Austrian Extreme Metalists, HAGZISSA, are set to release their second album, "Revelry of a Maltreated Jade," on December 19, 2025 via Iron Bonehead Productions. It has been three years since we heard from HAGZISSA with their HEXENBRETT split in 2022.  And while the upcoming album is only a four-track EP with a brief runtime of 13 minutes, it does help to satisfy the unholy itch.

How to describe "Revelry of a Maltreated Jade"? Eclectic, harsh, brutal, irrational, and a bit trippy. On the trippy side is the two-minute intro, "Der Schwarze Teich" (trans: the black pond). It sounds like ripples in a sludgy pond in a pre-dawn haze. Bookending the album with more trippiness is "Sic Transit (Gloria Mundi) / ...Coda," which features a mis-tuned xylophone and a piano that maybe sat out in the damp for decade or two plus some windy field recordings and a spoken word sample between some woman and a girl about the belief in magic. Not sure what movie or play it comes from, but it does boost the creep factor up a couple of notches. I have to admit, the marionettes on the album cover had a similar effect.

With said eclectic bookends in place, tracks two and three then take up the mantle of harsh, brutal and irrational bit that makes up the meat of the album. "A Single Feather Coiling" has some great riffage as well as some curious breaks that will leave you guessing. "Kingly Daughters of the Alder-Wisp" comes in at exactly 4:44, a detail that I can't believe is an accident. This one is another ripper with some intriguing compositional tricks at play. Easily the best track on the album.

All together, "Revelry of a Maltreated Jade" is an enigma of an album. I can't say I cracked the code of the album title or even the track titles, though I'm sure a peak at the lyrics sheet might solve that puzzle. The end effect is an album that demands repeat listens in various states of consciousness. HAGZISSA can't be said to be a bountiful giver of music in the way of album output. I like to believe that they are more of an inscrutable and maleficent force that rations and holds back their bounty and when they do give, they also take away . . . a bit of your soul and sanity. Or they just have a lot of other projects going on and there are only so many hours in a day. Either way, "Revelry of a Maltreated Jade" is well worth the experience. Get it while it's hot.