The Risen Dread – Night Hag Review

January 2022 – Dublin

I will stay local this time and review the new album “Night Hag” from an Irish metal band The Risen Dread. As most of the local bands The Risen Dread has extreme vocals and a brutality in their sound as well as clear ones. What makes them stand out from all other bands alike is their courage to make a whole concept album about mental illness and their drive to make music outside Ireland. Moreover, listening to a couple of songs you are sucked into “Night Hag” as their sound reminds you of Pantera and Anthrax.

For this reason I’ve decided that Night Hag is an album I must check out. As always, I joined D Metal Galaxy to learn more about the band from William and Mat. They have talked a lot about their influences, musical journey, the production of the album and Night Hag itself.

On the basis of this, I have decided to pen down my own thoughts on song structure, the lyrics, the music, the artwork and in the end, summarise it.

Song Structure

The Risen Dread kicks off with a song straight in the face, it’s called “Psychosis’. It is a song which characterised by brutality and William himself told they wanted to start with a fast track. I think it is excellent choice as this song shakes you up and makes you ready what is to come. The next song is “Silent Disease” which is a great one as well as it has great riffs and unclean vocals.

The guests’ are carefully scattered around Night Hag. I think it is an excellent choice as William himself perfectly explained to us that putting the song in this order stimulated people to listen to the whole album. Especially Andreas Kisser is almost at the end for this particular reason. I totally agree and for me it builds quite a tension as I need to listen to a few songs before I hear a guest musician appear. Afterwards a couple more songs you can hear the next one. As a result, the viewers stay hooked after listening to the guests.

For the rest of the songs there wasn’t really a structure. I didn’t mind this as the album was nicely flowing with every track. Each track had a bit of different music composition. After a while I was surprised by a guest solo.

“NIGHT HAG WAS PUT TOGETHER WITH A LOT OF CARE AND DEDICATION”

Music

The Risen Dread had chosen for ”Night Hag” for a modern production and thus “Night Hag” isn’t so raw. I am super happy about this. I have great difficulties understanding the vocals on thrash album that have chosen a raw production. For me the vocals in raw production are hard to understand as the vocals are overwhelmed by the instruments and making me miss out on the lyrics.

As a consequence, it was very easy for me to understand the lyrics of “The Risen Dread”. This makes it one of my favourite thrash albums to listen to. Apart from my personal preference it helps, in my opinion to bring the message that the band was aiming for across.

“THE UNRAWNESS OF NIGHT HAG ENHANCES THE MESSAGE”

Lyrics

Night Hag is a concept album that centres about mental illness which is also very personal to the band. In my opinion, a very brave, fitting and interesting choice that could have been more utilised. First of all the music blends very well with the topic as groove/thrash metal is pure aggression. And it also has a certain level of brutality. It is a great way to handle such topics as they are part of our inner demons and screaming them out is a great therapeutic way.

This brings me to the next point. It is amazing and admirable how the guys talked with us about their struggles and how the music helped them in a therapeutic way. I think this music definitely can help with mental illness.

The interesting thing was that the guys not only based the song on their personal experiences, but also on historic events. In order to make sure the lyrics were accurate they had to do a lot of research. One story that stuck with me is the Italian lazarette. Basically, mentally ill people were sent off to an island in Italy where the doctors would experiment on them. This is the particular thing I wished the band had utilised more.

Mats and William went into a lot of details. This kind of stories is something I would have loved to see in the album as a listener. For this reason, it is kind of a pity that the album had only a digital release. It would be a great thing to read through the lyrics and concept behind each song and understand the very message of the writer.

“NIGHT HAG HAS ROCK SOLID LYRICS THAT HAD MUCH MORE POTENTIAL”

Artwork

There wouldn’t be a better way to display “Night Hag”. The cover perfectly displays the core theme of the album: mental illness. For me the picture references insanity. The colours are quite appealing and letters stand out from the rest due to the contrast that has been used. Also, the font that has been used is a great one. It is raw and sharp but not overwhelming the rest of artwork and fitting in with groove/trash metal.

Apart from a brilliant representation of the Night Hag album it is a cover which will certainly stand out on your shelf as it is something I haven’t seen before.

Summary

Night Hag is an excellent album for the season listeners, but it may fall short on those who are seeking a bit more music wise. Don’t get me wrong. The song structure is well thought. Due to guests features which are nicely spread out and the first song which makes you ready for what is to come. On top of this the band has solid lyrics to explore – mental illness. But this might not be enough for those who are not used to such extreme metal music. As well as for those who are seeking more variation in the music.

“NIGHT HAG IS AN ALBUM THAT CERTAINLY WON’T DISAPPOINT THE EXTREME METAL LISTENERS FOR OTHERS IT MAY FALL SHORT“
MAIr