It’s absurdly late. It’s chilly, the darkest part of the evening, yet something lures you into the woods, a place where you’d hardly feel comfortable most of the time at this turn of the day. Yet here you are, walking, crunching dead leaves and sticks, trying to find your muse as you feel your way through the shadows. Finally, you find it. Fire crackling, chants rising, you’ve left yourself to the wild.

Taking on the new EP from Countess Erzsebet (the name taken from Elizabeth Bathory), helmed solely by Rachel Bloodspell Moongoddess (who has worked with Xasthur and Cardinal Wyrm among others), feels like a ritual more than just six songs bleeding through your headphones. Moongoddess’ work has transformed from her largely acoustic early work that had minimal vocals to something raw, black metal that scrapes at the psyche, pushing your mind and body to commit to something rather than forget it once the music ends. Moongoddess goes for the throat here, making sounds that haunt you, creating black metal that feels like a genuine expression from the heart rather than something to move units. This is a true beginning of something that shows a pretty certain path but also leaves mystery, making it impossible to know where this project may go next but also makes the possibilities incredibly exciting.

“In the Blood of Virgins” opens with guitar swell and wordless calls lifting, acoustics sliding underneath, sounds reverberating. Howls echo as guitars char, clean singing mixing with hypnotic passages, numbing you with wonder before fading. “Glorification of the Profane” delivers raw guitars and fires up with force, shaking and riveting, making bones rattle inside of bodies. Speed strikes as minimalist playing manages to cave in your chest, spilling black and sooty melodies that rot in the dirt. “666” opens with angelic-style calls, rough guitars, and spindling force, the low-end power eating at flesh. The guitars twist your psyche, melting and bleeding, ending in a disorienting haze. “Pray to the Devil” dawns with clean singing before guitars apply a chokehold, bruising with darkness as morbidity multiplies dangerously. The drums rumble and turn rock into dust, the playing clobbers with fury, and utter destruction leaves bodies and mentalities mangled. “Obliteration of Thine Enemy” carves in with crunching guitars, a thick and mystical mist slowly spreading, a fiery force scorching and threatening. The bass swims as the drums pick up, the earth quakes beneath your feet, and a hellacious storm picks up and splatters with devious spirits. “Exile Into Depravity” closes the proceedings with blurry keys and drums pacing, your mind wandering off into a strange vision as you lie prone in the woods.

Rachel Bloodspell Moongoddess’ vision takes a huge step into horrifying waters on Countess Erzsebet’s self-titled EP, and this heavy turn into raw black metal and mystical dream states makes for a collection that fully enraptures. There still is a feeling-out essence to this music, which isn’t a criticism. It’s a fascinating look into the building blocks of a project, a foundation that can house even bigger ideas, more torrential might, and an entrancing sojourn into the world’s darker forces.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/CountessErzsebet666

To buy the album, go here: https://countesserzsebet.bandcamp.com/music