It’s not too soon to be lining up your playlist for Walpurgis Night, typically celebrated at the end of April, and we have the perfect lead-off track for all of your witchy indulgences. “Hexennacht” (which literally means “witches’ night” in German) is when European revelers don their witches and demons cosplay outfits, launch fireworks/build bonfires, play loud music and generally make spring celebration merriment. It’s a concept totally foreign to most Bible-thumping Westerners, but Olympia, WA-based dark ambient solo artist, Sataray, knows what’s up.
“Hexennacht” is the fourth track on her upcoming Blood Trine Moon EP, set for release February 11, via Scry Recordings, and the eerie piece is built around a repetitive organ-inspired melody and rumbling tribal thrum, with washes of distant synth and Sataray’s rangy incantations and wails. It slowly builds in intensity, like an invocation, then simmers to a haunting close. Like the rest of the EP, there are elements of industrial grime and dungeon synth. Blood Trine Moon was recorded and mixed by Sataray, mastered by Casey Chittenden Jones (Noisepoetnobody), and features artwork by Anima Nocturna.
Here’s what Sataray had to offer regarding the origins of “Hexennacht”:
“The outline of this track was created during the eve of Hexennacht one year, and encapsulates all of that which is evoked.”
Blood Trine Moon can be ordered here.
