Local metal band Battle Hag released a new demo today and you can listen to it on Bandcamp right now.

The five-track demo accurately captures the experience of seeing these guys live, with the shortest track lasting longer than seven minutes.

While most of the tracks employ the heaviness, the tempo and the fatty riffs of a doom band, it’s not entirely accurate to say that Battle Hag is doom (as I have most certainly done in the past).

“I think nowadays people tend to call any sort of metal that’s slow doom,” said guitarist and vocalist Dan Aguilar in a phone interview earlier today.

There’s a solid blend of psychedelic bends and sludge fuzz throughout. Battle Hag started recording the demo back in October in a garage, recording the instruments live, then adding vocals later.

Mixing was “a pretty long process, but we didn’t really have any deadline, so we didn’t want to rush it,” Aguilar said.

The end result is a rather enjoyable taste of a band that’s definitely worth paying attention to as they continue to develop. Between the hypnotizingly nautical rhythm of “Never Turn Your Back on the Sea” to the infectious and foreboding hook on “The Book of Thoth,” it’s at the very least worth checking out.

With luck, the band will have CDs with screen-printed packaging by their next show on March 26, when they play with Crimson Eye and Mother’s Whiskey at Cafe Colonial, Aguilar said. In July, the band will also be playing Festum Carnis, an outdoor camping metal festival hosted in Wilseyville.

In the meantime, enjoy the sweet cover art by drummer and local artist Grey Cat. Neal Oliver plays bass on the demo, and Danny Ensele provides guitars and vocals.