HAGETISSE is a one-man Black Metal band that hails from the Netherlands. "To Wither Beneath Thy Radiance" pays homage to early to mid-nineties melodic/atmospheric black metal. Grandiose and bombastic, with tremolo picked melodies merged with merciless pummeling drums and subtle flourishes of synths. Bleak, dark and without hope, and at the same time, atmospheric and catchy. While de Jong has long worked within the black metal genre, HAGETISSE is arguably his more "traditional" iteration of the idiom. With the moniker meaning "Witch" in old Dutch, HAGETISSE's newest album returns a more traditional sound. Nineties inspired black metal, as if the last 30 years never happened.

The album has eight songs, and the title track is first. It's quite aggressive out of the gate, with a thick, overgrown riff and fast moving drums. It's also very dark, crawling down a hole into an underground bunker where it can move around and grow. "De Ogen Van De Dood Zijn Nooit Zielloos" has another full, rich, and even overgrown sound once again, but it's also backed with synths to give it a rounder feeling. The intensity doesn't let up…it's a fast rager from start to finish. "Alles Vernietigende Leegte" is another deeply aggressive and sinister sound and so far, the band doesn't pull any punches with their assault. In fact, they reign down as many fists on you as possible. "Cleansing Fire" is yet another intense song that burns so hot, it leaves ashes in its wake. There is just a bit of despair heaped into the rage as well.

"Thy Radiance" is a short, four-minute song that gives the listener their first chance to breathe from all of the preceding chaos. Radiance is defined as light or heat as emitted or reflected by something, and that's the feeling you get. "Self-decimation" swing back to the aggression that so deeply marks the album. It sounds like the rumble of an earthquake…innocuous at first but deadly within a few more seconds. "My Kingdom Entombed" is another intense rager, and the fire grows with each bar. Again, the synths help to break up some of the deep aggression. "Mijn Vriend De Dood, Kom Zacht Binnen" is the final song, and if you thought they were done rocketing this sound down your throat and into your lungs, you are mistaken. There is a bleakness here that is hard to describe, but it adds a seasoning to the album like bitter pepper would.

Although the album self-proclaimed to be a return to 90's inspired Black Metal, and those elements are alive here, it's not just an ode to the FWOBM. In addition to the deep aggression and bleakness of the album, the synths provide just enough smoothing to blur some of the jagged lines. Once you start it up however, it can't be shut down, and you better just hang on for the ride of your life.