Sometimes hitting an aesthetic is a wonderful thing. Hairst is a Scottish one man black metal act whose demos and EPs are being celebrated by the very few. All of the covers for this artist are black and white or lightly destaturated. The music is a shrilly approach to making bedroom black metal complete with atmospheric and battle effects wrapped around each of the songs. There is even an acoustic and ambient interlude/intro hiding in the very short EP. If that sort of thing does not interest you, then there are other things you can do with your time. If you enjoy everything I just said and wouldn’t mind the music to be interesting and exciting, then Hairst could be the coolest thing today.

Hairst pays heavy tribute to the sort of bands which probably have influenced the music. From the very raw approach to the vocals and production to the glistening guitar which provides the atmospheric glow to the sound, Bròn is interesting to experience despite some of cosmetic flaws. Aside from teh odd use of mid tempo drums and the fadeout at the end of the EP, the lyrics for Bròn never crack the woodland darkness which has become to be expected from this music. Sometimes hitting an aesthetic is a wonderful thing but for artists like these who have an innate sense of making interesting music, hope for more elaborate future releases is even greater.

Bròn is a very competent EP with all of its flaws surface details which could be revised for future releases. The tonal quality of creator Domhnaill is perhaps one of the more unique sounds in recent memory. With a few changes here and there, Hairst could be a dark force to be reckoned with in the future. Until it now it is an unsettling specter which floats through a destaturated woodland.