any local record store and choosing based on album cover (so many times) will net a similar experience: moments of tasty but ultimately empty.
To be releasing in the high season of the year, there is little to warrant more than a cursory glance at Visits From The Nighthag Part I. For most, a hard pass.
