HAGATIZ's debut album comprises pure, uncompromising BLACK METAL steeped in the ancients: no more, but definitely no less. The point is not to "be" anything other than authentically old-school black metal in the best '90s tradition, from Scandinavia and across to Germania and even on to the Eastern Bloc. Raw without being ineffectual, dark and haunting yet brimming with just enough melody, Cursed to the Night is a work of total passion and spirit; that HAGATIZ make it seem so effortless is perhaps unsurprising, but it's remarkable nevertheless.

There is no "thinking" involved in this experience, only feeling - and such was the way it was as the '90s drew to a close and pure hearts heeded the call to head deeper underground. It's not inaccurate to say that HAGATIZ could've been released on such era-embodying vanguards as Sombre, Drakkar, or Solistitium, so authentic is this essence and atmosphere...but again, only FEELING Cursed to the Night is real.