We’re proud to announce the May 2024 release of Hässlig's wretched debut full-length disfigurement. A lurid audial assault conceived by enigmatic Spanish recluse D.B. (also mastermind of Negativa and Délirant), "Apex Predator" vomits forth thirty six minutes of atavistic, demented and necrotic raw black metal/punk filth conjured through the eyes of all criminals, serial killers, and of the absolute scum of this earth. A sickening and cruelty-worshipping audial delirium inspired by iconic punk-infused black metal bands like Bone Awl and Ildjarn, with subtle touches of Oi! punk and post-punk thrown in the mix to metastasize a disorienting and trance-like defilement of triumphant sonic squalor.
The nefarious debut offering has been introduced by the black metal specialized YouTube channel Transmissions From the Dark, who’ve premiered the second track from the album, “Slaves”, which can be witnessed HERE.
"Apex Predator" is slated for worldwide release on LP, cassette and digital formats via Sentient Ruin on May 3 2024, and all formats can be now pre-ordered via all our channels.
Hässlig is the most recent manifestation of sonic abandon conceived by enigmatic recluse D.B., a visual artist and multi-instrumentalist from Spain who is also behind the one-man studio-only projects Negativa and Délirant, and who is known for creating everything for his bands, from the artwork and visuals to everything about the sound, including the writing/recording, the mixing and even the mastering. D.B. is a skilled and explorative black metal musician, who has been this far far solely involved in creating black metal, manifesting it under various forms and subgenera, from the DSBM leanings of Negativa, to the dense, dissonant and surrealistic approach of Délirant, all the way to the primitive, punk inclinations of his most recent raw black metal creation, Hässlig (which translates to “ugly” in German), an entity which D.B. created around 2020 with in mind influences like Ildjarn and Bone Awl, and thus with the inevitable elements coming from Oi! Punk, hardcore and post-punk inevitably being a big part of the band’s sound. Hässlig first appeared in 2021 with the “Guillotine“ EP, which was released that year on cassette tape via Mystískaos, introducing the band with a highly primitive and lo-fi sound exalting the band’s intent to purvey total filth and abject primitivism. The “Deathlust” EP followed two years later in 2023, released on cassette and 12” vinyl via Into Endless Chaos Records, again, displaying a decaying and primitive sound reminiscent of its predecessor. But a greater sense of ambition and a broader intent to shock and inflict pain started stirring within the project thereafter as a debut full-length album began taking shape. During the genesis of this first long player, a denser and more smothering sound compared to the previous releases was chosen, in order to instigate and dramatize further the project’s innate lust for chaos and violence. A more layered and elaborate production which allowed D.B. to provide the project with a broader expressive palette more akin to those used with Negativa and Délirant to exalt Hässlig’s obscene and hideous aura, and through which to shock, repulse, disgust and initimidate the listener further, by immersing them into a suffocating and overwhelming delirium of violence. Aptly titled “Apex Predator”, this triumphant sonic ode to all sociopaths and serial killers would metastasize as a surprising thirty six-minute, twelve-track beast of corrosive and ultra-violent raw black metal toiling into unseen degenerations of squalor and filth. An expansive and immersive auditory ordeal into crime, violence, and degenerate sociopathic impulses soundtracked through the primal force of pestilent and antihuman punk-infused raw black metal.