For those of us that can remember and that have lived in the “good ol days” of tape trading, mail order for music and reading photo-copied zines, this is how we would find and discover all the new and the latest. If you were lucky enough to have a record store to carry the more underground material it would be great. It was even better for the place to carry cassette demos of the really underground / just starting out bands. I was lucky to have a few such places, hence I was able to really dive deep into the Metal underground. So when I see the latest from BLACK HURST, the scrawled logo, the look of photocopied imagery, and the band member photos, it all takes me back to the glory days of yore. Hailing from New York, we have a quick three songs that the band labels themselves Pagan Black Metal Mysticism, which I can definitely see. The sound at points, when I am listening to this, reminds me much of MORD (Norway), especially track #3 ‘Hurst’, but not as chaotic or satanic. The songs are much more mid-paced and moody at times, with plenty of blackened Doom elements. The vocals are a bit more varied which makes things more interesting as well. The songs are a bit more varied as well, if maybe a bit disjointed in overall theme. Not quite dark, not quite pagan and not overtly evil. This is not a bad thing. First recording, first songs, we all are trying to find our niche. The production is well done for a first demo, the instruments are clear and even allow for the more ambient keyboard moments to shine within the songs themselves. So overall a great intro to the band. I feel as they progress and they find their identity, things should get interesting. I will keep an eye out, maybe you should too. https://blackhurstbm.bandcamp.com, http://misanthrophia-discos.blogspot.de