Band – Lust Hag
Album – Lust Hag
Country of Origin – USA
Genre – Black Metal
Release Date – April 26, 2024
Label – Fiadh Productions
Author – Hayduke X
Review
I first tuned into the solo black metal project Lust Hag with the release of the EP “Mistress in the Mirror” by Fiadh Productions. Since then, she has released four splits and a demo under the Lust Hag banner (though I missed the six-way split which wasn’t released on Fiadh). Each have just further heightened my intrigue. When I saw that the release of the debut LP was imminent, I knew I wanted to do something extra to help promote it. I love pushing the music and people I believe in, and Lust Hag easily checks both boxes. I reached out to Fiadh to see about an interview, got that arranged, and then promptly dropped the ball. After some time, I reached back out to Eleanor, who was kindly still willing to answer some questions. We finished the interview (below), and then I promptly dropped the ball again. Life is busy, I’m fighting writer’s block and burnout, etc, etc, etc., but the reality is that I should have had this up two weeks before release, not a month after. Alright, there’s my mea culpa. Let’s talk about music!
The eponymous debut of Lust Hag is a study in contrasts. The first thing I noticed in listening to the album was the riffs. I’m no musician, so take the following with spoonfuls of salt, but some of the riffs seem quite simple. That is not at all meant as an insult. Sometimes simple is the best choice. In contrast, so many of the riffs are also very unique…strange in a very good way. Unexpected. They knock me off balance and catch my attention. Simple or not, that’s a good thing.
Then I noticed the production, as I continued to spin the record (metaphorically, although a physical record has been ordered and will be on my turntable as soon as it arrives). I briefly mention the production in the interview below, but this aspect is again a study in contrasts. The album is decidedly raw – I mean, this is a raw black metal album, so it’s supposed to be – but also quite accessible. The sound is clear, in the sense that each instrument can be pretty easily distinguished. There isn’t a sea of murk to wade through. While I enjoy a sea of murk sound from time to time, I would say that this particular style of production hits the sweet spot for my ears.
The high, shrieking vocals are a great contrast to the rumble of the bass. The frenetic drumming (which certainly finds places for variety) balances nicely with the ominous synth work. Even the haunting purple tint to the album art contrasts nicely with the beauty of the image itself. Aspect after aspect is presented with a counterpoint to create the tension necessary for this to be a visceral, moving listen (it is), instead of a boring mess (it is not).
TL;DR – Lust Hag by Lust Hag is a dark, swirling, yet well balanced masterpiece of raw black metal tension. We need more. Order vinyl or cassette editions from Fiadh Productions Bandcamp (sorry, the CDs are long gone) and the digital from the Lust Hag Bandcamp. Press play, then jump below for my interview with Eleanor.
Interview
Hayduke X: Congratulations on the upcoming release of your debut self-titled full length (which whips ass, by the way). How are you feeling about it as the release date approaches? (Editor’s note: I really dropped the ball here. Eleanor completed the interview on April 12, and I haven’t managed to get this edited and posted until now. My apologies)
Lust Hag: Thank you! I am really excited and nervous at the same time. I feel really solid about that collection of songs and I’m proud of myself for doing all the engineering, and for not giving up on myself or enlisting someone else’s help. At this point I’m just hoping people like it.
HX: I can promise you have one fan of the album anyway. Lol. I’ve been listening quite a bit since Fiadh sent the promo. What was the engineering experience like? Is that your first time doing that on your own?
Lust Hag: No, it’s something I’ve always generally done myself. To me it feels like a natural conclusion, like the last step of writing a song. It’s an essential part of the process to me. I have stubbornly refused to outsource the mix and master in the past for that reason, so for this big debut, I wanted it to be something special. I was torn between doing the engineering myself or hiring somebody else for it. I’m really happy I ended up doing it myself though, because the results are just about exactly how I wanted and I’ve even gotten a couple compliments on the production so far!
HX: I love how you balance the raw sound with listenability. I feel all the instruments and nuances are discernable, but the album isn’t overproduced. I know nothing about that end of things though. What can you tell me about that process for this album, without giving away any “trade secrets,” of course?
Lust Hag: Thank you, that’s EXACTLY what I was going for. It means a lot to me that you feel that way. Basically when I write and record, I start with guitar, then I write the bass parts, then drums, and vocals last. Guitars get some reverb and a light eq, bass gets run through a MXR prime distortion, and the drums get some light distortion with a touch of reverb. The vocals will get a bit of compression and heavy reverb with the wet signal turned down so the reverb sound sort of sits in the background. Other than that my biggest pet peeve in metal production is when the vocals are too loud or guitars too quiet so I just play with levels until I like it. Mastering is pretty basic for me. Some compression, an exciter, a limiter, and some very light EQing.
HX: About two thirds of that is over my head, but I’m assuming some of our readers will know what you’re talking about. Let’s go back to the beginning. How did you first get involved in music as a musician?
Lust Hag: I think I recorded my first song in 2013, so it’s been just over a decade. Making music is something I always wanted to do, but I was my own biggest gatekeeper. I put songwriters and musicians on such a huge pedestal in my mind that I felt I could never actually do it myself. I guess a switch flipped one day and I thought “I don’t care if it sucks, I’m gonna try to write a song.” It did, in fact, suck. I primarily made a lot of rap, hip hop, industrial, house, electronic, etc.
HX: Are you a self taught musician?
Lust Hag: Yeah, for the most part. Countless YouTube tutorials have helped my guitar playing, so I can’t say I just figured it all out on my own. I feel like a lot of people act like getting a music degree is the “correct” way, but there’s actually help and resources everywhere if you just look. There really are no rules in music, just suggestions and tools.
HX: You said you were mostly making rap, hip hop, industrial, house, and electronic, which are quite different from black metal in many ways. How and why did you end up creating Lust Hag as a black metal project?
Lust Hag: I was just making whatever music felt natural and easy for me to make. I sort of started the Lust Hag project as a way to get better at guitar and to finally dabble in making the type of music that I primarily listen to. Initially it was going to just be a one-off thing. Since I mainly listened to metal and its various subgenres, it was another case of putting the music on too much of a mental pedestal and then doubting myself because of it. Otherwise I would have started a metal project long before Lust Hag. I’m glad it all happened when it did though, I probably wouldn’t have given the project as much care and attention if I had just dove right in.
HX: Oh, interesting! So creating the other styles earlier was because you felt they were easier to create, but you’re actually a long time metal fan? Do I have that correct?
Lust Hag: Yeah, I mean, I have love for music as a whole. There’s generally at least an album in each genre that I can appreciate, if not enjoy. I work at a record shop. It’s my job to know as much as I can about all types of music and it’s history. I have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to 90’s hip hop and I’m super into the history of house music and it’s relation to queer history. Metal just seemed like an “untouchable” sort of genre for me. Something I was purely a spectator of. I think that’s because metal musicians are often revered for their virtuoso and technical playing, I just really didn’t want to make something that was sub-par, so I just simply never tried for a long time.
HX: Ok, I know you don’t actually know me, but your answers are a) making me feel like we have similar attitudes towards music and b) making me feel a little called out. I’ve been very into music since I was a kid across many genres. I’m a big fan of 90s hip hop and was into the rave scene in the 90s, etc. Lots of connections in our music taste, I’m guessing. I always wanted to be a bigger part of music, but instead of diving in like you did, I started writing about it. Lol. With all that said, and given your broad knowledge of music across genres, what would you say are some of the weirder influences of Lust Hag?
Lust Hag: The biggest thing, for me at least, is having to constantly remind myself that it’s never too late to start something new. I’d say some influences that maybe aren’t expected would be like Heart, Suzi Quatro, Joan Jett, etc. I am really inspired by a lot of pioneering women of rock n’ roll. Also story-telling songs like Gorillas ‘Fire Coming Out of the Monkey’s Head’ and ‘Building Steam With a Grain is Salt’ by DJ Shadow and just hip hop as a whole were really big in influencing my lyrics. Also a huge fan of PJ Harvey and Diamanda Galás. Those two undoubtedly influenced me whether I know it or not. I try to avoid the verse-hook-verse formula so really I’m always listening for interesting songwriting regardless of what genre or artist I happen to be listening to. Also artists like Spice 1, Heltah Skeltah, the entire Flipmode Squad, Outkast, Gangsta Pat and of course Wu Tang and many more had a big influence on my love of music as a whole. I could keep going so I’ll stop there lol.
HX: Those lists really could go forever, couldn’t they? Lol. You mention your lyric writing. Tell me about the lyrical themes and the process of writing lyrics on this album in particular.
Lust Hag: The lyrics tell the story of the nameless hag and her travels between two mountain valleys. Basically there’s a war between the two valleys and everything is pretty dystopian. It sort of develops into a rescue mission of sorts, but that’s as much as I’ll reveal for now.
HX: That sounds dark, which is I guess no surprise for black metal. Tell me about the album cover. Is that a photograph? How does it connect to the themes?
Lust Hag: Yeah, the cover is actually two photographs. I took the initial image while I was heading to the gun range just outside of town. Then I superimposed myself into it because I wanted to go for sort of an uncanny, ghostly sort of feel. Essentially I wanted some sort of vague depiction of the story as the cover. Basically the nameless hag represents me, and the hardships in the story are generally metaphors for my struggles in real life.
HX: That makes sense. Also, heading to the gun range seems like an on target comment for a Montana black metal musician. I wouldn’t think there are many of you. Is there a Montana scene?
Lust Hag: Haha yeah, I’m a gun girl. The unfortunate reality across the country is that loads of trans folks, probably more specifically trans women, feel the need to arm themselves these days. As far as the scene goes in Montana, there’s a great scene here. However, not so much for black metal or metal in general. There’s a couple bands that play shows here and there. Uamh is from Montana and is a good friend of mine. There’s also a band called Geimhreadh and they’re fronted by a woman. There’s some good bands here and there that I like and I’m probably forgetting a bunch. Oh, I should mention Dead Eye Productions too. They bring a lot of really great bands and shows into town. I’m also a homebody and probably not a great resource as far as the scene goes. If you check out @donal_cl on Instagram, you’ll see how great Missoula’s music scene in general is.
HX: Full support for arming trans folks. I definitely see the importance of that, though it’s a really terrible feeling that it does feel necessary. I definitely know Uamh (wonderful stuff) and will be sure to dig into the rest. You’ve been working with Fiadh Productions for some of your releases. How did that come about?
Lust Hag: That actually came about because Uamh had sent my first demo to Bariann. After that, when I was looking for people to put out my first official EP, she was just like “yeah let’s do it!” I’m just thinking to myself “….easy as that??” Since then, she’s become a good friend. I appreciate the hell out of her and I often reach out to her when I need advice or guidance with my music or even life in general. She’s so badass, like the coolest woman other than my mom probably.
I also wanna add to the topic earlier of not making metal because I was too nervous or whatever. I think it’s even more ironic that I was afraid to make my favorite genre out of the fear that it wouldn’t be “real metal” or like good enough, because it was the genre I knew the best. Of course it was gonna be better than my other music, when metal was the genre that made the most sense to me. Just sort of silly if you think about it. Never convince yourself you aren’t good enough before you’ve even given it a try!
HX: Yeah, Bariann is fantastic to work with as a writer, too. What do you hope listeners gain from listening (if anything)?
Lust Hag: My biggest thing I am hoping is that people are able to bang their heads to it. If the riffs get you head nodding, if they get stuck in your head, or if you listen regularly, or even more than once, I will have succeeded. I hope that my album ages like wine. And I hope that folks are able to escape to the little fantasy world I’ve created for a bit while listening. Get a break from reality for a bit.
HX: I like that idea. What’s next for this project? Any chance there will ever be a live version?
Lust Hag: Next up is a couple split EPs with some artists I really respect. No live shows planned yet. Getting some sort of consistent live band going in Montana that a) can play metal, and b) aren’t pieces of shit to work with, is a long shot. Especially when it would be a matter of them having to learn my songs with no creative control. Like it would have to be MY band and that feels weird to ask of someone.
HX: That makes sense. Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know? Anything I missed?
Lust Hag: Not really. Huge thanks to you and everyone who has already supported the album and everyone who plans to. You asked some really fun and interesting questions. I appreciate even being considered for an interview.
HX: Thanks for taking the time to talk to me and for your thoughtful answers! I really appreciate it.
Biography: Hayduke X has been writing for MoshPitNation since June of 2016. He is also a contributor to The Metal Wanderlust. Prior to joining the MoshPitNation team, Hayduke published reviews on his own blog Rage and Frustration. In addition, he has DJ’ed an online metal radio show of the same name as his blog, written for TOmetal.com, done interviews for Metal Rules, and collaborated with The Art of B Productions to create video interviews with a wide variety of bands.
